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Where in the ATL?

Team

Manuni Dhruv, Emily Gui,

Sophia Clyde

Professor

Professor

Dr. Carrie Bruce

Primary Contact at MARTA

Anthony Thomas

Manager of Customer Technology Products

Project Description

Project Description

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is a vital public transit system serving the metropolitan Atlanta area, offering bus, train, and streetcar services (“MARTA Service Standards FY23”). Since 2021, MARTA has embarked on a series of ambitious projects known as MARTA 2040 to enhance the efficiency and convenience of its public transportation services (“MARTA 2040”).

As part of MARTA 2040, Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) started construction in the summer of 2023, building upon the initial utility work in 2022. In the summer of 2025, revenue service will be launched. Summerhill BRT is a 5-mile dedicated bus route which will establish a transit link, connecting Downtown Atlanta to the Capitol Gateway, Summerhill, Peoplestown, and the Atlanta BeltLine. Additionally, convenient connections to MARTA's heavy rail system will be available at Five Points, Georgia State, and Garnett stations (“Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)”). In the pursuit of improving customer experience, MARTA envisions the deployment of digital signage at Summerhill BRT encompassing functions such as ticket vending, digital screens displaying service alerts, bus schedules, and route maps.

How might we help

MARTA BRT riders

find the

information they need

for their BRT journey via

digital signage

How might we help BRT riders access passenger information they need to plan their trip?

How do we communicate information to people with language barriers and/or disabilities?

How do we guide riders to the information they need at each stage of their journey?

How do we ensure a consistent experience across different factors and locations?

How might we help first-time and other interested riders navigate and learn about the city?

Research Activities

Ethnographic Observation

Ethnographic Observation

Semi-structured Interview

Semi-structured Interview

Contextual Inquiry

Contextual Inquiry

Survey

Survey

Comparative Analysis

Comparative Analysis

Affinity Mapping

Affinity Mapping

Ethnographic Observation

Goals

Environment where riders make decisions

Candid user behaviors outside interviews

Justification

Unmoderated nature

Socioeconomic factors

Limitations: 1. Couldn’t ask why

2. BRT lines don’t exist yet

Details

MARTA Midtown station

1. MARTA North Avenue station

2. Centennial Olympic Park Streetcar stop

1 hour Observation

Things to observe:

1. screens, announcements, etc.

2. amount of time spent on station

3. ways to buy tickets

Semi-Structured Interviews

Goals

Qualitative data from frequent MARTA users

Steps of their journey and feelings

Justification

An overview of the MARTA journey

Identify areas of interest for more research

Drill down on information relevant to problem space

Limitations: 1. Couldn’t see context of use

2. Rely on interpretation

Details

3 online and 1 in-person, 1 hour each

3 mostly used trains and 1 mostly used buses.

Questions designed based on the journey:

planning route, buying tickets, catching train/bus,

actual ride, transferring, leaving the station

Contextual Interviews

Goals

Understand Spanish-speaking rider needs

Identify user behavior outside interviews

Justification

Deeper into ‘why’

Map the exact tasks and flows

Limitations: 1. Observer effect: unnatural behavior

2. cannot generalize

Details

2 contextual interviews, 2 hours each

Take MARTA to airport for work daily

First time, Spanish speaking MARTA rider

Things to observe:

time taken to find next transfer train

Information to find which train

body language

Analysis of Interviews through Affinity Mapping

After conducting our interviews (both semi-structured and contextual), each team member identified important quotes and insights and transferred them to stickies on Miro. The team then spent time together to identify common themes.

Survey

Goals

Generalizable data about themes in interviews

Back qualitative data

Validate or reject themes

Justification

Generalizability: large sample

Anonymity: honest and candid responses

Diverse Data:

ratings, Likert scales, multiple-choice questions,

and open-ended responses

Details

186 completed responses.

HCI slack, GT Reddit, MARTA database

Skewed data with 50% high income respondents

Comparative Analysis

Goals

Compare features of existing BRT systems

Gain inspiration and improve on concerns

Justification

Existing solutions addressing themes we discovered

Limitations: 1. Selection Bias: sample vs. population

2. Overlooking Unique Characteristics

Details

Compared 4 BRT systems:

2 considered the best (Bogota and Guangzhou)

2 systems in the US (LA and Indianapolis)

Indianapolis closest to MARTA

Research Findings

Design Requirements

Design Requirements

The signage should ...

The signage should ...

01

provide service disruption information in multiple formats and in multiple places.

01

provide service disruption information in multiple formats and in multiple places.

02

have planning information like the current time, map and BRT bus route information, exact bus arrival and departure times.

02

have planning information like the current time, map and BRT bus route information, exact bus arrival and departure times.

05

graphically represent stops so it is easier for users to recognize when they have arrived at the right stop.

05

graphically represent stops so it is easier for users to recognize when they have arrived at the right stop.

06

direct people to the multiple methods to buy tickets or reload Breeze cards.

06

direct people to the multiple methods to buy tickets or reload Breeze cards.

03

include a route map highlighting points of intersection between bus-bus, train-train, and bus-train routes.

03

include a route map highlighting points of intersection between bus-bus, train-train, and bus-train routes.

04

integrate more graphical representations to accommodate those who don't speak English.

04

integrate more graphical representations to accommodate those who don't speak English.

Design Ideations

Design Ideations

Initial Concept Sketches

Initial Concept Sketches

map interaction

map interaction

service alerts

service alerts

finding directions

finding directions

map interface

map interface

Participatory Design Workshop

Participatory Design Workshop

Analyzing Findings

Analyzing Findings

Wireframe Prototype

Wireframe Prototype

Feedback Session

Feedback Session

Prototype and Evaluation

High Fidelity Prototype

High Fidelity Prototype

Task 1

Task 1

Check the weather, then find an interesting place to visit near your destination.

Check the weather, then find an interesting place to visit near your destination.

Task 2

Task 2

Look up how to get from your current bus station to Peachtree Center.

Look up how to get from your current bus station to Peachtree Center.

Task 3

Task 3

Check on where Bus 2 is currently and all the other buses on the route.

Check on where Bus 2 is currently and all the other buses on the route.

Task 4

Task 4

Find out how to put your bike on the bus and other related bike needs.

Find out how to put your bike on the bus and other related bike needs.

Task 5

Task 5

Find an alternate way to pay for your ticket after discovering that the ticket kiosk isn’t working.

Find an alternate way to pay for your ticket after discovering that the ticket kiosk isn’t working.

Task 6

Task 6

Access the Accessible View and make the screen match your height.

Access the Accessible View and make the screen match your height.

© 2014-2023 Yijiang Xu

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© 2014-2023 Yijiang Xu

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