Back
Improving bus sign information to display the relevant information to allow for user-friendly navigation, not depending on other technology
Rethinking Sydney bus stop navigation
User experience case study / Self-initiated

Brief
A self-initiated UX project exploring how clearer visual communication and information hierarchy could improve the experience of navigating Sydney’s bus network.

Challenge
Sydney’s bus system can feel difficult and unintuitive to navigate, particularly for unfamiliar users relying heavily on Google Maps or prior route familiarity rather than the transport system itself.

What I did
  • Conducted interview research and observational testing
  • Created mock navigation scenarios for user testing
  • Developed low-fidelity paper concepts and interactive Figma prototypes
  • Tested and iterated on information hierarchy and navigation flows
  • Refined the design based on user feedback and usability observations

What I delivered
  • A user-centred bus stop interface prototype
  • UX conceptualisation looking at simplifying route discovery and destination navigation
  • Iterative Figma prototypes demonstrating improved wayfinding principles
  
Timeline
Two weeks of research, prototyping, testing, and iteration.
Interviewing and asking users how they navigated around Sydney by bus.

Observing the problem and validating through user testing

The project began after observing how difficult Sydney’s bus network could feel to navigate. Through interviews and mock navigation exercises, I explored how users searched for routes and interpreted transport information.

Much of the research revealed that people relied on familiarity, suburb knowledge, or Google Maps rather than understanding the bus system itself. This indicated that the current experience lacked intuitive visual communication and accessibility for unfamiliar users.
Iterating quickly on paper, then translating it into Figma screens.
Rapid prototyping through paper concepts and Figma screens

To quickly explore solutions, I translated paper sketches into interactive Figma prototypes. This allowed me to rapidly test ideas with users and observe how they interacted with it like route information, destinations, and bus stop layouts.

Early testing showed that several features created unnecessary complexity and clutter. Iterative feedback helped simplify the experience and refine the hierarchy of information presented to users.
Testing prototypes by giving users a mock scenario where they had to navigate to a destination by bus, and observing how they interacted with the prototype to see its user friendliness and ability to communicate information.
I found several functions I wanted to include from my prototype were not feasible and added clutter to the user navigation. I had to rethink how to further simplify my bus stop prototype.