Amtrak App

Developing a more positive travel experience

Role:

Timeline:

Product Designer

Tools:

2 Months

Figma Figjam

Design Innovation

Team:

Project Overview

People gravitated towards utilizing the Amtrak website despite having the mobile app.

Many people currently use the website to buy their Amtrak tickets because they feel the app is outdated and unnecessary. The overall user experience of the app is very confusing and hard to navigate through, making it hard for users to find what they need in a fast and efficient manner. Improving the layout of the app and incorporating aspects to improve communication and a user’s overall trip experience was my main goal for this project.

Research & Synthesis

Interview Process

My team and I interviewed 15 people to pinpoint the main issues with the Amtrak app and overall travel experience.

Interview Insights

After conducting interviews we found out that many users utilize outside resources (Google Maps, Twitter, and friends) to assist them throughout their trip. Most of our interviewees have experienced cancelled trains and train delays. These issues progress and stem from the lack of information and communication. Despite this, many users continue to use the Amtrak because it is cost friendly and accessible.

How might we make resources more accessible to create a more positive travel experience?

Pain Points

Experienced delays without being notified.

Needs

Needs a better way to navigate through the train station.

Navigation issues when traveling for the first time

Needs better communication and ways to stay updated with train status

Pain Point Audit

After exploring the Amtrak app, I found many factors and issues that caused a preference towards the official website.

Organization of Information and Content

Purposeless Interactions

Unreliable Information

UI/Visual Design Issues

Overload of unnecessary information and the format of their content made navigation difficult

Most interactions like checking the train schedule and purchasing a USA Rail Pass redirect you to their official website instead of allowing you to interact with the actual app

Train status page is confusing with their wording and is unreliable with communicating train status

Screens do not have consistent headers, the company logo is not consistent throughout tabs, redundancy of information, the “more” tab contains an overload of information that could be spread out, and typography and uneven button issues

Competitive Analysis

Next I ran a competitive audit to better understand efficient design styles that have worked for other travel related applications. Although some of these apps utilize a different vehicle for transportation, I wanted to analyze what these apps did to improve a user’s overall travel experience.

Metro

Ventra

In app ticket purchases, able to connect app to Apple wallet for fast transactions, includes a map with the stops closest to you

Greyhound

Uber

Simple and sleek app design, includes a map, utilizes familiar icons, in app wallet with different options of payment

Contains relevant travel information, familiar map UI, frequently updates users to reduce travel anxiety, includes color coding for better app navigation

Has a calendar pop up when purchasing tickets or changing dates, incorporates seat reservations to make traveling smoother, in app ticket purchases

Designs

Sketches

My team and I created rough sketches of what we had in mine for the Account, Home, Status, and Booking pages. We stayed consistent with the original design style of Amtrak but rearranged the pages to enhance app navigation and usability.

Final Product

Home

We finally finished our final design and prototyped all of the pages. I included how some of the interactions would look if these features were updated into the official Amtrak App. Throughout the design process, I kept all of the point points I identified in mind to ensure the features being created would meet the needs of users.

Status

Account

Viewing anything on the original account page required users to leave the app. The account page designed incorporates an in app wallet to allow quick purchases, ways to get into contact with an employee for help, and an FAQ section to give users assistance with common issues to prevent traffic with our question box.

Book

There weren’t any huge issues with the original booking tab, however the screen wasn’t being utilized to its full potential. For our booking page we kept our design simple and consistent throughout to make it easy for users to purchase tickets. The biggest feature we included was the addition of service animals to the accommodations page to increase inclusivity and consideration.

The original status page did not provide any helpful information to users. The new status page allows users to look up their specific train and get real time updates. A map feature was also added to solve navigation issues and provide familiar UI to increase comfortability.

The home page used to be extremely messy and hard to understand. Our home page allows easy access to ticket information, includes onboarding to reduce travel anxiety for new travelers, and has comprehensive visual. The overall design makes it easier for users to quickly find and do what they need.

Reflection

This was my first ever full app redesign project and I am insanely proud of how far I have come! If given more time I would like to revise this project and push for user testing and work from there.

What Went Well:

  • I COMPLETED A FULL APP REDESIGN!!!

  • The new features added created solutions to the problems identified in my interviews and pain point analysis

  • I had a lot of fun during these two months and the design for all of the screens came together in the end

What I learned:

  • This was my second time prototyping ever and this was a huge success :)

  • I learned how to complete a huge project from start to finish!

  • I also learned how to incorporate UI/UX into a group setting compared to my Spotify redesign I did on my own