PRESTO Missed Tap Off
A tool that helps students determine their eligibility for in-state tuition.
Overview
Role
Designer
Team
2 designers, 1 PM
Timeline
6 weeks
Tools
Figma
During my internship, I had the opportunity to lead the design of a future-state feature for the PRESTO mobile app. My work contributed to PRESTO's end-to-end system, supporting riders throughout their journeys while solving one of PRESTO’s most critical pain points, both for users and the business.
TL;DR
What's PRESTO?
PRESTO connects over 2 million riders to 11 transit agencies across Ontario through 1 end-to-end payment system on trains, busses, and subways.
The Problem
Every day, over hundreds of thousands ride the GO Train. GO uses a pay-by-distance fare model, requiring riders to tap on at the start and tap off at the end of their trip. However, thousands of riders forget to tap off everyday — that’s over 200,000 missed tap-offs a month — and are charged the maximum fare. For users, it’s a major frustration and for PRESTO, it's a major reasons for calls at the contact centre.
The Solution
As a UX design intern at PRESTO, I designed a solution that solves the underlying issue of riders forgetting to tap off. My design improves riders access to real-time information and reminders, and introduces self-serve … to resolve issues. This ultimately streamlines the transit experience into one seamless end-to-end mobile experience.
Discover
UX 🤝 DATA
The data team came to my Senior Manager and I with one problem: thousands of riders were forgetting to tap off, leading to poor customer experiences and a surge in call centre requests for refunds.
THE STATS
6000+
missed tap offs per day
2/3
of missed tap-offs are never reported to the call centre - meaning most go unresolved
70%
of riders report that there's no clear information on if and when to tap on and off
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🔎 DEEP DIVE INTO USER RESEARCH
While we had the numbers behind the missed tap-offs, we didn't understand the why. As a UX designer, I knew the key was to understand users' experiences and pain points — that's when I discovered that missed tap-offs were actually a part of a larger problem at PRESTO.
Research methods
USERS PAIN POINTS
❌
Default trips don't solve the problem
Many riders rely on default trips solve their missed tap offs, but they often forget to override them, charging up to two full rides. Over 50% of missed tap-offs involve cards with a default trip.
📞
Riders avoid the call centre
When riders forget to tap off, they rather incur the extra cost than contact customer service
SO, WHAT DID WE DISCOVER?
Riders fail to tap off for two major reasons
Riders don't realize they need to tap off as it's not intuitive
Riders forget to tap off as they're often distracted and stressed trying to get from point A to B
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🗺️ DEEP DIVE INTO USERS JOURNEY
To tell the users' story to my senior manager, I created a user journey map, outlining key pain points that led to missed tap offs
Journey Map
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HOW ARE OTHERS SOLVING THIS PROBLEM
PRESTO is unique in requiring riders to tap on and off, but I still wanted to see how other transportation apps were supporting users throughout their journey. I got creative, looking beyond transit to airlines and ride-hailing apps!
Competitive Analysis
SO, WHAT DID WE DISCOVER?
🔗
Self-serve, end-to-end experience
Riders' journeys are often fragmented. Leading transit apps connect different parts of a rider's journey into single, seamless flow. They also offer self-serve capabilities, empowering users to take full control of their journey.
⏳
Real-time alerts and reminders
Riders rely on timely notifications to navigate their journey. Leading transit apps offer live tracking and in turn real-time feedback to users.
👁️
Clean and clear visuals
When riders are on the go, they need to find information fast. Leading transit apps offer clean layouts and clear visuals to help users focus and find information — all at a glance.
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Define
💡 KEY OPPORTUNITIES
My research revealed major opportunities for PRESTO to deliver a better experience for riders. I presented my discoveries and key opportunities to my senior manager.
✊
Self-serve capabilities
Customer surveys show that rider's top dissatisfaction at PRESTO is how PRESTO resolves problems. Most missed tap-offs go unreported and unresolved at the call centre, highlighting the opportunity for self serve tools that empower users to resolve missed tap-offs on their own.
🔔
Proactive communication
Another top customer dissatisfaction at PRESTO is PRESTO's lack of timely communication, highlighting the opportunity to offer proactive communication such as real-time alerts and reminders to tap off — before users forget.
📍
One-stop solution
Currently riders' report using up to three different platforms to plan and pay for their trips - yet none provide everything they need, highlighting the opportunity for a one-stop solution.
📱
Mobile first
Most riders prefer to receive information through their mobile device. Since riders are always on the go, and there's no one stop shop for trip planning and payment, this highlights an opportunity to streamline the experience on mobile.
How might we design a one-stop, mobile-first solution that simplifies and streamlines riders' journey from start to end, and so they can stay alert and in control of their ride?
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🎯 PROJECT GOALS
Together with my senior manager, we defined the project goals to ensure our project had a clear purpose.
💼
Business
Increase customer satisfaction and decrease call centre calls and costs
💫
Design
Design a solution that anticipates and meets riders' need, offering moments of delights, throughout their journey
💻
Product
Develop a one-stop platform for trip planning and payments, leveraging real-time data to provide alerts, reminders, and self-serve capabilities.
Design
DEFINING THE FLOWS
Once the requirements were defined, I ideated several user flows. I reviewed each flow with my manager and we decided on the most feasible one. Then I got started on designing!
Flow Ideation
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PLAN YOUR TRIP
The Problem
Riders start their journey by planning their trip. Through conducting a usability test on the current trip planning platform, GO Tracker, I discovered major usability issues that I aimed to address in my solution.
The Solution
Riders start their journey by planning their trip. Through conducting a usability test on the current trip planning platform, GO Tracker, I discovered major usability issues that I aimed to address in my solution..
🔍 USABILITY TEST
🔄 ITERATIVE DESIGN
Before
❌
Plan trip based on line ≠ users mental models
❌
Unclear labels
After
✅
Plan trip based on arrival and departure station
✅
Plan trip based on arrival and departure time
✅
Select from saved trips
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SELECT YOUR TRIP
The Problem
Riders often rely on 2–3 different platforms for 1 trip, from planning to payment. This fragmented experience leads riders to feel overwhelmed.
The Solution
I designed a one-stop solution that lets riders manage their entire trip — from planning to payment — in one platform. This simplifies and streamlines their trip, so they can stay focused on their journey.
Many riders also prefer a visual trip-tracking experience, so they can see their trip at a glance. They can toggle between two view modes to choose how they want to view their trip.
✨ ONE STOP SOLUTION
🔄 ITERATIVE DESIGN
After
✅
Added a toggle to switch to map view for users who prefer a visual overview of their trip.
✅
Grouped related action buttons together to improve readability
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START YOUR TRIP
The Problem
Unexpected delays and cancellations lead riders to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. I wanted to reduce this pain point as much as possible.
The Solution
Through research, I learned that riders rarely commute alone—instead, they’re coordinating with friends and family. But because travel times can change due to delays and cancellations, I wanted to take away riders' need to constantly check-in and update others on their ride. Instead, riders can share trip details in real time – whether it's to coordinate a pickup or simply know when to expect them.
✨ SHARE TRIP WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
🔄 Iterative Design
Before
❌
Poor readability
Location of the reminder doesn't align with users' natural reading pattern
❌
Poor visibility
Lack of colours and icons make it harder for users view at a glance
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TRACK YOUR TRIP
The Problem
Riders are distracted on the train, making it easy to miss important announcements — like the next stop. Announcements are also audio-only, so they're especially easy to miss on busy, loud trains.
The Solution
Riders want real-time, visual trip tracking at a glance for easy and fast updates. Since riders are often busy, they can also see important announcements without opening an app.
Note: GO Trains are equipped with GPS tracking, allowing the system to track the user’s train throughout the journey. The platform provides real-time trip details—including arrival times, delays, costs —and push a tap-off reminder near the end of the trip. This functionality works with or without accessing the user’s GPS, relying instead on the train’s location.
✨ REAL TIME ALERTS AND REMINDERS
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FORGOT TO TAP OFF? DON'T WORRY
The Problem
Missed tap offs are one of the top concerns reported at the call centre, costing an influx of calls. Yet most go unreported, as riders avoid calling due to time and effort.
The Solution
To address this, we introduced a self -serve tap -off feature. When the system detects a missed tap -off, through a mismatch in the user's and train's GPS, the app sends a push notification with a reminder and gives users a 10 -minute grace period to tap off within the app. This feature not only reminds users to tap off but also leverages user data to deliver a more personalized experience
✨ SELF-SERVE TAP OFF
Design Challenge
DESIGNING FOR ADOPTION
Users are already overwhelmed by the current transit experience—so how can we encourage them to adopt our solution? I focused on integrating our solution into already existing user …
For example, riders typically check train times and platforms—so why not let them do it directly from their phone? From there, just one additional tap takes them straight to the tracker.
Similarly, what if instead if tapping on PRESTO machines, riders could simply pay from their phones? This wouldn't only streamine the payment process, but also encourage riders to manage their entire transit on their phone — providing greater control and convenience.
🔄 ITERATIVE DESIGN
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PRIVACY-CONSCIOUS DESIGN
Metrolinx takes user data privacy very seriously. We wanted to ensure our solution would still work even for riders who choose not to share their location with us. That's why we designed two variations of the solution.
The only difference is that users who don’t share their location won’t receive a detected missed tap-off, in the case of a missed tap off. Instead, like users who share their location, they will receive a reminder to tap-off at the end of their trip and can tap off in the app. This works because GO trains are already equipped with location tracking—allowing the system to track the train’s location without tracking the user.
✨ DESIGN WITH USER DATA
✨ DESIGN WITHOUT USER DATA
