When Yash Goswami arrived in Brantford to begin his studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, public transit quickly became part of his daily routine. As a regular at the Brantford Transit Bus Terminal, conveniently located just across the street from his classes in Laurier's Market Darling Centre, he soon gained firsthand insight into how riders navigate the city's transit system.
"Taking Brantford Transit can sometimes be challenging, particularly if you're unfamiliar with the system," says Goswami. "The ticket desk isn't always staffed, and when I first moved here, there was no screen displaying real-time bus information. For newcomers especially, having clear, up-to-date information can make a big difference in how confidently they use the system."
These challenges could easily just end up as complaints to City Hall. Instead, for Goswami, along with fellow User Experience Design Master's students Swarali Gogate, Carol Chen, Congxi Dong and Zhesheng Teng, they were a problem to be solved; the catalyst for a project that started in the classroom and culminated with an international design award win.
(From left) Congxi Dong, Carol Chen, Zhesheng Teng, Swarali Gogate and Yash Goswami are pursuing a Master of Science in User Experience Design at Laurier's Brantford campus.
The students' idea for the Brantford Bus Information Kiosk took shape in UX600: Human Centred Design, a course taught by Assistant Professor John Muñoz. Developed in collaboration with the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, the course's term project challenged teams of students to design a civic initiative in downtown Brantford using the six core principles of the ICF Canada Smart City framework. Despite the project's fairly broad parameters, the team of Goswami, Gogate, Chen, Dong and Teng immediately set their sights on public transportation.
"All of us are international students and we rely heavily on public transit," says Gogate, who took a leadership role on the project. "We quickly discovered that we weren't alone in having issues navigating the transit system here."
"Feeling confident using public transportation gives you the independence to explore a new city, a new province, a new country."
Swarali Gogate, User Experience Design Master's student
Their research findings highlighted opportunities to make the transit system more accessible and easier to navigate. Riders reported challenges keeping up with route changes that occur every few months, relying on printed schedules posted at the terminal and interpreting route names that use the same letter designation despite serving different destinations. Not only was there a significant language barrier experienced by newcomers to the city, there was also a pronounced digital divide, with one in five riders unable to access real-time bus information because they don't use smartphones.
"When services migrate entirely to digital platforms, people who can't afford internet and phones or aren't tech-savvy lose access," says Gogate. "Even if you can access the app on your phone, forgetting your charger could still leave you stranded at the end of the day."
The team's design for the Brantford Bus Information Kiosk.
In response, the team pursued a "phygital" solution: a bus information kiosk that combines both physical and digital elements to ensure accessibility for all. Users can interact with the kiosk via touchscreen or as was the preference among older adults surveyed a mechanical keyboard. At the end of the session, users have the option to print out an information card identifying which bus they'll need to board, when and where it's due to arrive, and a list of all the intervening stops before they should disembark. The screen itself is designed to raise and lower to accommodate wheelchair users, as well.
To address the language barrier, the team programmed the kiosk's interface in Ontario's most spoken languages.
