In class, we were assigned to create a digital design solution to improve the commuting experience. We chose to focus on busy individuals balancing work or school, just like us, and explored ways to make their daily commute more enjoyable through coffee.

But First, Coffee?

Team
Sharon + 4 Group Members

Role
UX/UI Designer

Timeline
Sep - Oct 2024

Design Process

Desk Research

User Interview

Define

Ideation

Desk Research

While researching commuters' experiences and the factors involved in their journeys, we discovered some interesting insights that we want to explore further.

Australian commuters average 66 minutes daily in transit. (RMIT, 2019)

People generally feel less happy while commuting than when at home or engaging in other daily activities. (Lancée, Veenhoven, & Burger, 2017)

Long commutes are associated with higher stress and lower productivity. (Liu, Ettema, & Helbich, 2022)

User Interview

For our interviews, we narrowed our focus to a specific demographic of our interest, which is individuals who use public transport for their daily commute and have established commuting routines.

We then created a list of questions to ask our target users to help us gain insights into their commuting experiences and routines. We want to understand how they navigate their daily commutes and to learn what they do, think, and feel during their commute. Our questions are designed to uncover pain points, explore any approach they've tried to improve their experience and discover how they would like things to change. Through this interview, we hope to gain a better understanding of their thoughts, behaviours, and emotions while commuting.

We recruited and conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 participants who fit our target demographic.

Interview Questions

Data from Interviews

Define

We shared the insights from our interviews and synthesized the data to identify patterns, revealing interesting insights.

Participants are either students, working professionals, or both, balancing demanding schedules.

They plan their routes, even for routine journeys, to check for disruptions and estimate travel times using navigation apps.

Many enjoy exploring the city, particularly discovering new restaurants and cafés.

A common habit is picking up coffee before heading to work or class.

Based on user interviews, we created the persona 'Patcha' to represent our target users.

How Might We…

Design a solution that helps busy individuals efficiently manage their commute time while also creating opportunities to explore the city?

Ideation

We came up with the idea ’But First, Coffee?’, a mobile app designed to enhance the commuting experience for busy professionals and students by simplifying their morning coffee routine and reducing decision fatigue. The app offers features such as online ordering, route planning, estimated arrival times, and a friend-pickup request option. It also provides café recommendations for those looking to explore new spots. This all-in-one solution transforms the daily commute into a smoother and more enjoyable experience.

We first created paper wireframes, which we then refined into a low-fidelity prototype. Next, we conducted heuristic testing within our team, running through three user scenarios:

Patcha orders coffee online to pick up on her way to work.
Patcha is in a rush to work, sees her colleague currently at a café, and asks them to grab her some coffee.
Patcha has spare time before work and decides to explore a new coffee spot.

Based on the identified heuristic violations, we refined and developed a high-fidelity prototype.

Low Fidelity Prototype

Heuristic Evaluation Sheet

High Fidelity Prototype

We recruited four participants who matched our target demographic and conducted usability testing based on the three scenarios as mentioned earlier. Additionally, we performed a user experience evaluation by role-playing as our persona, Patcha, and going through two user experience stories:

Running late for work, Patcha uses the app to quickly find a nearby café with no wait times. She adjusts the filter, places an order, and picks up her coffee seamlessly upon arrival.
After an exhausting morning, Patcha checks if any nearby friends can help pick up her order. When her colleague declines, she decides to go herself as she notices her old friend at the café, seizing the opportunity for a brief catch-up.

Usability Testing

User Experience Evaluation

Final Product

Based on this valuable feedback, we made final refinements and here is our final product.