MVGO

Making public transport disruptions easier to read to help users make better travel decisions

Smartphone screen displaying a train disruption alert app with a blue tab labeled 'Disruptions', search bar, and details about a stop cancellation between Leuchtenbergring and Moosach from April 4 to April 5, 2025.

Roles

Timeline

UX Researcher

UX Designer

4 weeks

March 2025

Product

Team

Redesign feature

Solo project

Context

This was a study project completed as part of the UX/UI Design II course at ReDI School of Integration, and has no connection with the Stadtwerke München GmbH, owner and developer of the MVGO app.

Problem

When commuters struggle with disruption information

Munich's public transport system faces ongoing disruptions due to maintenance, staffing, and infrastructure challenges. Realities that aren't going away anytime soon. While the city works on long-term improvements, commuters need immediate access to clear, actionable disruption information to adapt their daily journeys.

So, how might we better support commuters in staying informed and prepared when navigating Munich's unpredictable transport system?

Illustration of a person in a blue shirt with a wave pattern pocket, standing with hands on hips, beside a quote box that reads, 'No way to have an overview of current and future planned disruption as in the previous app,' attributed to Riccardo Padovani, a regular commuter.

Solution

Improving disruption features to help users quickly find and understand information for better travel decisions

Faster, smarter disruption search and navigation for better trip planning

Clearer, more accessible disruption details for better decision-making

User research

Confusing, unreliable, frustrating: commuters demand better

User research numbers told a story we couldn't ignore. While analyzing user feedback, a pattern emerged that went beyond typical app complaints: commuters weren't just dissatisfied, they were actively being let down by a service they depended on daily.

The research revealed not just what was broken, but why it mattered: missed connections, inability to plan, and lost trust in a tool that should simplify their lives. This wasn't about preference: it was about reliability in moments that count.

The stats tell one story. These quotes tell the rest.

Icons representing messaging, rating, mobile phones, and online video content.
Four quote cards with cartoon portraits of people and their quotes about app disruptions and information accuracy.

Audit of the existing design

Why commuters struggle with the current app

Before jumping into design solutions, I needed to look under the hood. To understand why users were so frustrated, I conducted an audit of the existing MVGO app. The audit revealed several usability issues that were creating friction for users trying to access disruption information.

These problems ranged from presentation issues to discoverability challenges that made it harder than necessary for commuters to get the information they needed.

MVG Fahrinfo

What the previous version offered

Given that users consistently praised the former app, I examined the disruption information in the previous version for comparison. This helped pinpoint which design decisions had improved - or not - the user experience in the past.

A smartphone screen displaying a train disruption overview app with various train alerts listed in yellow and gray backgrounds, each with icons and timestamps, and a navigation menu at the bottom.
Smartphone screen displaying a message alert in German about irregularities on train lines U3 and U6, sent on February 6, 2024, from 05:47 to 09:47, with the highlighted message section in yellow.

Design goals

Guiding principles for the redesign

Based on the usability issues identified, I established five key design goals to guide the redesign process. These goals focused on making disruption information more accessible, understandable, and actionable for Munich commuters.

A list of five numbered tips for improving user experience on a navigation app, including visual hierarchy, reducing cognitive load, advanced trip planning, location-specific disruptions, and error messaging.

The improvements

Before vs After

The following comparisons demonstrate how I translated the design goals into tangible improvements across MVGO's disruption features.

Comparison of a mobile app interface showing current app, new design, and updated version with calendar feature for scheduling disruptions on public transportation.
Comparison of a mobile app's current and new design screens. The current app screen displays train delay information in German, with an orange alert icon, green S symbols, a departure time of 20:45, and detailed train delay info. The new design screen shows an updated interface in English, with tabs labeled Journeys, Departures, and Disruptions, a search bar, and details about three disruptions, including a rail replacement service between Riem and Markt Schwaben from March 25-26, 2025, and frequency reduction due to limited vehicle availability on April 3, 2025.
Comparison of a mobile app interface showing search for train lines. The first screen shows no disruptions for 'Karlplatz.' The middle screen shows a search with an invalid entry '149,' resulting in an error message 'Oops! We couldn’t find the searched line or stop in our system.' The third screen shows a successful search for '149,' indicating no disruptions with a message 'Good news! There is no disruption on this line or stop.'

Reflection

Lessons to take with me

  1. Good time management involves planning. With just one month to complete the entire redesign process, staying focused on core user problems was crucial to delivering meaningful improvements.

  2. Small, targeted improvements can have a significant impact. Focusing on specific usability issues rather than a complete overhaul proved more effective and efficient given the time constraints.

What I would do next

  1. Test the redesign with real users - especially non-tech-savvy commuters. These sessions would help identify any remaining usability barriers and validate that the modifications truly work for all user groups.

  2. Explore other disruption problems not yet addressed. The live-update information inaccuracy was a critical pain point, but I understood that solving it was more of an engineering or network communication problem than a UX Design task. Exploring this further could highlight alternative UX solutions, such as better error messaging or setting user expectations around data freshness.

  3. Analyze the impact of the redesign. Measuring metrics like task completion rates and time-to-find-information would validate whether the redesign truly solved the core accessibility issues identified in user research.