WHO IS MARTA?
MARTA logo

MARTA is Atlanta's public transit system that combines bus, rail, and streetcar services.

8th largest transit system in the US
~400K people served daily
WHAT IS BUS RAPID TRANSIT?

BRT is a transit system that uses buses to provide efficient and reliable service — with dedicated lanes, traffic signal priority, and enhanced stations.

MARTA is implementing its first BRT system connecting parts of downtown Atlanta, and construction will start in the summer of 2025.

MARTA BRT bus
PROBLEM DISCOVERY AND USER RESEARCH

Since the BRT lines do not exist yet, we based our research on existing MARTA bus and train riders, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

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LIMITATION

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We examined the data to understand the typical experiences of riders and to spot opportunities for a brand new transport line.

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The black box of affinity mapping*
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*+ feasibility, time, enthusiasm, skills Affinity map of notes from interviews and observations
WHAT DID OUR RESEARCH SAY?

MARTA's current ride experience presents riders with excessive information in isolated silos, causing them to miss out on real-time contextual information, which can disrupt their trip.

BUT WHO IS OUR USER?
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CHARACTERISTICS

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CORE NEEDS

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PROBLEM STATEMENT

How might we provide a range of riders with relevant information at the right time to help them complete key user actions?

IDEATION ROUND #1

Through our initial round of ideation, we identified three key design requirements.

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PARTICIPATORY DESIGN WORKSHOP

When we tested our initial ideas, every participant gravitated toward using a graphical map as a central focus.

Participants arranging sticky notes during the workshop
Participatory design concept sketches Participatory design concept wireframes

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BREAKTHROUGH

We realized that we could use the transit map as an anchor to convey contextual information to riders throughout their journey.

Next, we built a framework to incorporate all the features we had identified as important, with the map as the central piece. We also did a bunch of whiteboard drawings to understand the scale and placement of various features.

Whiteboard brainstorm, function mapping and mid-fidelity prototype
Brainstorming on a large whiteboard to understand scale. Mapping out functions of the system. Mid-fidelity prototype to test functionality and structure, tested on a 55-inch screen.
USER TESTING #1

Our user testing sessions highlighted various strengths and weaknesses in the system.

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A participant testing the prototype on a large touchscreen Team observing a user testing session

Exploring map interactions

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AFFORDANCE

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EXPLORING QUICK ACTIONS → IDEATION ROUND #2

For the second round we concentrated on making meaningful 'Quick Actions' and 'Map Interactions' menu items.

Quick actions screen for a new user
QUICK ACTIONS Brought 'Station Info', 'Civic Resources', and 'MARTA at a glance' to quick actions as these provide important resources for various MARTA users.
Rider Needs menu screen
RIDER NEEDS Consolidated different user needs — new riders, bikers, wheelchair users, seniors — under one 'Rider Needs' menu.
EVALUATION · TASK-BASED COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGHS

We based our testing on tasks to accurately identify problems in frequently completed activities, timing users and recording their preferred pathways.

Participant completing a task on the kiosk Cognitive walkthrough session

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HEURISTIC EVALUATIONS

We visited MARTA HQ in Lindbergh and presented our designs to 5 experts in the Customer Technology department.

We asked them to evaluate our designs against 3 heuristics outlined by NN/g. Each heuristic had 9–11 subcategories.

Presenting designs to MARTA's Customer Technology experts

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FINAL DESIGN

The transit map anchors every interaction, with quick actions always within reach.
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LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS

Our collaboration with MARTA ended with recommendations and next steps — our designs were taken over by the team to implement at their stations.

This was an immense learning experience in user testing for me. Here are some key takeaways.

Team with the kiosk prototype Presenting the final prototype

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END OF THE LINE Thanks for supporting public transit!