Folo
It’s a School Bus Tracking App
Facts
According to the School Bus Safety Act, 211 Incidents of Children have been left on school buses since 2009 in the U.S.
The American School Bus Council stated that 37 children have died on school buses.
Problem Statement
Children have lost their lives mainly because of the act of the bus drivers and their teacher’s negligence in checking inside the buses upon arrival and taking attendance. Every parent wants to send their children to school on school buses safely.
Project Main Goals
Learn about current issues of using the school bus system, conduct user research, and understand users’ needs and wants to use the school bus more safely.
Input research results and create an app that solves current issues.
My Role
UX Research, UX/UI Design, Branding, & Logo Design
Timeline
2 months
Tools
Figma, Google Document, Google Forms, Zoom, Skype
Hypothesis :
A tool that has a live bus tracking system, check-in and check-out feature, and an efficient communication platform between school bus drivers, teachers, and parents would increase awareness of safety and prevent incidents of leaving children inside of the buses.
The Why :
Using school buses has great benefits for both parents and children. However, all the incidents in the past indicate issues with school bus operations and check-in protocols at schools.
Great benefits include :
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, School buses are 70 times safer than traveling by car.
School buses handle the impact of a crash better than a car.
Reduce traffics and CO2 emissions.
Voices from the users (Parents) :
Kids make new friends.
Interact with other age group children.
Time efficient. Instead of taking time to take and pick up their children, they could use the time for getting things done.
Work well with their schedules.
Business Opportunities:
This app would be an efficient tool for preventing leaving children inside the buses and communicating in care of emergencies.
Parents will know their children have not been left inside buses or accidentally got off at the wrong bus stop.
Retention
Adding a layer of safety protocol and increasing awareness for school bus drivers and teachers to check-in and check-out the students.
Logic
Any parents and any schools to use this app to track children/students getting to school and back from school buses safely.
New Tech
May attract and increase school bus users. Fewer individual cars are driven to drop off and pick up children, potentially reducing traffic and cutting CO2 emissions.
My UX Design Process
User Interview
User Demographics
Parents who have children that age between 3 - 17.
Parents who are busy.
Parents that have mixed opinions on using school buses.
Currently using school bus service.
Used school bus service in the past.
Currently, use school buses and also drive their children to schools.
User Research
What users know about school buses.
What users think of using school bus services in general.
What comfort level of using school bus services and technology.
If users have had any school bus incidences or someone they know has had school bus incidences.
What Users want to know when they use school bus services.
Pros and cons of using school buses.
Users (the parents and their children) school bus experiences.
Users’ reasons for using the school bus services.
User’s reasons for not using the school bus services.
If users use any tools to track their children's school buses/activities currently when children are away from them.
User Interview Results
100%
of parents are worried about school bus incidents
87%
of parents are not comfortable with their children using school buses
53%
of parents let their children take school buses
50%
of parents are not comfortable with their children using school buses
50%
of parents are not so tech shabby
47%
of parents switched from using school buses to other options*
33%
of parents are hybrid
* Driving their children, moving closer to the school so that they can walk to school, and carpooling.
Main Learnings from the User Research
Parents have great concerns about safety
Parents have very little control after their children take buses to school and from school to home
There are a lot of pros and cons (Details in a separate section)
Parents do not know much about bus schedules, routes, and the bus drivers
Parents want to know :
Bus schedules
On-time bus locations
Bus routes
Able to contact bus drivers in case of emergency
Driver’s information
Arrival and departure notifications
Accident reports
Pros of Using School Bus System
Safer than traveling by cars
Reduce traffics
Eco-Friendly (Reduce CO2 emission)
Have a chance to interact with other age children
Time efficient for parents who are busy
Children are likely to make new friends
Cons of Using School Bus System
Smaller school buses aren’t safe on accidents
Some children are too small for school bus seats
Some sort of accidents
Bus delays
Cost money
Accidents of children being hit by cars occurred at the bus stops
Quotes from Parents
“Very scary to know that children have been left in and died in the bus when outside and inside of the bus temperature are over 100°F.”
— From C.M.
“I would like to know who is driving the bus, the routes the school bus takes, and where they are wherever I want to know.”
— From A.Y
“It would be nice to know when my children get to school.”
— From B.L.
“I would like to track my child's location after I dropped her off at the bus stop.”
— From K.H.
Competitive Analysis - Hardware
Currently, there are a couple hardware systems installed on some school buses. But simply NOT ENOUGH to prevent incidents
LiDAS (Life Detection Assistance System)
https://iee-sensing.com/automotive/safety-and-comfort/lidas/
LiDAS is a device that child detection sensor that helps school bus drivers to make sure no child is left behind
It costs about $5,000 per bus to install the system
VitaSense
https://iee-sensing.com/automotive/safety-and-comfort/vitasense/
VitaSense is a radar-sensing system
It even detects a vital sign of child sleeping in vehicles
VitaSense is not only for the school bus but also for cars
Competitive Analysis - Software
The app features on the left side of the chart are what users want.
This chart clarified what the competitors currently have and don’t have easily.
The sections that are highlighted in yellow indicate what all the competitors do not have currently but users want.
During the prototype development, it will be critically important that the app includes all the features the users wants.
How Might We…
Leveraging technology to make sure using school buses safer
Having a check-in and check-out system that allow parents to know their children have got to school and are on their way back home
Allow parents to track the school buses’ live location and the routes they are taking
An app that has a notification system to let both parents and teachers know of any change such as bus delays, emergencies, and accidents easily
Parents and teachers are able to get to know who are the bus drivers, and who is on board
Persona
Based on my user research, I gathered what all the users wants, their current pain points, and their comfort level with using apps on their phones in general, and then I created this persona.
User Journey
Scenario :
Amanda needs to find an app that she can track her children on the school buses.
She wants the app to not just track her children on lively, but also she is able to:
Know the bus schedules
Know the routes and stops
See the driver’s information
Get notifications (accidents, delays, arrival, and departure)
Communicate with the bus drivers and teachers in case of emergencies
Expectations :
The App has all the features
Also easy to self-navigate on her own
User Flows
1st time user needs to create a user account with their email, password, and create profiles of their children to use the FOLO App safely and accurately.
This is the user flow for both new users after their account is established and return users to find the driver’s information on the app.
This User Flow continues to part 2
The most wanted feature from the user was to track the school bus's live location on the app once their children are on the way to school and returning home from school. Ensuring safe departure and arrival, this app has features for collaborating with school buses and schools to confirm and notify every child of the check-in and check-out process. In case of any child has been left out or not boarding on their school buses, schools, bus drivers, and parents (the users) would know immediately and be able to take an action accordingly.
When the school has not notified the child's attendance, the user (the parents) can reach out to the school or the bus driver to check in by calling or messaging. It could be some delay in taking attendance, or could be the child has been left on the school bus. However, the parents do not need to wait to know if their children are okay. This feature increases the awareness of safety and all the adults are responsible for protecting the children.
The users (the parents) can check the current bus location on the App lively. However, in the case of traffic accidents or emergencies, the users do not know what is happening. The users might see the school bus has not moved from the location for a while and start wondering what is going on with the school buses. If it is a major traffic accident, the users will be notified. If something minor traffic accident that is not involved injuries or a life-threatening episode, the users still be notified once the school bus has safely arrived at the destination.
Usability Testing
Tasks & Scenarios
Task 1: To find Miley’s school bus route (on the way to school) and then switch to Eden’s school bus route.
Key Learning 1: All the users could make it to the Bus Routes screen from the main menu screen with 2 clicks.
Scenario: Tracking Miley’s and Eden’s school buses at the same time. Sometimes the User gets confused with their routes since the schools are not too far from each other. Miley got on her school bus earlier than Eden. However, there will be a time both of them are on their school buses. Trying to see if it is easier for the user to switch and check school bus routes on the app.
Key Learnings:
Key Learning 2: 2/3 of the users could easily get to the Bus Routes screen from the Bus Live Tracking screen just by hovering over the bus icon and tapping the school bus number on the screen. For 1/3 of users, hovering over the bus icon seems to be a new experience to them.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 1, Hovering over the bus icon on the screen.
Step 2, Hovering over the bus icon arrows the pop-up information to come out.
Tasks & Scenarios
Task 2: To get to Miley’s school bus driver information screen.
Key Learning 1: All the users could make it to the Bus Driver’s Information screen from the main menu screen with 2 clicks.
Scenario: The parents (the users) wonder about the school bus driver. They would like to know more about the school bus drivers.
Key Learnings:
Key Learning 2: All the users easily figure out how to get to the Bus Driver’s information screen. 1/2 of the users said it would be nice to be able to contact the bus driver from the Driver’s Information screen. I think it is another way to contact the bus driver easily. I’ve implemented the feedback and redesigned the screen.
Before
After
By the driver’s profile photo, I added Phone and Mail button to be able to make a call or send a text to the driver without having them go back to the main menu and go thru Contact user flow.
Tasks & Scenarios
Task 2: Contact Miley’s school to ensure she has arrived at her school safely.
Key Learning 1: All the users chose to make a call instead of messaging.
Scenario: The parent (the user) has got Miley’s school bus arrival notification. However, the school has not confirmed her arrival on the app. She is worried and wants to make sure her child has been in school.
Key Learnings:
Key Learning 2: All the users easily figure out how to get to the contact screen. Some users have mentioned that choosing a recipient from the drop bar, they were worried to click the wrong recipient.
Before
After
After changing the prototypes on choosing recipient instead of the drop bar, users has less step to make a call. Also not having to worry to hit a wrong call recipient.
UI Style Guide
This is Folo App UI style guide. This Style Guide helps develop consistency in design. Colors are adaptable for color blindness.
Prototype
Future Roadmap
Get more feedback from the users
Conduct user research based on the feedback
Re-create or add new prototypes based on the new user’s need