Employing service design to improve India’s public transport
Mobility as a Service
The Challenge: Develop a mobility solution for India’s metropolitan cities
We were tasked with building a mobility solution for metropolitan cities of India. Which are some of the most chaotic and complex transport systems in the world. It was quite hard to figure out where to begin? How do we cover so many cities? Will one solution work for all? What tool do we use to understand the complex transport system? Well, there wasn't one sure short way approaching this. We just had to start somewhere so we began with secondary research on the subject and to our surprise it was a very well researched subject. We found countless articles, papers on urban mobility in India with valuable data on user behavior and patterns.
Step 1 - Understanding Modes of Transport in Urban India
Here are few key points from our detailed study on existing mobility patterns in India
The vast majority (70 per cent) of urban dwellers in India travel distances below 10 km for work and education. The average time spent travelling (one-way) was around 27 minutes for the majority of the respondents.
Urban India walks, rides motorbikes and uses public transport most frequently. More than half of the urban population walks (more than 500 m) for their weekly needs
A majority of the population in the age group 18–34 years uses NMT, shared, and public transport
Frequency of service’ and ‘quality of infrastructure’ are the top barriers to public transport among both men and women
Respondents prefer availability of motorized last mile connectivity over non-motorized for making the mode switch to public transport.
The nature of most commuters in India is multi modal
There is an urgent need to reorient investment towards NMT & Public Transport services
Only 26% of the urban population uses personal cars for travel
Awareness generation around economic, environmental and societal benefits of shared mobility & ownership is needed to increase preference of these alternatives
The availability of motorised first- and last mile connectivity can potentially increase public transit patronage
Urban dweller of age group 16-24 show a stronger inclination to acquire EVs
Libertarian paternalism approaches may also be employed to increase the preference for shared mobility over car ownership.
From our detailed desk research we understood that the nature of most commuters in India is multimodal and there is an urgent need to invest into betterment of public transport services - Buses, Trains, Footpaths etc.
Also we saw that the newer generation wants to be more mindful about the economic & environmental impact of their travel choices, but doesn't know where to start.
Now we had some direction. But we needed more information to start building an effective solution. We had to get on the ground and analyze each mode of transport in depth and this is where one of our mentors suggested we use service blueprinting to get a detailed view of each mode of transport.
Step 2 - Employing Service Blueprinting
Align – Analyze – Optimize
Service blueprints help put all stakeholders on the same page, have a shared understanding of what’s happening currently and where the problems are. And together create a roadmap to solve these problems.
Orient and purpose
It’s easier to look at the map and understand what you’re doing as a company than go through a large document.
Even the most niche employee in an org gets an understanding of how their work eg. Line of code impacts the entire user experience.
Anatomy of a Blueprint
You have 3 layers - User Level | Interaction between user and organization | Representation of the organizations internal processes.
You have the user on top because we are keeping a user centric approach.
Consists of 3 lines that breaks it in into 4 layers.
1st line: Line of interaction- Between the users the humans and the organization as representative (this is where the customer interacts with the business (employees, tech, chatbot, app, kiosks)
2nd line: Line of visibility- Everything that’s happening behind the curtains, that customer/ user doesn’t need to know about.
3rd line: Line of internal interaction- Internal communication between employees in an organization that indirectly impact the user/customer at the front stage.
(Its digging deeper and deeper into the organizational layer as you see)
It gives an overview of what the organization does at each step of the user journey
Service Blueprint in Action: Bangalore Metro
Creating a service blueprint helped us visually represents the entire customer journey, from planning the trip, leaving the house, to exiting the station. We got a detailed view of the actions taking place at all levels.
Overall Flow and Customer Journey:
Touch points: The blueprint highlights the various touchpoints where customers interact with the service, such as ticket counters, automatic ticket vending machines, station entrances, and train compartments.
Backstage Processes: The blueprint provides insights into the backstage processes involved in delivering the service, including maintenance, security, and operations. This helps understand the complexities and dependencies within the system.
Customer Experience:
Waiting Times: The blueprint can help identify areas with long waiting times, such as ticket queues or platform wait times. This information can be used to implement strategies to reduce waiting times and improve customer satisfaction.
Information Availability: The blueprint can assess the availability and clarity of information provided to customers, such as station maps, signage, and announcements. Areas with inadequate information can be addressed to enhance the customer experience.
Staff Interaction: The blueprint can highlight the quality of interactions between staff and customers, such as politeness, helpfulness, and efficiency. This information can be used to train staff and improve customer service.
Overall Flow and Customer Journey:
Touch points: The blueprint highlights the various touchpoints where customers interact with the service, such as ticket counters, automatic ticket vending machines, station entrances, and train compartments.
Backstage Processes: The blueprint provides insights into the backstage processes involved in delivering the service, including maintenance, security, and operations. This helps understand the complexities and dependencies within the system.
Customer Experience:
Waiting Times: The blueprint can help identify areas with long waiting times, such as ticket queues or platform wait times. This information can be used to implement strategies to reduce waiting times and improve customer satisfaction.
Information Availability: The blueprint can assess the availability and clarity of information provided to customers, such as station maps, signage, and announcements. Areas with inadequate information can be addressed to enhance the customer experience.
Staff Interaction: The blueprint can highlight the quality of interactions between staff and customers, such as politeness, helpfulness, and efficiency. This information can be used to train staff and improve customer service.
Step 3 - The Solution: Reimagined Urban Mobility in India
The outcome was a mobile app concept that aimed to reimagine urban mobility in India. Beyond basic navigation, it provided features to help users:
Budgeting: Create and track monthly travel budgets.
Sustainability: Monitor carbon footprint and encourage eco-friendly choices.
Community: Facilitate ride-sharing with rewards and incentives.
This innovative approach differentiated the concept from existing transportation apps like Google Maps and Waze, offering a comprehensive and user-centric solution.
Showing the entire concept is confidential. I can only share limited information and images of the final product. Here are mockups of how some of the screens looked.
Step 4 - Reflection: Why a Mobile App can't solve this complex issue which needs a multifaceted approach
In conclusion, employing a service design approach for primary research proved highly effective. Creating service blueprints helped dissect complex processes into smaller, manageable components, allowing us to delve into even the most mundane tasks, such as purchasing a ticket at a counter. This visual representation not only clarified the service for me but also for other team members, including stakeholders, clients, and visual designers.