Travelert, was built for young students to ease their transition into secondary school. It aims to reduce stress and promote independence. Travelert allows you to view your bus schedules, receive live updates, and suggest alternative buses if necessary, ensuring you are well informed and never have to panic.
We started this quick project with a group brainstorming session, looking at all a typical smartwatch is potentially capable of and the convenience features can offer. We explored the different connections we could make, forming ideas.
I researched popular fitness apps and cardiac health features to explore ideas. This led me down the path of designing an app that would allow you to track heart attack symptoms. However, as I worked on this idea, I realised it didn't solve the problem.
After talking to someone in the medical field, I made the choice to develop a new idea that addressed common problems. The idea came when I was waiting for the bus and someone was unable to see the live update screen.
Bus cancellations are common, while some bus stops have live updates that can be difficult to see or not available at stops.
I developed Travelert to help young secondary school students adjust to independently navigating public transport on their route to and from school. The four main screens I included are: the next journey, upcoming journeys, bus canceled screen, and alternative travel options.
After understanding the problem I wanted to solve, I started designing a user-friendly and approachable app.
I created a bus driver mascot to make the design more engaging and less intimidating. The mascot appears to alert you of cancellations, reinforcing the change of plans with a friendly face.
Travelert reduces anxiety around travel, and the colours I used to support this: Blue displays calm and trust, dark purple strengthens the calm and provides a discrete watch face, and muted orange is to make you aware of the change of plans without inducing panic.
This project was relatively short and I am very proud of the result. The time frame forced me to work quickly and focus on creating something simple yet effective. I began with a different idea that I went on to change as I wasn't happy with the original concept but in the end I'm very happy.
