"Product designer and B.Des (Hons) graduate with live fintech experiences, building Intuitive B2C & B2B products

Varad Athalye  • Peerlist

<h3>Mumbai Local Ticketing: Usability Gaps &amp; Opportunities</h3><p>This project focuses on identifying and addressing usability gaps and opportunities within the Mumbai Local ticketing system. The goal is to create design-first solutions for the challenges faced by commuters.</p><h3>Project Details:</h3><ul><li><p><strong>Duration:</strong> 3 weeks</p></li><li><p><strong>Team Size:</strong> 1 Member</p></li><li><p><strong>Role:</strong> Interaction Designer</p></li><li><p><strong>Process:</strong> Research, Competitive Analysis, UI design, Prototyping, User interaction</p></li></ul><h3>Problem Statement:</h3><p>The current ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machine) interface does not support efficient, independent ticketing for a broad range of users, resulting in confusion, slow transactions, and high dependence on human facilitators.</p><h3>Key Findings from Research:</h3><ul><li><p>Limited adoption of ATVM systems (20-25% of commuters).</p></li><li><p>Human facilitators were crucial for commuter engagement.</p></li><li><p>Many commuters find the ATVM interface difficult to navigate.</p></li><li><p>Specific user personas (Aakash, Vanshika, Ashok) highlighted issues with small touch targets, map overload, and complex navigation.</p></li></ul><h3>Heuristic Evaluation of ATVM Usability:</h3><p>A study of core usability heuristics was conducted and adapted to the ticketing context, guiding design decisions. Key areas for improvement included:</p><ul><li><p>Keeping visuals clean and focused.</p></li><li><p>Ensuring strong visibility and contrast.</p></li><li><p>Making the interface multilingual.</p></li><li><p>Communicating both visually and verbally.</p></li><li><p>Guiding users before they start.</p></li><li><p>Making actions and touch areas obvious.</p></li><li><p>Minimizing steps and being direct.</p></li><li><p>Showing progress and transaction feedback.</p></li><li><p>Helping users recover from mistakes.</p></li><li><p>Preventing critical errors and confusion.</p></li><li><p>Revealing the journey ahead.</p></li><li><p>Designing for both speed and patience.</p></li></ul><h3>Proposed Solutions &amp; Revised Journey:</h3><p>The revised ATVM ticketing journey aims to reduce steps to just 4 for a single ticket purchase. Key improvements include:</p><ul><li><p>Clearer home screen directing users to the correct booking path.</p></li><li><p>Easy navigation through zone divisions.</p></li><li><p>Auto-filled journey details with commonly chosen options.</p></li><li><p>Two clear ways of choosing a station: Map and Search.</p></li><li><p>Instant search with predictive text.</p></li><li><p>Clear payment instructions and generated QR codes for easy payment.</p></li><li><p>A clear ticket preview to confirm details.</p></li></ul><h3>Outcome:</h3><p>By prioritizing user feedback, the navigation was streamlined, transforming ticket booking into an intuitive process. This reduces friction and boosts satisfaction, leading to a more engaging, user-centric experience.</p><h3>Key Learnings:</h3><ul><li><p>Designed for real users under real constraints.</p></li><li><p>Understood the importance of simplifying flows without removing functionality.</p></li><li><p>Realized how immersion and field research shape better UX decisions.</p></li></ul>

ATVM Kiosk Redesign

<h3>About Limitly</h3><p>Limitly is a personal finance and expense-tracking mobile app designed to help users manage their money effectively. It leverages smart, AI-powered feedback and automation to assist users in staying within their budget.</p><h3>Target Audience</h3><ul><li><strong>Students (18-24):</strong> Individuals building money habits, learning to budget, save, and grow their finances.</li><li><strong>Early Professionals:</strong> Those starting their careers, managing income, and building financial stability and savings.</li><li><strong>Self-Employed/Business Owners:</strong> Individuals managing multiple or project-based income streams, tracking cash flows, and staying in control of their finances.</li></ul><h3>Core Problem Addressed</h3><p>Many existing finance apps assume users are already organized. Limitly is built for those who are not, providing a system that works quietly in the background, reducing the daily discipline required to manage money.</p><h3>Key Features and Improvements</h3><ul><li><strong>Onboarding Redesign:</strong> Introduced a new onboarding framework with an empathetic hook, transparent data policy, and a personalized T.A.R.S. setup flow, significantly improving onboarding completion and Day 0 engagement.</li><li><strong>Transactions Interface:</strong> Features monthly totals, category filtering, recurring controls, and split payments for comprehensive transaction management.</li><li><strong>Budgeting:</strong> Reframed as visual planning with donut charts, progress bars, and a savings stack to make budgeting more intuitive.</li><li><strong>Conversational Agent:</strong> A feature that flags specific moments and prompts real-time action, offering proactive financial guidance.</li><li><strong>Automated Budgets:</strong> Solves the problem of uncontrolled spending and manual logging by using SMS transaction auto-read and sorting into categories, with budget limits set from spending patterns.</li><li><strong>Bills &amp; Subscriptions:</strong> Provides due date alerts before deductions and allows adding bills on marked dates.</li><li><strong>Splitting Expenses &amp; Groups:</strong> Enables splitting transactions across groups, tracking balances, and sending automatic reminders.</li></ul><h3>Key Learnings</h3><ul><li>Understood the importance of simplifying flows without removing functionality through AI.</li><li>Developed prioritization skills when working with time constraints.</li><li>Learned what design means when working with an early-stage startup.</li></ul>