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# System prepended metadata

title: 'CS374 Design Project | DP 2 : Ideation | Report'

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# CS374 Design Project | DP 2 : Ideation | Report 
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### Project : Build the train mobile ticketing service for elderly people.
**Team Name : EasyKORAIL:station::ticket:**
**Team Members : Hyunseo Lee, Jinwoo Lee, Daekeon Song, Youngmin Yang**
**[Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NSr9KkZUepp3kC3dFgECbAlhxXOLJZ-ni1gufE0eaTM/edit#slide=id.g50b72f25bb_0_0)**


---
  * [Updates on DP1](#updates)
  * [POV](#POV)
  * [Persona](#Persona)
  * [HMW Questions](#HMW-Questions)
  * [Solution Ideas](#Solution-Ideas)
  * [Storyboards](#Storyboards)
  * [Studio Reflections](#feedback)
      - [Students' Feedback & Reflection](#students--feedback---reflection)
      - [TA's Feedback & Reflection](#ta-s-feedback---reflection)
      - [Feedback & Reflection Summary ](#review-feedback)
---

## Updates on DP1
**We have made the following changes in DP1 (Please refer to the revised DP1 report for details) :**
- Additional interview to retrieve more user-specific needs and insights that are related to overall train travel and ticket booking experience.
- Revision on interesting moments that involves the details retrieved from the additional interview. 
- Revision on the figures of the interviewee to capture specific moments (interesting moments other than user test on KORAIL mobile application).
- Revision on every needs and insights considering the newly acquired interview answers. 
- Submitted as .zip file instead of single .md file, obeying the submission guideline. 
___

## POV
> From needs and insights retrieved form the interview on the target user group that was addressed in the previous DP1, we came up with a following point of view (POV). 
> 
**We met** seniors who try to book train with the remote ticketing service.
**We were amazed** to realize that they want to follow clear, error-robust and end-to-end (managing users until the departure) train ticketing process on such service.
**It would be game-changing** if this were met, because seniors, who are not familiar with technology, tend to struggle during the reservation process longer than other groups when they experience unexpected situations.

---

## Persona
> Here, we develop a persona for the imaginary user that can represent the user group in our POV. It includes several demographic information along with the motivations, beliefas, preferences and goals that are closely related to the experience. 

<center><img src ="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1UKNlQgC.jpg"></center>
    <center> Figure 1. This is the profile picture of Mrs. Na Moon-hee. (Created with Apple Memoji) </center>
<br>

**Personal Information** 
- **Name** : Na Moon-hee
- **Occupation** : Non 
- **Gender** : Female 
- **Age** : 74
- **Location** : Daejoen Seo-Gu
- **Family** : Her husband is living together and she also has two daugthers living in Pohang and Busan. 
<br>


**Motivations** : `She wants to visit her daughter living in Pohang and Busan.` Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she regularly visited her daughter twice a month by bus. However, since the pandemic, the Daejeon-Pohang route is no longer in operation, and the Daejeon-Busan route has greatly reduced its services.`She once tried to use the KORAIL mobile ticketing application that her daughter mentioned, however, gave up using it after experiencing difficulties in searching for tickets and making purchase.` Recently, she visits Daejeon station in person to book the train. However, she frequently discovers that the tickets are already sold out, and it takes a significant amount of time to get to the station. `Therefore, she wishes to utilize remote ticketing services, which are both easy and time-efficient.`

**Belief** : `She thinks that current mobile applications for the ticketing services are unintutive and complicated for seniors like her.` `After experiencing some errors (e.g. multiple payments or wrong ticket) when using a mobile ticketing application for bus, she now doubts about the mobile ticketing service itself.` `For the sake of simplicity and sanity of reservation, she has opted to make the booking in person at the station (terminal).` Still, she wish that it would be great if she can easily book the train ticket using the safe remote method so that she can greatly save the time visiting the train. 


**Preference** : When it comes to make decision on the purchase or reservation, `she prioritizes the reliability of the service.` Since she's a worrywart about travel plans, `she always frets about whether her tickets and accommodation reservations are made correctly when traveling.` Eventhough she mainly uses the long distance transportation to visit her daugthers, however, `she also wishes to travel around using the train.`

**Goal** : She wants to book the train ticket using the remote ticketing service which is intuitive, straighforward, error-robust for seniors like her.  Thereby, she doesn't have to waste time visiting the station in person and worrying about ticket sellouts.

**Additional Details.(e.g. experience, personality, traits)** 
- She feels embarassed easily by unexpected situation due to her introvert personality.
-  She wants to learn and utilize IT technology because some of her friends have been use it in several ways, however, she is not used to them. 
- She bought her first smartphone 6 years ago and only uses the Youtube and KakaoTalk application other than pre-installed applications. 
- As she is financially stabled and cautious about her health, she always prefers reserved seats over standing room. 
- Among a window seat and an aisle seat, she prefers the latter. She also prefers seats that are close to the entrance due to the ease of mobility.
- She visits Daejoen station (takes 30-40 minutes from her home) a few days before the departure date to buy the ticket. 
- She had some experiences that she missed the train because of her slow step and complicated signage. 


---

## HMW Questions
>In this section, we came up with 10 HMW questions that serve as a bridge between your POV and solution ideas. We specifically considered their connections between our POV and persona. After listing 10 HMW questions, we have selected the 3 most compelling HMW questions based on the criteria we described here. 

**HMW Question List**
* **We found 10 HMW questions that**...
    * **HMW guide and inform seniors to board the train safely after completing their booking?**
    * HMW classify the train reservation stages by its type?
    * **HMW assist seniors in easily recognizing that they are successfully completing the ticketing service?**
    * HMW allow seniors to reverse the wrong choice right away?
    * HMW prevent seniors' expressions of intention from being misrepresented?
    * HMW respond to all the situations seniors can?
    * HMW explain all the phrases in the process of booking train to seniors?
    * HMW let seniors just work on simple tasks and do the rest on the other side?
    * **HMW motivate seniors to learn and understand how the functionality of the booking system works?**
    * HMW keep seniors from wandering during the train reservation process?

**Top 3 HMW Questions Selection with Explanation**

* **HMW guide and inform seniors to board the train safely after completing their booking?**
    * Seniors have shown a tendency to be more embarrassed than other user groups, according to the interviews. As a result of the interview, the seniors tended to be more embarrassed than other groups of users. This continued even after they booked a ticket and was linked to the "end-to-end" process mentioned in the POV. We felt the need to design the entire process from the elderly to booking tickets and boarding the train in an elderly-friendly way.
* **HMW assist seniors in easily recognizing that they are successfully completing the ticketing service?**
    * Seniors who are not familiar with IT technology and complicated programs significantly struggle when dealing with multi-step operations on services like mobile applications. Our user group, that was addressed during the interview in DP1 has also revelaed the vulnability to such complicated system. Our POV which states that they should 'follow clear, intuitive and error-robust ticketing process on such service.' also necessitates consideration of easily recognizable progress status representation. This indeed applies to our persona. Therefore, we chose to tackle this HMW question afterward.
* **HMW motivate seniors to learn and understand how the functionality of the booking system works?**
    * One of the notable insights retrieved from the interview in DP1 was that seniors with low IT knowledge and experience often had a hard time understanding the structure of the reservation system. Thereby, they often gave up while trying to learn it even though they are interested in it. It is closely related to the phrase 'easy, intuitive' in our POV, as providing enough motivation for them to learn the booking system in easy and intuitive way would be critical in completing the senior-friendly booking system.  Therefore, we chose to inspect and support the functionality that motivates users to learn and undesrtand the system works. 
---

## Solution Ideas
> To tackle the previously formulated HMW questions, we came up with following solution ideas. Among 10 solution ideas for each HMW questions, we specifically selected the three best solution ideas overall. 


**Solution Idea List**

We found 10 Solution Ideas for each HMW questions.

- **HMW guide and inform seniors to board the train safely after completing their booking?**
    - Provide interactive virtual tours of train stations on your website or mobile app, allowing seniors to familiarize themselves with the layout and facilities before they get on a train.
    - Offer concierge services specifically tailored to seniors, where trained staff members assist with various aspects of the travel experience, including luggage handling, wayfinding, and boarding assistance.
    - Establish a program that pairs seniors with travel companions who accompany them from the booking process through boarding and disembarking.
    - Develop a step-by-step visual guide displayed on the booking confirmation page, outlining the boarding process for seniors.
    - **Provide an in-station map that utilizes ultra-wideband technology to help seniors locate the terminal and necessary facilities.**
    - Operate chatbot system that answers seniors’ curiosity in the steps prior to the boarding with natural language.
    - Support priority boarding for seniors to they have ample time and assistance to board the train safely if the train station is the first station.
    - Send minimal text messages that summarizes the ticket details and the route to the designated platform prior to the departure.
    - Offer dedicated assistance services for seniors, such as station attendants or volunteers who can provide personalized guidance and support to ensure they board on the right train at time.
    - Design easy-to-read signage at train stations with clear directions and instructions for seniors.
- **HMW assist seniors in easily recognizing that they are successfully completing the ticketing service?**
    - Number the process by “Current state / Total state” or percentage.
    - Use ARS system and making to indicate each step verbally through ARS.
    - Indicate the each stage and progress of the ticket booking with comprehensible natural languages rather than abbreviations.
    - Visualize the ticket and visualize reservation system with filling in the tickets with details
    - Add a tutorial or manual that explains necessary stage of the train booking and make senior users to refer to it in advance.
    - Provide informative feedback messages or alerts to confirm when a step has been completed successfully
    - Break down the booking process as much as possible to help user to understand the stage intuitively.
    - Build the booking system application with clear process indication (e.g. layer, progression bar) to indicate which stage of booking is being processed.
    - **Create a system where seniors can review if they have reserved tickets correctly at the last step before making the purchase so that seniors doesn’t have to worry about whether each step is being correctly processed.**
    - Use easily recognizable icons or symbols to represent different stages of the booking process.
- **HMW motivate seniors to learn and understand how the functionality of the booking system works?**
    - Facilitate Chatbot system that seniors can make the reservation without feeling any unfamiliarity.
    - **Borrow design features of the application that seniors are familiar (e.g. KakaoTalk, Youtube) with as much as possible so that it can guarantee learnability and reduce possible errors due to misunderstanding.**
    - Design the booking system with a clean and intuitive user interface, featuring large, easy-to-read fonts, clear navigation buttons so that seniors does not have to inspect all the complicated features and give up.
    - Accumulate certain mileage so that the user is motivated whenever a user succeeds in issuing a ticket
    - Establish an environment for seniors to ask questions about the system face-to-face with employees.
    - Establish a peer mentoring program where experienced seniors who are proficient in using the booking system can volunteer to mentor and support their peers who are learning.
    - Implement a FAQ section within the booking platform, addressing common concerns and queries that seniors may have about using the system effectively.
    - Integrate tutorial-like visual cues for the first 5 reservations so that seniors can be fully trained with the funcionalities of the service.  
    - Implement a "sandbox" mode within the booking system where seniors can practice making mock bookings without the risk of actual transactions, allowing them to explore and learn at their own pace.
    - Emphasize the benefits of using the booking system, such as convenience, time-saving, and access to a wider range of services or activities by short-from advertisement in the initial window. 

**Top3 Solution Ideas Selection with Explanation**
- Provide an in-station map that utilizes ultra-wideband technology to help seniors locate the terminal and necessary facilities.
    - Inspecting the needs and insights that we gained from DP1, we found that seniors have difficulty on going to train stations and taking trains after booking. To make it easier to board the train after booking, seniors should be able to find terminals and the necessart facilities easily. Therefore, what we have come up with is to provide an in-station map utilizing ultra-wideband technology.
- Create a system where seniors can review if they have reserved tickets correctly at the last step before making the purchase so that seniors doesn’t have to worry about whether each step is being correctly processed.
    - If seniors can review the details of their ticket reservation at the last step prior to the purchase, it would definitely guarantee the sanity of their reservation. As seniors have shown weakness in memorizing complicated steps during the reservation, it would be critical to tackle the HMW question, 'HMW assist seniors in easily recognizing that they are successfully completing the ticketing service?'.
- Borrow design features of the application that seniors are familiar (e.g. KakaoTalk, Youtube) with as much as possible so that it can guarantee learnability and reduce possible errors due to misunderstanding.
    - Even though younger generations are used to wide range of application implementations and online services, however, seniors have very limited amount of IT knowledge. It also applies to our persona who only uses KakaoTalk and Youtube. Therefore, to build intuitive application that guarantees learnability for senior users, we came up with the conclusion that we should analyze and adopt the key features from the applications that they are familiar. It would reduce the probabitlity of error while they are using it, resulting in more straightg forward system.  
---

## Storyboards
> For each of the top 3 solution ideas, we have developed the following storyboards, assuming that our persona has encountered relevant problems and illustrating how our solutions can be applied to address such problems.


- **Provide an in-station map that utilizes ultra-wideband technology to help seniors locate the terminal and necessary facilities.**
<center><img src ="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkpX9_HeA.png"></center>
    <center> Figure 2. This story board shows that our persona, Mrs. Na Moon-hee tries to book the ticket using the mobile ticketing service and succeeded to book the ticket. However, she could not find the exact location of the platform at the station so she panics. Every neighboring people seems busy to help her. But, with the simple in-station map that utilizes the ultra-wideband technology in her chip, she could locate the terminal 5 minutes before the departure. Hooray!  </center>
<br>


- **Create a system where seniors can review if they have reserved tickets correctly at the last step before making the purchase so that seniors doesn’t have to worry about whether each step is being correctly processed.**

<center><img src ="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SJF39_rgC.png="></center>
    <center> Figure 3. This story board shows that our persona, Mrs. Na Moon-hee is being confused while booking the train ticket using the conventional remote ticketing service and accidently purchased wrong ticket. Howver, after using our alternative service, it monitors and let users to verify their ticket details at the last step so that she can ensure the validity of her ticket without being worried about it.  </center>
<br>


- **Borrow design features of the application that seniors are familiar (e.g. KakaoTalk, Youtube) with as much as possible so that it can guarantee learnability and reduce possible errors due to misunderstanding.**
<center><img src ="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByBobOHl0.jpg"></center>
    <center> Figure 4. This story board shows that our persona, Mrs. Na Moon-hee panics when encountering complicated ticketing service (e.g. conventional rail compnay application or kiosk), however, after utilizing our alternative ticketing service, she can now proceed the booking with the UI features that are already familiar with. She could learn it way faster than other existing remote ticketing method, so she sticks to this service when she has to book the train ticket to visit her daughters. Congrats! Moon-hee!</center>
---

## Studio Reflections
> Thanks to students and TA in the CS374 design studio, we could collect following invaluable feedbacks about our work. 

### Students' Feedback & Reflection
> * I wish your HMWs are more focused on the experience. I think it is still more focused on redesigning the existing app. I think your solutions are also features that you might add, not individual solutions.
> * I think your target problem is that the user cannot book tickets online. I think you can focus on solving this problem and not the problems of KORAIL app. For example, you can make a website for booking a train or you can book a train with phone call, or make it easier to buy tickets offline. 
> * I still didn’t get what it means interactive windows and how its really different from current web windows. 
* Our Goal is NOT redesigning the existing app like korail. Our goal is making a Individual train ticketing services only for Seniors who struggle in ticketing. However, Like your advice, our system may seem to have only redesigned due to the existence of a representative app for train reservation called korail, so we will try to built a system that can achieve our goals with a clear difference from korail.
> * I’m not sure that seniors are familiar with the design of Kakao, Naver… listed in your third solution.
> * What if your target user is not used to Kakao Talk or Youtube? The target user may not be used to using a mobile device itself and may need more aid than you think.
> * What if the seniors are not even used to popular applications like Naver or Kakaotalk? What would be an important feature of your interface besides resembling other apps?
*  Most of the interviewees we interviewed answered that they were familiar with apps such as kakaotalk and Naver. Nevertheless, it still not for all seniors, so we will look into ways to include more targets. Because our important feature is the "UI for elderly". 
> * What if different seniors are used to different apps? Will you adjust your UI to match their individual experiences? 
> * What if the apps familiar to seniors are very different for each?
*  Since it is impossible to provide all the UI that fits each of the seniors' experiences, we will make system that the most seniors use in common.
> * I think there should be some other solutions related to how to change decisions or teach older people, rather than changing design on machines or windows. 
* As you said, we have thought about all ideas like "Facilitate human ARS system that guides users to learn and understand the booking system step by step". Through this, we selected the best solutions to achieve our goal.

### TA's Feedback & Reflection
> * Regarding your solution idea #1, for example, "Implement a single interactive window for each reservation" can be understood as just the opposite/different way from the current app (e.g., Korail). I understood it as re-designing an interface, not the experience. 
* As the TA said, this part seems to be a solution that is not much different from KORAIL. Reflecting the opinion, we changed it to a unique solution that our system has.
> * Solution idea #3 is derived from a very broad HMW (HMW make senior users feel familiar when booking the tickets?), so I couldn't see a close connection between HMW and solution ideas. 
* We changed our HMW question correlated with solution idea #3. It is now derived with the new idea "HMW motivate seniors to learn and understand how the functionality of the booking system works?"


### Feedback & Reflection Summary 
> To organize the feedbacks in a high-level theme, core ideas that were addressed are given as follows. We reflected invaluable feedbacks on our report and our future design.  

- **Focus on experience rather than improiving application.**
- **Concerns on the wide range of target user to include seniors with low IT technology.** 
- **Solutions should show clear link to the HMW questions.**
- **Some solutions are not fully-explanatory.**
