#immt714

The PRESTO card – an electronic fare payment system for public transit in southern Ontario - has been a long overdue asset for GTA commuters since its trial launch in 2007. Since its release, the features and benefits have increased and now, frequent travellers are opting for the little green card as a means of saving while commuting.  The presto is an e-purse eliminating the need for tickets and change with just one tap. 

Although I praise PRESTO for revolutionizing travelling with public transportation across the GTA, my experience with their customer service and online interface is far from perfect.  The societal integration of technology has encouraged users to offer more affordance for system errors. However, when technology is so integrated in a users everyday experience, upholding usability standards is a critical business practice for any entity. It makes users feel like they are the last priority for a product designed for them but few organizations recognize that managing the content and task within the technology they create is customer centric. Post trials, public transit raised the cash fare and omitted paper tickets to encourage users to get the presto card to manage their travel. This is essentially problematic because not all transit locations and vehicles, more specifically the TTC, accept the PRESTO meaning users must travel with two forms of fare payment.  Anyway, I will cut my rant about the actual operations and focus more on the bigger issue at hand – their online presence.  Due to system complications there was an error with my card balance. After bouncing between PRESTO and GO Transit customer service, I was instructed to file my claim online and they would get back to me as soon as possible.  Frustrated but feeling hopeless, I figured filling out the online form would give me time to clear my mind and submit the claim with details of the recent transactions.

My User Path

www.prestocard.ca > Register – Success > Activate your Presto Card > About Presto > FaresTravel > Load Card > FAQFares > Transaction History > Balance Checker > Welcome to Presto! > Transaction Information > Fares Travel > Loyalty Summary > Contact US > Form > Error! > Error! > CLOSE BROWSER > www.prestocard.ca > “Welcome to Presto! Continue to English” > Login > My Fare Card Login > Customer Service Outlets > Frequently Asked Questions > Go Train Service Guarentee > Customer Service Advisory Committees > Sitemap > Customer Service – Tell Us How We’re Doing > www.google.ca: “presto card refund form” > 1st link: paper forms > NO! > www.google.ca: “presto card refund form” > NO! NO! > Contact Us > Error!

Disclaimer: I did not find the refund request form. After entering the site, it was unclear where to go first.  I never use the online platform and so since it was my first time, I was forced to register. Fairly straight forward, I proceeded to find my transaction history.  I wanted to check my transaction history in order to make reference to the errors that I believe occurred.  It took four clicks for me to discover this long table of endless transactions.

 It was difficult to follow the transactions without having to pull out my own calculator. This just added further frustration.  Once I discovered the errors, I then proceeded to find the refund request form.  Several clicks, a closed browser, and some errors later, I decided to exit the site and Google search the request form. The only relevant result was a .pdf file with a form and no contact information. I realized that a digital refund request did not exist (at least for me) on the prestocard.ca webpage. There was clearly either some miscommunication with their department about the services offered online, or she was not using the same language consistent with that of the digital space. I was annoyed with the company, and the customer service representative that made finding this page seem as easy as a click of a button. I checked the site map and found zero results. Countless clicks later, I decided to return to the form I came across on the Contact Us page. I figured that email would go to someone within the company and if I provided enough detail they would know whom. Writing my story in the desired field proved further frustration when I was ready to send. I was unable to use any punctuation aside from the period. Instead of highlighting the errors, every time I clicked send the page would freeze with a red error message at the top of the page. When I realized and made my corrections, I was relieved to see a confirmation page. It thanked me and let me know that I would hear a response in 3 to 5 business days (again, inconsistent with the 24hr turnaround I was told by the CSR on the phone earlier). 

Sep. 21, 2015    TingTang

Scenario: As a newcomer to Canada, I was eager to find a language training program to improve my English. From the  newcomer handbook, I knew that YMCA provides language assessment services to new immigrants.

Target Users: Newcomers with poor English

The task: I wanted to find out the address and contact information of the nearest YMCA branch and made an appointment for a language assessment.

web link     http://www.ymcagta.org/en/index.html

The steps I had to go through

Step 1: I opened the YMCA home page.

It shocked me that the whole page is very narrow; it doesn’t fit the screen width and there is a quarter blank space on both sides. The font is so small that it’s difficult to read.

Step 2: I clicked “Newcomers” in the left navigation menu.

There are five options in the left navigation menu, i.e. “Families”,  “Adults”,  “Youth”,  “Kids” and “Newcomers”. After a click, a submenu about “Newcomers” shows up and the five-option menu is moved to the Top navigation bar. It took me a while to figure out where to find the original navigation bar. It breaks the consistency rule for web design.

On the “Newcomers” page, the background colour of the logo is changed from red to brown. And then I tried other four options and found that each one has a different background colour. I doubt that I was still in the same website. The web designers tried use different colour for different status, but nobody would recall which colour corresponds with which option. It also breaks the consistency rule for web design.

Step 3: I clicked “Newcomer Information Sessions” on the left navigation menu (wrong step)

There are eight options on the left navigation menu. but it seemed that none of the option is relevant to language assessment.

Step 4: I clicked “Newcomer FAQs” on the left navigation menu (wrong step).

Step 5: I clicked “Newcomer Services Across Canada” on the left navigation menu (wrong step).

Step 6: I clicked “Your New Home” on the left navigation menu.

I tried all the options on the left navigation “Newcomers”, but failed to find the information needed. I had no choice but to try one by one.

Step 7: I clicked  “Language Assessment and Referral Centre”

Eventually, I clicked the first option, “Your New Home”. “Language Assessment and Referral Centre” appeared under “Your New Home”. I couldn’t understand why language assessment is associated with  “Your New Home”.

Step 8: I rolled the page.

Step 9: I clicked “north east”.

To find the location of the nearest YMCA, I need to choose from five options, “Downtown”,“Etobicoke”, “North-East”, “North-West” and “Scarborough”. Unfortunately, I had no idea whether my residence located in “North-East” or “North-West”.

Step 10: I copied the address under “north East” and used google map to check the distance.

Step 11: I clicked back.

Step 12: I clicked “north west”.

Step 13: I copied the address under “north west” and used google map to check the distance.

Step 14: I took down the address and contact information.

As part of our IMMT714 course on Interactive Strategy, we were asked to document our path on completing a task on a website or app of our choice. I chose the GO transit website. http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/default.aspx

When I was new to Toronto, I remember wanting to go to Humber College to meet a friend. I remember going on the GO transit website and finding it to be such a daunting experience, that I requested my friend to meet me close to my place!

Given this assignment, I thought I should check that website again to see if I have a different experience. So here goes…

I was looking to do two things on this website: 1. Plan my trip to the Lakeshore boulevard campus. 2. Find out how much it would cost me.

1. Planning my trip: I was looking for a trip planner tool that would be easy to find on the home page wherein I could enter my start and end of journey along with other details.

This is the home page of the website:

Right away, there is too much unnecessary information on the page. The centre of the page has a news/story section that changes every second. As a user I am forced to look around the page, until I find the Trip planner by Triplinx link at the bottom right hand corner.  The location of this tool (that I believe would be useful for many) along with all the other unnecessary information on the page, gives me an alienating experience. The fact that the story section of the site is given the valued centre spot is in my opinion not user centric. Rather, it is organization centric, in which the organization wants to talk about what may be important to them.

Anyways, I click on the Trip planner link and enter the Start and End points of my trip. I knew there are 2 campuses and I needed to go to the Lakeshore Blvd campus, but the suggestions in the drop down don’t give me that specific option.  

Unsure, I click on the first link that read Humber College Educational Institutions. Luckily, the next page with the details of the trip show me that I will indeed arrive at the Lakeshore blvd. campus.

Great! Now I want to know how much it will cost me to get there. There is a side panel link on Fares that is very easy to find and I click on it.

This took me to a page where I had to select some more options, which took me to another link to calculate the Fare! This could have easily been taken care of in 1 link as opposed to 3! Once on the fare calculator page, I have to again enter my start and end point details and then after the last click I get this confusing information:

The diagram with the green boxes shows, under ‘Save with Presto’ that if I make 40 trips using Presto, my trip cost would be $0! And, if I make up to 35 trips, my trip cost would be $7! I am perplexed. Surely, I am reading this wrong. Why does it say my trip cost will be $0 if I use the Presto card more? I mean what about the cost of the Presto card?? Maybe I am missing something and am having a momentary lapse in thinking logically? I don’t know. I search on Google to understand ‘how Presto works’; it’s pretty straight forward but still doesn’t explain why and how my trip cost with be $0! I think I will need to consult someone who is familiar with GO to explain this better. 

The beginning of 1990’s saw the start in quick changing technologies. When I was a kid I saw the change in hardline phones to codeless mobile phone which are bigger and heavy than what we see now. Today in this age of advancing technologies we can connect to people in different corners of the world with just a tap on the screen. Technology is literally on your fingertips. Internet is one of the biggest example of a fast paced evolution of technology which has played an important role in this turnabout. Fax to emails, written letters to text messaging and  land lines to free internet calls everything changed so fast setting a never ending trend to the evolution of technology.

 When we look at text messaging alone it have seen a new light since the introduction of smartphones. Where in the olden days we were restricted to certain characters per text message but now we can write an entire plot of a movie in a single text message. Introduction of internet based messaging apps in smartphones have led to a new era in messaging. Apps like ‘whatsapp’ where we can send text, images, videos, contact information and location have enabled people to have more freedom over internet. There are other apps over different OS such BBM (Black Berry Messenger) in Black Berry and iMessage in iPhone. But whatsapp which was originally made for android and is one of its first messaging app to have gained so much popularity. This app has become a trendsetter which later got introduced to all mobile platforms such as iOS, windows, Symbian and even java based phones. Even though there are so many other apps; whatsapp has survived all that challenges and still continuing its service remaining as one of the major messaging app which has been used worldwide. It has become part of the day to day life for many. Families who live away from each other form groups to talk to one another. I have been on various whatsapp groups which makes it easier to stay in touch with a wide number of people in one place. Recently I saw a laptop service center personnel use whatsapp to send pictures of a damaged part to his colleague to check if the part was available rather than carrying my the laptop all the way to service center and checking for it. This saves me a lot of time and money. We could also send recorded videos to each other using whatsapp. It also has a feature where you can record you audio and send it over. Whatsapp has set a trend among the young and old in the last two to three years.  

Image: www.blackamericaweb.com

In 2011 I became part of the world wide mobile trend.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was about to move from a flat in a house to a condo and was making arrangements for my technology in the new place when I realized I didn’t need a landline anymore. I packed my house phone, and packed away my Nokia cell phone because I had just invested in my first iPhone.  I believe it was the iPhone 3.  When I moved into that condo I learned that I could control entry to my building from my phone.  Even when I wasn’t physically in the building, I could buzz someone in.  This was the beginning of a new lifestyle for me.

Mobile wasn’t just a technology trend for me; it was also a content trend.  I listened to the news, weather and traffic on my iPhone using my CBC Radio App as I made my coffee in the mornings.  When I left home for work I checked my transit App schedule using my smartphone to know when I could catch the bus to get there.   Working in TV production, I was on call during and after the production day.  My cell number was on the call sheet so I could be contacted at anytime during production (the show I worked on shot on weekends) and after hours so my phone was always on.  Depending on what the issue or emergency was, with my smartphone handy I could go online, find resources, contact other crew if I needed to replace someone who was sick etc.

But the surprising and entertaining aspect of going mobile for me was my ability to access Apps to communicate with family and friends who were miles away.  So at 1am PT, I could send a WhatsApp text to my cousin in the UK.  She could text me back and/or send me the latest pictures of my beloved Aunt.  We also see each other through FaceTime because she also has an iPhone. And then there was Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on my phone allowing for hours of social and business networking.  Personal banking was revolutionized because from anytime and from anyplace I could transfer money from one account to the next.  I could pay registered bills, and within the last year or two I can now deposit money by taking a picture of a cheque.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of going mobile is being able to watch the latest television show or movie on the go.   When I first got my iPhone my data plan wasn’t much to speak of.  I accessed the internet and Apps via wifi at home, at work, at Starbucks and at any other establishment that offered free wifi as an incentive to patronize their business.  As broadcasters developed Apps, then promoted their programs to mobile customers, I and other viewers were no longer tied to our TV sets or PVR's for that matter.   Opening an App and watching the latest episode of my favourite show became easy.  In fact today my smartphone is now like my favourite purse…a great accessory that goes with me everywhere and comes home with me at night.

Finally, the power of mobile has some women giving up sex to keep their smartphone.  A survey among a group of 3600 women from China, Britain, Brazil and the US showed that 45% of Chinese women would give up sex for a month to keep their smartphones.  39% of women in the US said they would give it up for a month to keep their phones, with 38% in the UK and 29% in Brazil saying they would do the same.  I don’t know what Canadian women would do but I for one might join my sisters and keep my damn iPhone!

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-01/10/c_133034090.htm

“We now live in a moment where every story, Image, brand and relationship plays itself out across the maximum number of media platforms, shaped down by decisions made in corporate boardrooms and bottom up by decisions made in teenagers’ bedrooms.” - Henry Jenkins, Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

The need of the hour is to advertise, market and build your brand, product or portfolio through multiple platforms. A transmedia story represents the integration of entertainment experiences across a range of media platforms. A story like Lost or Breaking Bad might spread from television into comics, the web, alternate reality or video games, toys and other commodities, etc. picking up audiences as it goes. Thus, a film is now advertised on multiple platforms. However, the concept of transmedia is not only limited to films and television.

We now come across a multi platform experience for applications, games, newspapers, news channels and even utilities like banking, booking concert/movie tickets, online shopping. For example, one can read a physical newspaper or read it on a mobile application, tablet application, pc website or even on a television. A game is nowadays released on multiple platforms, which again include gaming consoles, pc, tablets and phones. The transmedia trend has pushed the media industry to create content for multiple platforms. The emphasis is on enriching the content, not replicating it in each different medium, so that the centre of experience is the content rather than the format in which it is delivered.

Enriching the content for different platforms aims at providing better user experience i.e. enhanced capabilities, ease of use and ease of access. Content on a mobile application is often presented with a set of separate features. These separate sets of features build up to a fresh and different user experience. For instance, a weather application on a Smart TV has comparatively fewer features than the same weather application on a smartphone.

People have adapted to the transmedia trend and have started expecting the brand or product content to be available on every platform. An application like Netflix is available on every possible platform (mobile, pc, tablet, tv), which provides the user the option to view it on their desired platform. However, it is very important to keep the content consistent throughout every platform. Even if we take into consideration different kinds of media like hoardings, banners, brochures, newspaper and digital the content has to be consistent.

For example, a brochure consisting of guidelines to use a login feature of a website, should have the same content and should match the website click-by-click. Here consistency plays a key role, as the user could get frustrated easily.

Social media is also highly used as a part of a transmedia strategy. Social media platforms are considered to be major gateways for advertising and spreading brand awareness. Stories are being delivered to the users through Tumblr posts, Google+ forums, Instagram timelines, pinterest etc. Instagram is one of the brand favourites, as it is the go-to application for users to post pictures and explore pictures from around the world. It provides an opportunity for organizations to showcase their products creatively. Companies have to set up their transmedia strategies and large brands like Disney, Sony, Nickelodeon and Fox have succeeded in the same.  The company Televisa, has even created a separate Transmedia Division.

The world’s consumers today are faced with more new technologies than ever before, and at a much more rapid pace. Increasingly, users are expecting their mobile screens to serve as more than simply smaller versions of their home desktop computer- through responsive and adaptive design, mobile sites can take on their own unique form that suits the needs of the screen size and people on the go. 

An article from The Guardian calls these people the “always-on consumers” who prefer knowing they can access the internet “anytime and anywhere." This is an important trend because it shows how web access on demand is becoming increasingly entwined with our daily lives, and therefore “the norm.” As I briefly touched upon before, this in turn also effects how mobile technology is designed. User experience practices have started to focus on simpler, cleaner designs for both mobile and desktop. 

As we see a rise in mobile use, we are also dealing with an emergence of larger screened mobile phones, or “phablets,” such as the iPhone 6 Plus. As a side note, when I first read the term “phablet” in an article, I assumed it was a word that author made up as a joke- hybrid words like this are few and far between nowadays, whether it be a spork or a cronut. Alas, it actually seems to be the proper term for these things and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Anyway, “Phablets”, or gadgets that identify as somewhere between a smartphone and a tablet, have been increasing in popularity in North America over the past year, following their popularity in East Asia. This trend has caused a bit of confusion for skeptics, especially after over a decade of what seemed like global demand for smaller and smaller phones. Why do so many consumers suddenly have the desire to size up? The larger screen undoubtedly appeals to gamers, but maybe the main reason some people like it is simply because it offers the best of both worlds- the pristine, well-sized display of a tablet that can also fit into a jacket pocket.

To be honest, I kind of want a phablet even though it has a stupid name. I like the idea of a larger screen, and it has nothing to do with vision problems. If I’m like my parents, I still have until my early thirties before I’ll need glasses. Not only am I using my smartphone to access the web, I’m also using it as my main camera, which I think is true for many. And with increased use of my web access away from the computer, I like looking into a larger screen.