{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "SaferBus Mobile App – Usability Case Study |Digital.gov",
    "description": "SaferBus Mobile App – Usability Case Study",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/03/21/saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"SaferBus Mobile App \u0026#8211; Usability Case Study","summary" : "When designing a site, remember that your terms and icons are like signposts that show people where your links and pages lead. Make sure that you use words and pictures that are easily understood or people will have trouble using your site. Small changes like underlining links or adding arrows to indicate expandable information can","date" : "2013-03-21T11:51:29-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jonathan-rubin" : "Jonathan Rubin"},"topics" : {
        
            "mobile" : "Mobile",
            "research" : "Research",
            "usability" : "Usability",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2013-03-21-saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2013/03/2013-03-21-saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/03/2013-03-21-saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/03/2013-03-21-saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study.md","slug" : "saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/03/21/saferbus-mobile-usability-case-study/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eWhen designing a site, remember that your terms and icons are like signposts that show people where your links and pages lead. Make sure that you use words and pictures that are easily understood or people will have trouble using your site. Small changes like underlining links or adding arrows to indicate expandable information can vastly improve the usability of your site.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe DigitalGov User Experience Program helped test SaferBus, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s iPhone Application for reviewing safety on bus lines. Below are the top problems discovered during the test, and the results when they were fixed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"problem-1-homepage-gives-no-starting-point-or-purpose\"\u003eProblem 1: Homepage Gives No Starting Point or Purpose\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet visitors know right away what the purpose of your site is, and what they can do there. The first thing users saw when they arrived here was a search box. What were they supposed to search for, and what is an MC or DOT number?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/saferbus-before-after-1.jpg\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/saferbus-before-after-1.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of Transportation\u0026#39;s iPhone application SaferBus before user testing.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"solution-1-give-home-page-a-tagline-or-description\"\u003eSolution 1: Give Home Page a Tagline or Description\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy adding a description of what SaferBus allows the user to do, the search box appears less intimidating. Now, right away, the user knows that search is to find a bus line and its safety record.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"problem-2-navigation-inconsistent-on-site\"\u003eProblem 2: Navigation Inconsistent On Site\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the results for Megabus came up in a search, the users were confused by the grayed out icons and didn’t know that the blue arrows indicated an expandable list. Also, MEGABUS.COM didn’t appear to be clickable, so the results are not particularly helpful or actionable because people were confused on how to proceed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/saferbus-before-after-2.jpg\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/saferbus-before-after-2.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of Transportation\u0026#39;s iPhone application SaferBus after user testing.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"solution-2-use-universally-accepted-navigation-items\"\u003eSolution 2: Use Universally Accepted Navigation Items\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe user is now able to see exactly what options are available to them via easy–to–see icons and instinctive + (plus) signs, indicating drop–down menus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe icons are no longer grayed out and the blue arrows are changed to a + sign. The + indicates that there is more information to be displayed. Also, underlining the bus line’s name makes it clear that it’s a clickable link (underlining is a universal indicator of a clickable link).\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}