Contextual Interviews ---Jinchen Liu

Interviews

May I have the audio recording?
Yeah, sure!
What's your name?
Sobers
What's your occupation?
I am a journalist.
Where do you live?
I live in Stockholm.
Where are you going to visit ?
The museum in the Djurgården.
Whats the name of the museum you are going to visit?
Tekniska museet
How are your kids?
They are eleven and eight.
Is it you first time to visit it?
Yeah!
How did you plan to your trip since this your first time?Like how did you get information for this museum?
We know this place and we are not living so far away, so today I just take my kids to go there, actually without think about the plan.
Why do you choose ferry to travel?
Otherwise, we will take the bus and it will take the double time. The ferry trip is much faster.
Do you like the ferry trip?
Yes!
Is it child friendly?
Yes it is. It has a place to let children stand on to look the sea sight. So it is really good! This is perfect for us!
How do you think the improvement for this ferry?
Umm....Good question! I am not sure and I haven't thought before...Maybe it should have a place to sell coffee or drinks, and since we take our kids and the it takes 10 minutes for travelling, maybe a toilet or baby care room is more convenient!
Do you like to share the experience on the Facebook or some other social networking services?
Well... I have a twitter account but I am not the guy who publish all the time...So maybe not.
I only comment for once a month.
Do you talk to other passager during the trip, like stranger conversation?
No, I am typical Swedish.  We don't start a conversation. If you are not here, I will interact with my kids.
Do you think it should be wifi on board?
Yeah, sure. It should be good, but not necessary.
Well, thats all! Thanks a lot for the interview! 
No problem!

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.

Trip to Slussen ferry terminal and Interview 28/09/16

Hui, Jing Chen and I visited the ferry terminal at slussen at about 3.20pm on 28/09 Wednesday afternoon to conduct our interview. I was quite excited as this was the first time I was going to ride on the ferry. As usual, I started taking pictures of the station and the surroundings. The video of the ride can be found here: Video of ferry ride

Selfie

 Special seats with handlebar for children to hold on to

View of ferry terminal

As it was a weekday afternoon, it was quite easy to find our target group of interviewees. So here are the transcription of the conversation with them:

Transcription of interviews

Interviewee 1

What is your name?

Catherina

What is your Occupation?

Working

How frequently do you travel on the ferry?

Once a year

Where do you live?

About 1 hour from Stockholm

Why did you choose the ferry?

The kids wanted to take the ferry. They like the water and the ride

Where did you visit in the island and where are you going to?

Skansen, going to Slussen taking the train

What do you feel about the ferry ride experience for the kids?

The kids enjoy looking outside the ferry during the ride

What is your age?

39 and the kids are 5 yo and 6 yo for the 2 others

Difficult to manage kids on ferry?

No

What can be improved in this ferry?

I don’t know. No comments

What kind of travel pass did you get?

Used SL app to buy a single trip ticket

What is unsafe about the ferry?

Maybe going outside the covered area.

Do you talk to others on the ferry and what do you talk about?

Yes, I talk about the boat trip.

Interviewee 2

What is your Occupation

Housewife and I come from Iraq

What’s the age of your baby?

1 year old

What type of card do you use?

Monthly SL card

How did you travel here?

My sister and husband came to Slussen and parked the car

Where did you visit in the island?

Djugarden

How frequently do you travel on this ferry?

Once a month

Your husband was taking photos just now, do you share those photos on social network?

Yes, twitter and Instagram

Why did you take the ferry instead of other modes of transportation?

We always take the car to t-centralen or metro so we wanted to try the ferry.

What do you enjoy about the ferry?

Everyone in Sweden should travel in this ferry to enjoy the view.

Is there anything you don’t like about the ferry?

No, nothing.

Anything can be improved in this trip?

Short trip so it doesn’t matter much

Is it child friendly?

Yes.

Do you think there should be a belt for the pram?

No.

Do you talk with strangers in the ferry?

No.

Do you think this ferry ride is a fun experience and would you recommend it to others?

Yes, to those who haven’t tried it, it’s a must try.

Seems like people are quite happy with the ferry ride and since its less than 10 minutes, there isn't much of issue about issues like food, Wi-Fi and toilet on-board. Moreover the kids seem to enjoy looking out of the ferry into the waters.