Transperth App
Transperth, constantly in the top ten Navigation apps in Australia, wanted to add live tracking so commuters could see live bus, train and ferry locations, but wanted to get it right the first time.
Working with Transperth, their software partner Jacobs and the design team at Hatchd we co-designed a new app experience that seamlessly integrated the new live tracking service and brought the public into the design process via a large scale public beta.
After detailed UX and technical planning (including the selection of React Native as a preferred framework) Adapptor was able to commence development of the new app. In addition to the front end app assembly the Adapptor engineering team worked closely with Transperth's business technology team and Jacobs to connect to the organisations authentication, SilverRail’s Journey planner engine and timetable systems. In parallel the Hatchd and Transperth Marketing teams designed a 3 month public beta for several thousand people to take part.
In November 2018 the beta trial was launched when Transperth published a request on their website and social media platforms. Over the space of several weeks over 4,000 people signed up to test the app. Using purpose-built software, the beta app allowed testers to submit feedback instantly. People could take a screen grab or record a video to demonstrate any issues they encountered with the app experience. Transperth could then communicate directly with those people to solicit additional details and troubleshoot any problems.
Launching a beta trial
Periodically throughout the public beta, Transperth conducted short surveys to gather additional information from the beta participants. Each beta participant responded to the surveys, and a further 1000 interactions occurred between Transperth and the testers through the app itself, gathering amazing feedback, suggestions, and ultimately public engagement and buy-in to the new version.
The public engagement also allowed the development team to incorporate many suggestions, fix a range of bugs and update participants with new versions. This continuous improvement through the public beta demonstrated to the participants that their involvement was an important element of building the new service.
As a result, the public release of the app generated great feedback from the public, with many five-star reviews in the app store: “I was lucky enough to be a part of the beta testing group for this app. It now much more intuitive and tracking services in real time makes taking public transport much more attractive in Perth. This is a game changer for the people of Perth. You can track buses and trains like Uber. Very cool.” People also published rave reviews on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
The Transperth app is available for free from the App Store and Google Play.