1 - The Project

We aimed to propose a realistic solution for recharging the transport card in self-service terminals, targeting the mass public.

Still, within the research topic, other relevant questions emerged:

• The process of acquiring the transport card;

• The process of canceling a stolen, stolen, or lost card;

• Solutions for tourists or temporary visitors;

• Cardless access solutions;

• Accessibility issues.

These issues can and should be addressed later, in a larger plan of interconnected solutions. Our project aims to meet the local needs of a city with great potential and that has also been a reference worldwide. Curitiba City Hall encourages the development of actions that can help the capital of Paraná to become a smart city. This, finally, will be our contribution to a city that already shows signs of neglect and abandonment in many of its public services.

2 - Data Collect

To better explore and align the group's knowledge on the topic, the CSD Matrix - certainties, assumptions, and doubts were carried out. The technique was important for defining the focus of the project and the research that would follow.

2.2 Desk Research

Desk research was of great importance in collecting data about public transport in Curitiba. Statistical and historical data about URBS and its current electronic ticketing system were collected.

It also added to the project a benchmarking study on solutions for payment and recharge of travel credits in other large national and international cities.

2.2.1 RIOCARD ( Rio de Janeiro - RJ)

Riocard had several cards, but as of October 23, 2019, it started to use only one type, unifying all functions. Among them, some interesting ones such as the possibility of charging only one ticket in 2 hours even when changing lanes, the unification of other means of transport debited from the same card with special rates, leaving cheaper and in addition to having totems spread not only in terminals but also in the subway, waterway stations and own stores along the access streets to the boarding stations of the means of transport (bus, ferry, BRT)

2.2.2 Opal card (Sydney - Australia)

Sydney, like Rio de Janeiro, has several forms of public transport, from buses to ferries and light rail. The Opal Card is a card that allows the user to access all these means of transport using a single card. Fares change according to the route taken. For the bus fare, for example, the highest amount to be paid within the city is AU$4.80, and the minimum fare is AU$2.24 (with the transport card). To find out the distance that the passenger has traveled, he must touch the card to the reader at the entrance and exit of the vehicle. If the user forgets, he pays the higher fare. The rates are also capped, the user pays a maximum of AU$16.10 per day and AU$50 per week. This allows users who live far from the city center, or who travel long distances, to have free tickets on the last day of the week. On Sundays, like Curitiba, the fare is reduced, costing only AU$ 2.80.

2.2.3 TAP (Los Angeles - EUA)

Los Angeles also has many forms of public transportation, which are operated by Metro, or MTA. In 2008, they implemented a universal fare system called the Tap or Transit Access Pass. The TAP card allows bus and subway users to touch their cards to the validators and make faster boarding, similar to the current system in Curitiba. They are accepted as payment on most public transport lines in the metropolitan area. Scattered around the card acceptance area are self-service machines at all stations and bus stops. The machines allow obtaining and recharging the card, being allowed to load it for just one trip, or unlimited trips in 1 day, 7 days, and 30 days.

3 - Construction Process

3.1 How Might We

As a method applied by the team, we defined a “How might we”, or “How we can”, to better define the focus of the project and avoid distractions.

The result was: How can we improve the URBS transport card recharge experience at physical points?

3.2 Quantitative Research

As mentioned in the introduction, we describe a hypothetical situation of a day laborer who receives a ticket in cash and needs to recharge her card. This situation happens much more than we imagine and not only with those who receive the value of the ticket in cash, but with other users who want to speed up a recharge process and are unable to.

We started the research aiming to serve a part of the population that still uses currency in cash for their activities, but we realized that the general public needs more practical and accessible recharge options.

We focused the research basically on two groups: the residents of Curitiba itself, and those who live in the metropolitan region, aiming to cover most of our focus group. Thus, through a questionnaire, we obtained a sample of 230 responses, which can be seen below:

Leave a comment, if you wish, about your experience

on recharging the transport card!

"Confusing site, bad usability, in addition to the only possibility to pay in barcode document and only fall 3 days later on card balance"

"Bureaucratic and inefficient. It's really bad to have to go to a place to recharge. Apart from that you have to pay a ticket just for that..."

"The site is very confusing, I always spend a lot of time looking for where to recharge outside that sometimes I have to end up going there because it doesn't work."

"In my case, the system works very well, when I receive the credit from the company, I just touch the card as if I were going to pay the ticket so that the tickets are credited to the card."

"It's terrible! Old and inefficient system. Credits take 3-4 days to be credited to your card."

"I hate that there is a recharge fee and to be able to recharge the transport card you have to enter the terminal, that is, pay a ticket just for that."

"It could be more practical and accessible in more places."

"Little ease in the means of payment (only barcode doc) and delay in updating purchased credits"

"Now they've created something like recharge savings. I thought it was bad because I wasn't warned and the recharge doesn't appear when it takes effect."

3.3 Empathy Map

We chose an empathy map to understand the perceptions and feelings of the user about the recharge process overall.

From the results of the quantitative research, two empathy maps were made: one for the recharge experience via the URBS website, and one for the recharge experience at physical points, such as “Citizenship Street”, bus stations, newsstands, and snack bars.

3.3.1 Website Recharge Map

3.1.2 Physical Points Recharge Map

3.4 Requirements

System requirements are functions, objectives, properties, and constraints that the system must have to satisfy

user needs. Five basic and extremely important requirements were defined for the solution that would be proposed:

> Be didactic, as users will not always have an affinity for technology;

accept cash;

> Accept credit and debit cards;

> Suggest recharge values ​​converted into ticket numbers;

> Allow the task to be completed in a few taps and less than 5 minutes;

3.5 Flowchart

A flowchart was organized to better understand the transition of information on each screen. Flowcharts allow a more explicit look at the possible paths to complete a task or perform a certain action.

3.6 Prototyping

From a better understanding of the flow of the system, the initial sketches of the screens began to be scribbled.

These aim to quickly externalize our ideas into a visual format, with a minimal sense of the hierarchy and positioning of the proposed information.

After defining the skeleton of the screens, the next step was to prototype them on the computer. The tool used for this purpose was FIGMA. The prototype includes screen transition animations for instructional purposes.

3.7 Usability test

The usability test was carried out with five people with different profiles, aiming to represent all types of public that use public transport in Curitiba daily.

The methodology applied was that of Steve Krug in his book “Do it yourself”. The method consisted of an analysis of each screen by the user until he completed the requested task. The user was instructed to speak aloud of their actions and observations. The user's task was to carry out a recharge in cash, or a credit/debit card. The five users who performed the test and served as a sample were:

> Mariana, store saleswoman, 28 y.o.

> Paulo, Studant, 19 y.o.

> Sonia, cleanner, 48 y.o.

> Ronaldo, Concierge, 43 y.o.

In general, the solution was well accepted. All users were able to complete the task, with some having an easier time than others. It is worth mentioning that for this test an iPad was used, to simulate the screen of the self-service machine. In this way, we limited ourselves to testing the interaction with the screen itself. Interactions with the card machine or actions such as depositing banknotes have not been tested.

From the pains identified in the flow of use, Job Stories were used to better contextualize and describe the intensity of the problem.

1. When I start using the machine, I want to know how I should interact with it so that there are no uncertainties right from the start.

2. When I'm going to do a recharge, I want to repeat the same one I did last time so that I don't have to select the value again.

3. When I'm in Brazil and I need to use the charging machine, I want it to support the language I speak so that I understand what I'm doing.

4. When I'm going to top up by paying with a card, I want to choose how much to pay, so that the top-up value is appropriate for the number of tickets I need.

5. When I'm going to top up paying with cash, I want to know what bills the machine accepts, so I know if I have them.

6. When I'm going to top up paying in cash, I want to know if the machine will give me the change so that I don't have a surprise at the end if it doesn't.

7. When I make a top-up from the machine, I want proof of the transaction, so that I can prove it in case there is a problem in the future.

After completing the Job Stories, some possible solutions to the problems ecountered were identified:

1. Add a “rest” screen to the stream, right at the beginning, welcoming you in several languages ​​and instructing you to just tap on it to get started.

2. Add information on which payment method was last recharged.

3. Option to change system language at any point in the flow.

4. Add a screen to the flow, before selecting the amount by credit or debit card, instructing on the ways to select the desired amount.

5. Add information on which notes are accepted for cash payment.

6. Add the information that the machine does not return change, with the unused credit being accumulated in the balance.

7. Add the function to print the recharge receipt on the machine. Printing is optional. The receipt is automatically sent by SMS to the cardholder's number.

These hypotheses of solutions were later iterated in the prototype.

4.1 Recharge Totem

The support chosen to solve recharge in physical environments and the conversion of money into credits was the recharge totem. It is a self-service machine equipped with a touchscreen, where the user does not need to look for physical buttons. All options and information are displayed on the screen, with just a few taps to execute the actions. In addition, all inputs (transport cards and banknotes) and outputs (recharge vouchers) are visible and properly signposted. Completing the self-service set, the totem has a credit and debit card reader, offering more options for recharging.

The structure of the totem has a high-resistance ballistic coating for safety reasons, making it more difficult to breach. In addition, the compartment containing the totem operating devices is separate from the banknote reservoir, both with different accesses. The first, located at the top, will only allow access to maintenance teams. The second, just below, consists of a safe with two coded keys with exclusive access to the valuables transport team. Therefore, the totem is safe enough not to have to stay exclusively inside terminals, which require the use of a transport card for access.

4.2 Interface

Screensaver

Machine rest screen. It displays a Welcome message and the instruction tap the screen to get started. The text is displayed fixed in portuguese (native language) and alternately in other languages.

Onboarding

Information on what the machine does and instructions for placing the transport card in the reader to get started.

Home Screen

Identifies the user according to the card that the user inserted into the reader. balance information and how many tickets are available. Option to recharge or repeat the last one. The option to repeat the last recharge follows the flow, just skipping the screen to select the amount, if you prefer to pay by card.

Payment methods

A kind of crossroads, where the user chooses how to pay for their recharge. Information on which banknotes and card brands are accepted.

Cash payment instructions

Screen with a didactic purpose. Instructs the user on how to deposit the notes and finalize the process. The “I understand, proceed” button only appears on the screen after a certain delay, which forces the user to process the screen information before proceeding.

Banknote Deposit

This screen has two purposes:

1 - to instruct the user to deposit the note in his input;

2 - to return to him the amount of money being identified;

It also tells you how many tickets and how much credit the user will have after recharging based on the identified value.

Amount recharge selection on the card

Screen to choose the recharge amount, to be charged to the credit or debit card. The choice can be made from two shapes. The first is by selecting and adding up suggested ticket quantities. The second is by typing the value by the numeric keypad. Ticket quantity suggestions are based on the amount of credit the user already has. For example, if the user has a balance of BRL 3.00 on their card, $1.70 is missing to complete the value of a ticket. Thus, a “+1 ticket” worth R$1.70 is suggested to complete the value of a ticket. Thus, it is suggested that “+1 ticket” is worth R$1.70, “+2 tickets” worth R$6.40, and so on. In another case, if the user has R$9.40 on your card, R$4.70 is missing to complete the value of a new ticket, that is the full value. So, the full price is suggested, “+1 ticket” for R$4.70.

Card machine instructions

Screen to instruct the user to look at the card machine and follow its instructions

Confirmation

Screen to inform the user that the recharge was successful. A printing option is also available for receipt and informed that it was sent by SMS to the user's mobile number.

Exit

Screen to instruct the user to remove the card from the reader in order to end their session.

5 - Conclusion

After analyzing the pain of users and the solutions that the city government, through URBS, has today and intends to implement from now on, we are afraid that Curitiba hopes to arrive at a critical moment to react, and thus, that the well-known quality of life of the city ​​is gradually lost, turning into yet another confusing and difficult to get around metropolis.

Given all the research and data analysis, we concluded that it is possible to generate alternatives to stimulate the use of public transport. and that can improve the service as a whole, including the process for acquiring the transport card and a temporary card for those who have lost or stolen it, as well as solutions for tourists and temporary visitors.

We also observed that users prefer to pay more using transport applications such as UBER, 99 and Cabify, due to the convenience, comfort, and varied payment options, generating more practicality and accessibility. Therefore, we also perceive the need for a significant improvement in the processes carried out via the web and applications.

With this project, we sincerely hope to help the city regain its position as an example of urban mobility, creating alternatives and solutions to be shared with other major centers in the country and who knows the world. We make it clear that the process discussed here is the beginning of other solutions that will be necessary, evolving the service as a whole, interconnecting each function, and raising it to the level that we envision as a reference.