1. University of Baltimore IDIA 612 Nikki Kerber and Allison Francis BUS ME PROJECT

2. BUSINESS STRATEGY Motivating event Seeking inspiration and preliminary research Drafting a destination sequence Allocating dates, durations and activities Create a draft itinerary - building trip scenarios Research for accommodation and activities Iterate itinerary - additional scenarios Draft budget and additional iteration Share itinerary Planning Travel as Everyday Design (Dean M.G. Hargreaves and Toni Robertson 2007)

3. BUSME PROCESS OF TRAVEL User Tasks: search for one-way, round trip or multiple leg travel Compare prices for the same route and similar times Ability to book tickets instantaneously via BusME.com Rate bus experience Indicate departure city, arrival city, date, price and preferred vendor User Settings: A user can create a profile A user profile can store payment info, social media contacts, and their preferred operator info Notifications: The system, using current traffic information, will notify the user when the trip’s route is congested Vendor: Bus operators will be notified nightly of the total group of people wanting to go Bus operators can accept to take the group of customers Bus companies will be able to offer special pricing via BusME Other: Users will be able to view if any of their Facebook friends are on the same bus Ability to see savings of bus travel compared to other modes of travel.

4. STATISTICS For the third year in a row, intercity bus service was the fastest growing mode of intercity transportation, outpacing air and rail transportation. Intercity bus operations expanded by 6.0% in 2010, showing that the sector’s renaissance continues. Companies such as Boltbus and Megabus, have rise in departures by 23.9% and account for more than 400 daily bus operations. Megabus has reported ridership growth of 48% Bus travel is reducing fuel consumption by about 11 million gallons annually—the equivalent benefit of removing 23,818 vehicles from the road.

5. STATISTICS

6. COMPETITORS Direct Indirect

7. COMMON BUS TRAVEL TASKS select round trip or one way (the following steps are based on a round trip selection) select city of departure select city of arrival (possible multiple locations in each city) select departure date select arrival date select quantity select to search for bus travel select to search for bus travel with lodging purchase print confirmation

8. COMPETITOR WEB SITES AND MOBILE SITES

9. COMPETITOR MOBILE

12. PERSONA #1 - TALLIE Does not travel much, Budget conscious. Tallie is 18 years old a college student always on her iPhone. Travels home for vacations and breaks Goal: Create an iPhone application that will quickly search all bus lines for the lowest possible rate to and from a destination. The application needs to clearly indicate the bus line and the price of the ticket at either one way or round trip.

13. PERSONA #2 - MARIA Advanced traveler booking for others. Maria is 47 years old is married with three children owns her own travel agency. computer savy books travel packages for her clients Goal: Read reviews of each bus line to assure clients of her choice of bus line and make reservations on behalf of the client. Might also want to get a list of things to do around the destination. (Advanced search options need to be present for a user who books travel daily).

14. PERSONA #3 - JOHN Senior citizen does not use the Internet to book travel. John is a 63 year old man he is married 3 children lives in a small town in Illinois He is He is rarely on the Internet Goal: To get competitive pricing on bus travel from the mid-west to the east-coast. Needs a well designed interface so that he doesn’t get discouraged from using the online service. Steps and order form need to be clearly labeled.

15. PERSONA #4 - ERIC Single dad of 2 boys Eric is 39 years old, lives in Austin, Texas, Likes to plan family adventures V.P of Engineering at this company Bus ticket cost is not a factor Goal: Ability to purchase more than 1 ticket. Ability to add various routes to tickets. Show amenities of bus line before making purchase.

16. PERSONA #5 - MARCI Marci is 27 years old, HR Specialist at The University of Delaware, Walks to work Marci assists with reimbursing all travel expenses Goals: Secondary user interface for people like Marci who see a completely different side of the UI. Perhaps a user login screen will route to a current list of faculty/staff who have purchased bus tickets through BusMe.com, connect to the schools finance database and submit reimbursements to their bank account or credit card used.

17. BUSME MOBILE APP PROTOTYPE

19. RECOMMENDATIONS Social Media Building Trip Scenarios Opportunities for seeking inspiration

20. REMAINING STEPS Finalize personas Paper prototype testing Tech prototype testing Website wireframes