Where Is My Transport :
Mapping Urban Mobility
in Emerging Markets
In emerging markets, public transport systems are often complex, unstructured, and rely heavily on word-of-mouth information. WhereIsMyTransport aimed to be the central source of mobility and location data, making these systems transparent and improving the lives of billions. I worked on several emerging markets where in I planned and facilitated commuter experience research, designed service design artefacts to inform design of both the commuter and driver product and contributed in localising consumer application, Rumbo. Below is a deep dive into the Bangkok story.
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We developed a comprehensive digital map of Bangkok's entire public transport network, including both formal and informal modes. This data feeds into Rumbo, a consumer-facing app helping people navigate Bangkok.
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Type
User Research
Service Design
Product Design
UX testing
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Duration
8-10 Weeks
Team
2-5 People
Type
Mobility ​
Mobile Application
Urban Design​
Emerging markets
Uncovering Bangkok's Complex Transit Ecosystem
The project highlights the importance of hyperlocal research and design in creating effective solutions for complex urban environments. The combination of extensive on-the-ground research, co-creation with local teams, and iterative design processes was crucial in developing a product that truly addressed the needs of Bangkok's commuters. The experience gained from this project was invaluable in shaping WhereIsMyTransport's approach to mapping and improving urban mobility in other emerging market cities.
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My work in combining local expertise with advanced research methodologies and user-centric design created a valuable resource that has the potential to transform public transport experiences for millions of people in Bangkok, setting a template for similar projects in other emerging market cities.
How we set up research remotely to capture commuter experience on ground
Scoping and Research
Scoping
The aim of the research was to understand how local commuters travel through Bangkok across different modes, how they plan their journey make decisions on daily basis when selecting modes of transport. Additionally to build a broader understanding of their daily life including their jobs, routines, family life etc.
I worked through research scoping, setting up and facilitating phases of the project building up mechanisms and similar research done prior in other regions. This involved,
- Liaising with and setting up a local team of researchers and translators
- Defining research questions and approaches specific to Bangkok's transport landscape
- Conducting preliminary interviews with stakeholders to understand the local context
Research
In order to build a comprehensive understanding of the commuting network, a mix of research mechanisms were selected and I contributed and led across all of them while reporting to the Head of Research. In addition, we worked closely with 1 local Junior Researcher and a Lead Researcher on ground to support with facilitation. Below are some of the ways I contributed as a Researcher on the Bangkok chapter,
- Planning and conducting two-week diary studies with commuters across all user archetypes
- Scoping and designing Transport Lexicon Workshops (a preliminary workshop where commuters on ground do multiple journeys
across different modes of transport while documenting their experience using design artefacts in order to build a local's point of view )
- Co-facilitating Journey Mapping workshops (a deep dive into mapping specific end to end journey's emulating their daily commute to and back from work).
- Facilitating and training on ground researchers to conduct visual ethnography to capture 'Day in life' experiences of commuters, and conducting ecosystem stakeholder interviews.
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Key challenges :
-Since this was still in the 2020-2021 days of covid, we had to work with local researchers and translators to conduct the research. This required planning research activities to the T. Mostly all activities were supported with Design templates and facilitator's guides to enable easy execution.
- Since English is not the first language of most people in Bangkok, language was a barrier in many cases. We worked closely with translators to unpack cultural nuances that the participants mentioned during the activities.​
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With the traffic in Bangkok you really have no idea what time you should leave, what time you will get there. If the destination you’re going to only has one vehicle you have no choice, you have to wait.
— WhereIsMyTransport workshop participant, December 2020
Because of this congestion, as many as 94% of people living in Thailand factor this into their journey-planning. They do this by adding 'buffer' time to their daily commute. That buffer time typically sits at between 15 and 30 minutes.
— WhereIsMyTransport commuter behavior study
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For lower-income commuters, their main consideration is price. To save money, they can use buses or vans for the majority of their journey, and songthaews or kapors for their first and last mile.
— WhereIsMyTransport research findings
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Safety can also influence a passenger's transport choice — particularly for women. Public vans are considered to be the most risky for sexual harassment or invasive photo-taking, while MRT, Skytrain, and BTS are considered the safest for women.
— WhereIsMyTransport safety analysis
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A joke about songthaews is that if you ask in a northern accent you will be charged the fare of 10 Baht, if you ask in a Bangkok accent you will be charged 20 Baht, and in an English accent 100 Baht.
— Interview participant, November 2020
Other key themes that emerged from the research :
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Transport Mode Diversity: Bangkok offers a wide range of public transport options, from formal modes like BTS Skytrain and MRT to informal modes such as songthaews, kapors, and tuk-tuks.
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Socioeconomic Divide: There's a clear social divide in transport usage. Higher-income users prefer formal, government-run transport, while lower-income commuters opt for more affordable options like buses and informal modes.
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Price Sensitivity: For lower-income commuters, price is the primary consideration. They often use a combination of buses, vans, and informal modes to save money, even if it means longer travel times.
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Efficiency Priority: Middle and higher-income users prioritize efficiency and reliability over cost, often choosing options like the BTS Skytrain despite higher fares.
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Safety Concerns: Safety, particularly for women, influences transport choices. MRT and BTS are considered safer, while public vans are perceived as riskier for issues like harassment.
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Environmental Factors: Weather and air pollution impact choices, with commuters opting for air-conditioned vehicles during hot or polluted days.
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Congestion Adaptation: Due to frequent traffic congestion, 94% of commuters factor in "buffer time" of 15-30 minutes in their daily commute planning.
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First and Last Mile Solutions: Informal modes like songthaews play a crucial role in first and last mile connectivity, especially in areas not served by formal transport
You can read more about the on ground insights here
Creating actionable insights from the research
To transform our research insights into actionable design elements, I planned and facilitated research synthesis sessions with our local team of researchers. I also trained them in Service Design methodologies, to support me in creating design artefacts from our findings. Using rich insights from our research, we created detailed Personas, Journey Maps and To-Be blueprints capturing a holistic view of commuter life in Bangkok. These were adopted and used by Design Team in localising the consumer application, Data Team to inform changes in data application for further research in other cities, Communication and Marketing Teams to create collaterals for application launch in Bangkok.
I also created user stories and to-be blueprints to run ideation sessions with our Data and Design teams, ensuring that our insights were directly informing the product development. This also enabled teams to get familiarised with the artefacts and resulted in ease of adoption. To validate our work and ensure cultural relevance, I conducted workshops with local teams using artefacts like Personas and Journey Maps.
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Additionally, these efforts resulted in several key outputs,
- We developed 4-5 user archetype stories, each providing rich details about commuting behaviors, motivations, life experiences, personality traits, technology usage, and experiences with different modes of transport.
- For each archetype, we created an As-Is User Journey and Blueprint, giving us a clear picture of the current user experience.
- We also produced opportunity and challenge maps for each user type, helping us identify areas for improvement and innovation.
- Finally, we developed a comprehensive stakeholder map of Bangkok's specific transport ecosystem, including both formal and informal modes, which provided a holistic view of the complex network we were designing for.
Towards building Rumbo
Rumbo is a hyperlocal public transport app that provides reliable and real-time data from every mode of public transport in emerging markets, while also allowing users to share disruption information.​
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Using insights, I worked alongside Product Design team to help ideate how the existing application can be localised.
Below are screenshots of initial workshops that was also used as a handover.
Kindly note : I was not actively involved in the designing of the product. To learn more about the designing process you can read here
Prototyping and Testing
The app is tested through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods:
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Quantitative data analysis tracks user behavior, engagement with features, and app performance.
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Qualitative research includes user interviews, social media comments analysis, and in-person events where users provide feedback on the app's roadmap.
The app is continuously refined based on user feedback and data analysis, with a strong emphasis on understanding and addressing the unique challenges of public transport in each specific emerging market city.
I was involved in the initial stages of testing the application and worked alongside the on ground junior researcher in Bangkok to execute the initial user testing of the application. We collectively gathered insights from the user testing and fed it back to the Product Team.
Impact
Rumbo was ​launched in Bangkok in 2021-2022 and enabled users to have a safe, connected and enhanced traveling experience. It was able to do so in the following ways :
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Improved commuting experience: Rumbo provided real-time information and alerts about public transport, helping users have smoother journeys and better plan their commutes especially cities with complex and often unreliable transit systems.
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Community engagement: The app allowed users to share data from their own journeys, creating a community of public transport users helping each other. Features like voice note reports enabled users to creatively share disruption information.
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Localized value: By tailoring the app's personality and features to each market (e.g. Lima, Mexico City, Bangkok), Rumbo connected authentically with users, addressing their specific needs and pain points in public transport use.
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Rewarding experience: The introduction of paid user surveys within the app provides users with valuable and rewarding activities to complete during their commutes, adding extra benefit beyond just transit information.