Interview of ferry riding experience 24/09/16

I did this interview on September 24th with Agneev and Suping. It was a sunny Saturday moring. When we got there, many people were waiting for the next ferry. The ferry was from Slussen to Allmänna gränd, where Gröna Lund and Skansen are located. We took the ferry back and forth for sevral times. This interview is done on the way back to Slussen, stopping at Skeppsholmen half way.

Interview group

M: How often do you take this ferry?

V: Just now, the first time.

M: Do you live in Stockholm?

V: No, I am a tourist.

M: How did you come to this island? Also by ferry?

V: I came here by metro.

M: This time why do you choose ferry?

V: To see the water, and because of the weather, it is a nice weather.

M: Do you have SL card?

V: Yes.

M: For three days or ...

V: Just for today, one day.

M: Do you just stay here for one day?

V: Yes.

M: Are you going to Slussen now?

V: No Skeppsholmen.

M: What part of this Ferry do you enjoy most?

V: It's the scene outdoor, and I enjoy the weather.

M: Did you spend long time waiting this ferry? 

V: No, 10 minutes.

M: Do you have any other experience on ferries in other places?

V: Yes.

M: Can you tell me more about that?

V: Paris for example by boat. Sightseeing in Budapest in Hungry I was there one week ago. It a good way to experience the scenery.

M: Which is the most impressive experience?

V: Stockholm is the best.

M: Oh, really? Can you tell me the reason?

V: Because it's clean and organized.

M: Since I saw you are travelling with children, is there any problem travelling on ferry?

V: No, not at all.

State-of-the-Art Analysis

During the field study we found that one recurring pattern is that not all passengers can be informed the right route of the journey, whether the ferry will head directly towards Allmänna gränd or it will stop at Skeppsholmen.  Comparing to Google Map, SL's official app, regarding to context of use, seems focus more on selling one-time tickets than searching for a route. Passengers who buy one time ticket are often tourists, but SL's target group seems to be local travellers, not only Swedish but English version.

Here is a graphical user interface of choosing which type of ticket to buy. It shows A, B, C, L zones just by text form, assuming users know where these area exactly are, which actually confuse the users.

Another problem is that it's hard to find the information and condition of buying reduced price ticket. As there the button to show the condition of using reduced price ticket is in the upper right corner, and "reduced fare" button is shown after clicking "full fare", which makes it harder to buy a reduced fare ticket. Personas, such as family with children, probably will find it hard to buy tickets for their children.

There is one way to find the correct zone of travelling, that is to use "search journey" function. There is a button "Buy ticket" at the bottom, but you have to find this secret key by yourself, because there is no tip anywhere else.

Although this is an English version app, Swedish still exists in the app, which decreases the usability.

To sum up, the requirements are far from satisfied, it does not estmatited user characteristics, such as users' language, and knowledge of how zones are partitioned. Information presentation is not scientifically designed for user to gather information efficiently. Establishing requirements is an iterative process. To solve the problems, developers can use data mining methods to find target groups, and make the information properly mentioned and highlighted.