⭐ Ecora ⭐

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How might we...motivate Toronto commuters to use public transportation through showing it’s positive effect on the environment & making the travelling experience more fun and reliable?

1) ⚠️ Clear definition of problem

According to World of Data, transport accounts for around 1/5 of global CO₂ emissions. These emissions contribute to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to global warming and climate change. Each car emits a certain amount of CO2 per kilometer driven, and when multiplied by the millions of cars on the road globally, the cumulative effect becomes significant. The automotive sector stands as a substantial contributor to CO2 emissions, necessitating urgent action to mitigate its environmental impact.

2) ✅ Significance of the problem (User research)

It is time for Canadians to act on this problem and we can do this one step at a time. We hope to encourage Canadians to use more public transit instead of driving because each car produces roughly 4.6 metric tons of CO2 a year. However, we quickly realized that only 10.1% of Canadian use public transit even though there's plenty of options out there. Therefore, we conducted a primary research survey to understand why they're people don't gravitates towards public transit. Through 22 responses, we found out that user felt like the current system is infrequent, time consuming, inconvenient and boring due to the long wait time. We also found out that 91% user would much rather drive than take public transit. But luckily, 68% Commuter suggested that by knowing how their mode of transportation impacts the environment, they will choose the more environmentally cleaner option. After this, we conducted completive analysis on the current transit app on the market and user personas to understand the needs and wants. Lastly, we were able to identify 3 main ket pain points that Canadians were facing:

🚫 Pain Point #1: No motivation to plan trips, as it never accurate & reliable
🚫 Pain Point #2: Spend lots of time waiting for buses/ takes a long time to get to destination
🚫 Pain Point #3: Not knowing how own actions impacts greenhouse emissions

How might we...motivate Toronto commuters to use public transportation through showing it’s positive effect on the environment & making the travelling experience more fun and reliable?

3) 💡 Clear definition of solution

ECORA is made for commuters who are looking for an accurate, fun & rewarding way to use public transportation! Why should users download it? This app is allows users to easily earn points & rewards by using public transit, it has a live & accurate GPS tracking system on all vehicles, it allows user to fully understand their positive impact by using public transit and it is fun way to get educated on climate change!

By booking a trip using public transit and playing educational fun games, users can earn points and redeem rewards such as free ride passes or have the option to exchange their rewards for a donation to First Nation children who needs rides to school.

4) 🤓 Clear problem-solution fit

🚫 Pain Point #1: No motivation to plan trips, as it never accurate & reliable
✅ Feature that solved for this pain point: Live & accurate transit tracking system. It shows user exactly how long their bus will arrive w/ GPS tracking on all vehicles -> suggesting the best route for them!

🚫 Pain Point #2: Spend lots of time waiting for buses/ takes a long time to get to destination
✅ Feature that solved for this pain point: Earn points & rewards by using public transit. Bored from waiting for your bus? Play education games to learn more about way you can better help our environment! Users can redeem points for free ride pass or sponsor a school bus for First Nation children.

🚫 Pain Point #3: Not knowing how own actions impacts greenhouse emissions
✅ Feature that solved for this pain point: Showing users the amount of CO2 emission they have saved for choosing public transport. Points motivate users to continue positively impacting the environment.

5) ✏️ Progress made on the solution

I have created 20 high-fidelity screen prototype on Figma to showcase the end-to-end experience of the product! Click the link below to view:

8) 🏔 Demonstrating fit in one’s broader landscape of action

ECORA's key partners are Ontario's transit systems (VIVA, TTC, Go Transit...ect). They are our main sponsors funding for the rewards (4X free day pass) we give out to users when they've hit points milestones on the app. In return, we help generate more users to take public transit and because user need to plan trips ahead, the issues of commuters skipping paying fares will decrease. The First nation Child & Family Caring Society is our second biggest partner. Users can exchange their rewards (4X free ride pass) to sponsor a school bus as a good cause! ECORA will donate the cash value of the 4X free ride pass to First nation Child & Family Caring Society.

9) 🚫 Consideration of gaps

• Relay on Ontario government and transit partnership to support this initiative
• Need many rounds of user testing to ensure the digital experience is the best out there
• Requires ongoing version updates
• Doesn't take account if users doesn't plan a trip through this app

10) 🤓 Team cohesion

Christy Wang: UX/UI designer with a background in graphic design & strategy @ OCAD U (undergrad student). Katharine Sin: Research pro w/ a background in psychology & marketing @ UofT (undergrad student).

11) 📸 Quality of the video pitch

This pitch started off with the problem surrounding greenhouse gas emissions and how we need to start acting on today by encouraging Canadians to use more public transit. Then, follow by primary and secondary research from Canadians who commute and completive analysis of the current market of transit apps. Once that is completed, pain points are defined and problem statement had been produced. The solution is then launched by introducing the 3 key features and prototype demo. The pitch concluded with analyzing the 4 lens, gaps and introducing the team!

12) 🌎 Consideration of the Four Lenses

An Equity and Justice Lens: Users can exchange their prize to sponsor a school-bus, specifically for First Nation children who are in-need. We will collaborate w/ First Nation Child & Family Caring Society & relay on Ontario for donations. This will encourage users to use more public transit.
A Practical Lens: Conceptualization and Planning (2-4 weeks), Design Phase (4-6 weeks), Development (12-20 weeks), User Testing (4-6 weeks), Deployment and Launch (2-4 weeks), Post-Launch Support & Ongoing Updates.
A Scientific Lens: Collected data from 22 survey responses (Primary Research), Conducted 3 user testing sessions (Primary Research) and Appx. 13% of greenhouse emission is produced by cars. *If we get 20% of Canadians to use public transit, we will save 17.8988 million metric tons per yr.
Recognize Intersectionality: More people use PT = more frequent buses = produce more bus & CO2, In-need a more environmental friendly buses such as EV options, Enhancing the physical experience of using public transit and New urban planning proposal to accommodate an increasing number of public transit.

(received permission from Jessica to resubmit with the correct video length*)

Built With

• figma