CruzLine
A redesigned tool that employs GPS data from the Santa Cruz Metro system to monitor bus schedules, routes, and arrival times. Designed by students for students with simplicity and reliability at the forefront of our process.
A Simpler Way to Find Transportation
As students at UC Santa Cruz, my team and I grew tired of navigating through CruzMETRO's confusing bus tracking system. With endless clicks and unreliable GPS tracking, it's no surprise that finding a bus has become a complicated task. We wanted to create a more intuitive and functional process for Santa Cruz students and residents to find the bus they need.
Project Overview
Role
Team
UX Designer
Yesh Chandiramani
Ranvir Singh
Tools
Figma
Miro
Date
February 2023
Research
Identifying Needs and Pain Points
As the team UX Designer, I spearheaded the project research by defining the problem space and context. My team observed that using CruzMetro to locate a bus was overly complex, with unintuitive screens and a tedious process of evaluating different bus lines and stops to determine the best option. Our goal was to create a user-friendly interface that would provide a streamlined view of multiple bus lines in relation to the user's desired location and an intuitive search feature for quick and easy results.
Product Inspiration
My team member, who is from Singapore, suggested drawing inspiration from the effective SingaBus app. Its comprehensive map and information screen, as well as interactive navigation and search options, would make the process of finding a bus quick and efficient for students in a rush. We aimed to incorporate similar features in our design.
SingaBus
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Define
User Scenarios and Information Flow
I developed several user flows to showcase potential scenarios of students using our app, CruzLine, to find a bus. These user flows helped me visualize the critical screens needed for the wireframe stage and the essential content required to perform specific tasks. By focusing on our key functionalities, the map and search function, these user flows were crucial in ensuring a seamless user experience when finding a bus using CruzLine.
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Ideate
Wireframes
With the user flows and inspiration from SingaBus, I wireframed the primary screens and information that students would need to locate an appropriate bus. The clear and simple navigation between the Routes and Search screens provides a straightforward experience for students, whether they already know their route, need to find nearby bus lines, or are searching for current or future arrival times.
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Prototype
Style Guide
CruzLine’s brand identity is inspired by the colors of UC Santa Cruz, and we’ve selected two primary colors and two secondary colors to represent the style. We’ve also paired a sans serif font to provide optimal visibility and a clean and modern interface.
Route Directory Function
We transformed the route directory into a map overlay that could provide a bus's location and information in accordance to the user's location. This would help prevent wasted time clicking on routes to determine the best bus line based on users' locations and preferences (e.g. bus stop, route, arrival time).
CruzMetro
CruzLine
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Interactive Map Function
The improved map function would allow real-time data updates on the selected bus or stop by simply clicking on the map pinpoints.
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Specific Search Function
The added search function enables users to find their preferred bus stop or route through a one-step search. This eliminates the need to scroll through various routes to determine the best one.
Reflection
As my second hackathon, I went into this project with more confidence and a better understanding of my team's design and coding capabilities. So, I designed simply and strategically to account for the limited timeline we had to implement our work.
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This was an incredibly meaningful project to work on as I have personally encountered the struggles of finding a convenient bus through the current Santa Cruz Metro System "CruzMetro." My team and I will continue iterating on CruzLine to make it more functional and usable, as we hope to one day make it accessible to all students and users of the metro system in Santa Cruz.