9292 Route Planning App Research
A Famous and Mature Route Planning APP in Netherlands
The app 9292 is a route planning app made to provide the users with all the needed information during their journey from the beginning to the end.
What Does 9292 Team Do
1. 9292 is a mature route planning app with all essential functions
The 9292 app is a mature and widely used route planning tool in the Netherlands. The app allows users to get travel advice, save it, and share it with others.
2. 9292 dedicated to developing personalized features
The 9292 app offers more than basic route planning features. It includes personalized options such as setting walking speed, ideal walking time, and saving search shortcuts.
Desk Research About 9292 App Users
A Glimpse into the User Profile
To start the user research, we reviewed a questionnaire provided by 9292 and user feedback from the Apple App Store and Google Play. This helped us form a basic understanding of 9292 users and current issues.
Traits & Behaviors
Half locals and half foreigners
Source: Online reviews
57 % Weekly / Monthly users
Source: Questionnaire
Over 60% had a preferred mode of transportation
Source: Questionnaire
59% use public transport for
irregular trips, like visiting friends
Source: Questionnaire
40% Using 9292, Google Maps, and NS simultaneously
Source: Online reviews
Key insights 1
“Information seekers”
We refer to 9292 users as “information seekers” rather than “information explorers.” We believe that most 9292 users already have a good understanding of their needs. They do not eager to explore other information.
Painpoints
Dislike the frequent repetition of information entry/set up
Source: Online reviews
Doubt the trustworthiness of 9292’s information sources
Source: Online reviews
No clear indication and feedback
Source: Online reviews
Key insights 2
“Focus on functionality of address-searching”
For information seekers, the efficiency of address-searching features is most important. The priority should be ensuring that users experience a smooth and trustworthy process when searching for addresses or routes.
Opportunities
Value basic customization setting like adding favorite stops
Source: Questionnaire
Offering a ‘set extra transfer time’ feature can be a plus
Source: Questionnaire
Key insights 3
Like useful customized settings / filters ”
We see an opportunity in that users do use certain personalized settings to get route advice that better meets their needs. From desk research, we also identified several settings that users frequently use such as adding favorite locations and extra transfer time.
From Desk Research to User Test
Focus on Testing "Route Searching"
Based on our desk research, we decided to focus user testing on route planning. We provided three open-ended scenarios, allowing users to explore the app freely at their own pace to better understand their natural interactions and preferences. After scenario testing, we conducted interviews to explore users’ habits and opinions, using tools like card sorting and a word cloud (desirability test).
Test goals
Observe how users (1) set start and end points, (2) apply filter options, and specifically how they (3) use the “adjusting walking speed” feature
Test Setup
The scenarios included basic commuting, casual outings, and trips with specific needs.
Scenario 1 basic commuting
“You are at home and overslept your alarm. You have 15 minutes to catch the next train in the station to go to work. If you miss this train you are guaranteed to be late. You wouldn’t risk being late to work. Look up or use the 9292 app depending on your needs. This might still be at home, on the way to the station or at the stop etc.”
Scenario 2 casual outings
“You will go to Utrecht with your friends next Saturday for the carnival, you want to use public transport. One of your friends will join you in Rotterdam so you will first meet up with them, then will go to your destination together. Your friend is not always the most punctual person, take that into account. Make your trip plan and tell your friends.”
Scenario 3 trips with specific needs
“You have injured your ankle and because of that you missed the bus and are waiting for the next one. You want to know when is the next bus. To make sure you will not miss the next bus too, you want to adjust your trip.
To create personas and draw use pattern, an in-depth interview is performed after scenario tests. Questions includes:
To Categorize Participants into User Groups
-How often do you use public transport?
-What are your typical reasons for using public transport?
To explore how users make plans with the app
-which app do you use to make a route plan?
-When would you make the travel plan? (the same day? before a day? etc.)
-What would you do to plan for a trip?
To Identify User Pain Points
-Can you describe the last time your travel plan didn’t work out as expected?
Usability Test Findings
What are Current Usability Issues in 9292 App?
Based on our desk research, we decided to focus user testing on route planning. We provided three open-ended scenarios, allowing users to explore the app freely at their own pace to better understand their natural interactions and preferences. After scenario testing, we conducted interviews to explore users’ habits and opinions, using tools like card sorting and a word cloud (desirability test).
Current experience
To help users describe their current experience, we provided a set of words (desirability test). As can be seen in the left word cloud, many users see 9292 as a mainly useful, helpful and simplistic app, indicating that the current design has a generally positive impact. However, some negative terms such as overwhelming, complex, frustrating, and confusing, often related to functionality, also surfaced.
General use flow
To figure out frustrating points, we conducted usability test. To analyze it, we mapped out a flowchart with key app’s features, dividing the use process into three stages: the searching period, the comparing period, and the post-comparing period.
Key usability issues during 3 stages
We summarized the usability issues during the searching, comparing, and post-comparison periods separately.
1. [Searching Period] Inefficient searching and overwhelmed process for adding favorites
2. [Comparing Period] Users struggle to effectively compare different travel advice. Walking speed adjusting features hard to understand and use. Search results lack clarity regarding the applied filter settings.
3. [Post-comparing Period] “Save” and “Share” icons are either hidden or unintuitive. Hard to resume the previous search and saved advice. Shared information are not readable.
Prioritize issues from user perspective
In addition to identifying usability issues that frustrate users, we also aimed to understand which problems matter most to them. To achieve this, we conducted a card-sorting activity based on existing features. The results were categorized into three groups: Important, Promising, and Last.
Important:
- Clear information presentation is crucial for users to easily compare and track changes
- Searching, including address searching and adding locations, is a top priority
- Saving the entire travel advice remains essential for most users
Promising:
- Some users still use the share feature or look forward to its improvement
Highlighting occupancy expectations in the information display would be helpful
Users would appreciate improvements in saving routes and stops
Last:
- No users felt that adjusting walking speed was essential, but it still has potential for further development
Insights & Design Direction
Define three design directions and corresponding research questions
Based on the results of previous research and card-sorting, our team decided to narrow the design scope to searching, information display, and saving/sharing features:
- Optimize searching features by integrating “adding favorites” feature
- Hierarchizing Information to make advice be read and compared more easily
- Redesign “Share” and “Saving advice” to be more intuitive
Corresponding research questions
Optimize searching features by integrating "adding favorites" feature
Resrach question
why do users prefer saving locations, instead of stops and routes?
Hierarchizing Information to make advice be read and compared more easily
Resrach question
What informaiton do different user group value when comparing different travel advice?
Redesign "Share" and "Saving advice" to be more intuitive
Resrach question
Why and when do users need to save the entire advice?
Deep Dive into Key Research Questions
Answer research questions by persona and user pattern
To answer sub questions about the use of “adding favorites” and what 9292 users value when making route comparisons, we dived into interview results to create personas and user patterns.
Corresponding RQs
Define three personas
Through in-depth interviews, we gained insights into users’ travel planning habits.
As shown on the right, we categorized personas into three types based on their travel approach and planning attitude: Brief Glancer, Social Butterfly, and Organized Planner.
Refining the General User Flow Through 3 Detailed Use Patterns
We mapped out each persona’s use patterns in detail to understand how users engage with key features under different scenarios and needs. This analysis helped us create a summary diagram highlighting different user requirements for saved favorites (shortcuts), filter options, and information display preferences.
Answering research questions
Resrach questions
why do users prefer saving locations, instead of stops and routes?
Many users directly use the search bar
“Using“ and “saving” are two different things
Many users “use” stops and locations, but more people “save” locations rather than stops
We speculate that the main reason people choose to save locations is to avoid typing errors and repeated input. Additionally, searching by locations often provides more accurate travel advice since it accounts for the variety of transit combinations available. Stops, on the other hand, may be less frequently saved because people typically use many stops, and they are generally easier to remember. However, for groups like brief glancers and social butterflies who are familiar with the route and don’t need much detail, stops are often sufficient.
Few users save or use routes
Routes have significant limitations since both the starting and ending points are fixed, making them applicable to fewer scenarios. While still some users, particularly brief glancers, find routes useful, the process of adding routes is complicated and not easy to locate. As a result, the likelihood of saving and using this feature is relatively low.
Resrach questions
What informaiton do different user group value when comparing different travel advice?
Divide information into three levels
Prioritize the “Buy Tickets” Feature
Both card sorting and interview results highlight the importance of the “Buy Tickets” feature. We suggest placing it in a more accessible and prominent location for quicker access.
Prioritizing frequently used filters may help users narrow down travel advice
Interviews revealed that users rarely click on “OPTIONS” to use filters to narrow down advice options. However, when they open the options, users are particularly interested in the “adjust extra transfer time” feature, and they would use it if it worked effectively. Additionally, users sometimes specify their preferred transport mode, such as preferring to take the train over the tram.
Resrach questions
Why and when do users need to save the entire advice?
Needs of saving a travel plan for “a specific time”
For users, the main difference between saving a route and saving advice is that advice refers to travel plans for a specific time.
For reviewing
Organized planners usually save the entire travel advice for future review and to quickly check if the trip is going as planned.
However Many take a screenshot instead
Interviews revealed that many users prefer to take screenshots to save and share travel advice with others. We speculate that users still prefer to save information in its original visual form rather than converting it into text.