The Muni mobile app is widely used by San Francisco commuters, tourists, and accessibility riders. However, the current Trip Planner feature is inefficient, requiring multiple steps to view itineraries and preventing users from saving commonly used or preferred trips. This creates friction for regular commuters, frustration for first-time tourists, and barriers for accessibility riders.
The goal of this enhancement is to redesign the Trip Planner to allow users to save, label, and quickly access favorite trips, providing a more intuitive, inclusive, and efficient experience.
What is the problem?
Users cannot save entire trips/itineraries, only individual locations
Trip planning requires up to six steps, causing inefficiency
The UI is cluttered, with unclear icons and navigation
Accessibility riders lack support features for easy trip planning
Functional Requirements
Users can save full trips (not just locations)
Users can label and modify trips (e.g., “Work Commute,” “City Tour”)
Users can view all saved trips on the Trip Planner home screen.
UI redesign with clear labels, icons, and tooltips
Accessibility support: large fonts, voice navigation, step-by-step guidance.
Ability to share trips with others (optional)
System provides time estimates and real-time updates for saved trips
Non-Functional Requirements
Performance: Load trip data in <2 seconds
Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 compliance.
Compatibility: iOS and Android support.
Reliability: 99.9% uptime for trip planning service
Approach
I conducted user research and applied a stack-ranking model (reach, impact, feasibility, time to implement, long-term value) to prioritize enhancements. My focus was on the Trip Planner feature, which required too many steps to access itineraries and did not allow users to save or label favorite trips.
I collaborated with my team to brainstorm and refine features, then designed wireframes in Figma to illustrate workflows for creating, modifying, and saving trip itineraries. Each iteration was tested against user needs and refined to improve usability. I also ensured the design accounted for accessibility needs, such as clear labels and intuitive navigation, while keeping the UI clean for commuters and first-time users.
User Stories
As a commuter, I want to save my frequent work commute so I can access it in one click.
As a tourist, I want to create and label trips like “City Tour” so I can plan my visit easily.
As an accessibility rider, I want clear navigation and real-time updates so I can travel confidently and independently
Results
The proposed enhancement streamlined the Trip Planner workflow by reducing the number of actions from six to two, allowing users to save and label favorite trips like “City Tour” or “Work Commute.” This improvement increased usability for all personas: commuters could quickly access frequent routes, tourists could plan trips with confidence, and accessibility riders gained features that supported independence. The redesign directly aligned with Muni’s mission to provide efficient, inclusive, and user-friendly transit solutions
Reflection
This project gave me the opportunity to apply end-to-end product management skills: defining personas, prioritizing features, designing user flows, and iterating based on testing. It reinforced the importance of building with empathy for diverse users, from tech-savvy commuters to individuals with mobility challenges. Most importantly, it showed how structured research and iterative design can transform a functional app into a tool that users trust and enjoy using.
This project was undertaken as part of my Digital Product Management course and was presented as a product enhancement case study.
Passionate about product development, creative design, and crafting seamless user experiences.