Moovit
How do blind people navigate chaotic public transit when 80% of city wayfinding relies on sight? An end-to-end accessibility ecosystem combining real-time acoustic telemetry, streamlined push notifications, and tactile physical bus stop infrastructure.
UX/UI Designer in UX Bats Student Group
Miquido x Moovit x UX Bats
WCAG 2.1 AAA & Screen Reader Parity
How to help blind people navigate through public transport?
As UX Bats team, during our postgraduate studies of User Experience and Product Design, alongside with our partner Miquido, we were required to create a digital solution that would assist people with visual impairment in safe navigation around the town.
We were supposed to combine an existing app Moovit and experiences gathered during out work with the visually impaired.
Navigating a world designed around sight
Through vision we receive over 80% of information about the world surrounding us. How do blind people deal in the public space? What tools does the contemporary world provide them with?
Our team was assigned with a difficult task of creating a digital product for people with visual impairment that would help them in navigating around the town. We had no idea how much knowledge we would have to gain before we could even start designing.
Understanding the scale of the challenge
On the market, there are plenty of apps that facilitate the lives of those with visual impairment, but these apps often fail due to:
- • lack of a defined business model;
- • lack of consistency in municipal infrastructure: pavement solutions, tactile pavings, directional or guidance tactile and wayfindings;
- • barely non-existent legal regulations regarding standards for, e.g. paths for the visually impaired.
of sociaty has
vision problems
of the visualy impaired
have low vision
of the blind walk out of
the house every day
Listening before designing
The initial phase of work on the product was research with the potential users. The theme of the visually impaired getting around the city was an absolute novelty for us, but after 25 hours of conversations we had an almost clear vision of our product (or we thought so back then!).
We have singled out a few solid facts from the conversations we had carried out. Blind people do not want another app aimed only at the visually impaired. They want inclusive products they could use on their phones. They do not want additional devices that make it harder to get around the city. Additionally, they very much welcome any facilities in the public space.
After this phase of research, we decided to narrow down the target group to just the blind people. People with visual impairment have completely different problems.
What blind commuters need from public transport
“Designing for smartphone is the most universal, another devices in your pocket are problematic”
“I don't want to install another app!”
“I feel dots under my legs - I know I'm walking onto the road”
“For me, my eyes are replaced with people. Either people or a smartphone...”
Three barriers to independent travel
We singled out a group of problems related with travelling using public transport by blind people and we focused the succeeding work on those problems.
identify the vehicle number
A blind person does not always want to ask other people. Not always is there anyone they could ask. They want to have a tool that would allow them to recognize the number of a vehicle on their own.
double stop
A blind person is not able to see whether behind an upcoming bus there is another one, one they actually want to use. Another bus will just go away and they will have to wait for the next one.
identify the stop
In Cracow stops do not have unique names. For instance, there are 10 bus stops named “Rondo Mogilskie”. A blind person wants to be sure they are waiting at the right one.
Taking research beyond the screen
Conducting reliable research was very difficult due to the lack of support of prototypes for screen readers.
We created a prototype in Adobe XD - the app enables to play prerecorded audio. In order to conduct research, we recorded voice notifications with a speech synthesiser and created a dashboard to manage them. The blind was using the standard Moovit app during the tests and we played the notifications at specific moments.
The place of research was always a pavement or a bus stop. We had a bluetooth speaker which our respondents could hang on their necks or hold close to the ear.
We even created elements of Service Design! We made a prototype of Safe Zone out of cardboard and bottle caps, which could be felt with a white stick and feet. We built a bus from a cardboard box to simulate its arrival to the bus stop!
Turning insights into design decisions
Users want freely turn the notifications on and off
Some users need a very short instruction and others a longer explanation
Notifications are too long! Users want concise information
Users opinions divided: is distance or time more important in notifications?
Finding the right solution for commuters
User Journey Map, Value Proposition Canvas and the Eisenhower Matrix allowed us to come up with three ideas for products that may solve problems of our users. Unfortunately, two of them turned out to be too big to implement and they did not respond to one of the major problems of the blind - having to install another app on their phone. After a few pivots, we finally decided to redesign the Moovit app, which blind people often use during their travels around the city.
journey planner
too big a product to implement in such a short period. Not applicable to be an MVP.
new timetable app
blind people do not want another new app that they have to install and learn how to use
redesign of mMPK app
unfortunately, the iOS version is missing, and iOS is a system that is most commonly used by blind people
Designing a more accessible journey
After analyzing the entire architecture of the Moovit app, we decided to map it out and add a few features of our own, expanding the scope of the app. It helped us identify where we could implement new functionalities.
Bringing the experience together
After analyzing the entire architecture of the Moovit app, we decided to map it out and add a few features of our own, expanding the scope of the app. It helped us identify where we could implement new functionalities.
Designing a more inclusive journey through public transport
The project brought together accessible digital guidance and physical wayfinding to support blind commuters at different stages of a journey. Research and field testing informed clearer, shorter audio notifications, with more detailed guidance available when needed.
A tactile Safe Zone concept explored how the app experience could connect with the bus stop itself. Together, these ideas formed a service concept grounded in commuters’ real needs and designed to support greater confidence and independence.