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Simplifying GSRTC Bus Booking Experience

Simplifying GSRTC Bus Booking Experience — mobile app screens for ticket booking, quick pass, and bus tracking

About GSRTC

GSRTC has been more than just a transport service—it has been a lifeline connecting families, fostering dreams and bridging distances across Gujarat.

About GSRTC — lifeline connecting families across Gujarat, with bus illustration and Connecting Gujarat One Journey at a Time

Project Brief

The GSRTC app redesign aims to simplify and enhance the bus booking process by addressing usability challenges and improving the overall user experience. By focusing on intuitive navigation, clearer information display and efficient functionality, the goal is to make the app more accessible and convenient for daily commuters and travellers alike.

Project Brief — GSRTC app redesign to simplify bus booking, improve navigation and accessibility

User Research

Daily Commuters

User Problems

  • Difficulty finding convenient routes.
  • Inconsistent bus tracking.
  • Complicated payment processes.
  • Trouble saving frequent routes.

User Task

  • Book recurring routes.
  • Renew passes.
  • Track buses.
  • Save favourite routes.

Tourists

User Problems

  • Unfamiliar with routes and stop names.
  • Language barriers.
  • Confusion in bus types.
  • Difficulty selecting boarding/dropping points.

User Task

  • Search routes with filters.
  • Get multi-language support.

Senior Citizens & Differently-Abled

User Problems

  • Small fonts and complex layouts.
  • Lack of accessibility features.
  • Challenges in selecting special seats and concessions.

User Task

  • Book tickets with concessions.
  • Access Divyang seats.

Logistics/Parcel Service Users

User Problems

  • Difficulty tracking bus bookings.
  • No clear pricing details.
  • Poor visibility of bus routes.

User Task

  • Book parcel shipments.
  • Track parcels in real-time.
  • Receive delivery alerts.
User Research — persona cards for daily commuters, tourists, senior citizens, and logistics users

Existing Process

Existing GSRTC booking process flowchart — 12 steps from app install through onboarding, ticket booking, seat selection, payment, and after booking, with problems noted at each step
Existing Process — GSRTC app booking journey flowchart with pain points at each step

Problem Identification

Annotated GSRTC app screens — splash, search, seat selection, and boarding point issues with callouts

The application was evaluated using heuristic principles and several issues were discovered.

Heuristic evaluation diagram — visibility, real-world match, user control, consistency, error prevention, recognition, minimalist design, and error recovery principles

The app has a confusing design and lacks essential features, frustrating daily commuters and tourists leads to create a user-friendly app, ensuring a seamless travel experience for all users.

Problem Identification — GSRTC app audit with annotated screens and heuristic principles evaluation

Mind map

A visual breakdown of the existing booking process, highlighting pain points and potential improvements through streamlined user flows.

Legend: Focus areas, Problems, Solutions GSRTC booking mind map — Ticket Booking at center with six branches for seat booking, bus search, payment, route tracking, pickup/drop points, and quick pass, each showing problems and solutions
Mind map — visual breakdown of GSRTC booking process with focus areas, problems, and solutions

User Persona

Daily Commuter — illustration of Dia with callouts about pass options, scheduled bus timings, and boarding point confusion

Dia Patel

23 years old
Junior Graphic Designer
Lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Goals & Motivations

  • Quickly book tickets for daily commute to office without repetitive steps.
  • Reach destination on time without any delays.

Frustrations

  • Each and every time she need to save the data for ticket booking.
  • Not getting timely updates about delays or cancellations.
  • No access to daily pass and had to book tickets everyday with repetitive steps.

Keywords

Daily Commute, Single Click Booking, Favourite Bus Route, Quick updates

Roleplay

I’m Dia, a junior graphic designer juggling tight deadlines and a packed schedule. With a limited salary, I can’t afford cabs or private transport, so I rely on the GSRTC bus service to commute daily between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Every morning, after booking my ticket, I head to the bus stop. I open the app to track the bus’s location, only to realise it doesn’t have a live tracking feature. Instead, it just shows scheduled timings, leaving me guessing whether the bus is delayed or has already passed. When the bus finally arrives, there’s often confusion about where to board. The app lists every minor stop in Ahmedabad instead of major pickup points, making it unclear where I should wait. I still remember the day I boarded the wrong bus because the boarding point wasn’t clearly labeled—I ended up late for work and missed an important deadline.

To save on travel costs, I’ve tried using daily or monthly passes, but the app doesn’t have a user-friendly pass system. Instead, I have to book individual tickets every day, which adds to my expenses and strains my budget. The payment process is frustrating, with too many unnecessary steps, and sometimes the app crashes mid-payment, forcing me to start all over again.

After a long day at work, the return journey comes with the same issues. I can’t save my favourite routes and the app doesn’t suggest alternative buses when there are cancellations or delays. It also fails to provide connecting bus options, which becomes a hassle, especially when I’m in a rush to get home.

Tourist — illustration of Aashish with callouts about missing destination suggestions and outdated booking experience

Aashish Mehra

43 years
Senior Project Engineer
Lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka

Aashish, a 43-year-old Senior Project Engineer at a multinational company in Bengaluru, has a passion for discovering hidden gems in long weekends. Recently, he decided to take an impromptu trip to Gujarat with his family, eager to explore the Rann of Kutch, Dwarka and Gir Forest. He wanted to visit Gujarat, so he planned to book a flight to Ahmedabad. Since he is from Bengaluru, he is used to travel from KSRTC as they suggest tourist destinations. So he decided to book bus and expecting the same. He went to GSRTC website and he felt frustrated as the website is not usable. So he installed the application which was even more worse.

Goals & Motivations

  • To explore major tourist destinations easily.
  • To get easy access about the status of buses and stops.

Frustrations

  • No information about Gujarat Tourism in the app.
  • Faced difficulty while booking tickets with unnecessary options and unclear terminology.

Keywords

Ticket Booking, Travel Destinations, Tourist-focused features

User Persona — Daily Commuter Dia Patel and Tourist Aashish Mehra with goals, frustrations, and roleplay narratives

User Requirements

Primary Requirements

  • Easily able to book and cancel ticket
  • Easily able to track the bus
  • To get route and schedule information
  • Want a dedicated seats for women

Secondary Requirements

  • Easily able to access to same route
  • Need a daily/monthly pass for commuting
  • Want a easy payment process
  • To quickly filter options for seat booking
  • To suggest tourism destinations

Tertiary Requirements

  • Can able to access through different language options
  • To get quick suggestions of multimodal connectivity
  • Want a personalized recommendations
  • To access offline ticket
User Requirements — primary, secondary, and tertiary requirements mapped to concentric priority circles

Goals & Tasks

GOAL 1

To complete the task in minimal steps

GOAL 2

To make the app visually better

GOAL 3

Add necessary features/filters which makes users conveniently to complete task

Enhance the user experience to book tickets

TASK 1

  • Enhance Commuter Convenience
  • Implement a daily/monthly pass system and saved routes for frequent travellers.
  • Provide accurate live bus tracking and timely notifications for delays or changes.

TASK 2

  • Promote Tourism and Accessibility
  • Introduce curated travel packages and destination recommendations within Gujarat.
  • Add multilingual support and improve the app to cater to a diverse audience.

TASK 3

Goals and Tasks — three design goals with pin icons and three implementation task cards

Competitive Analysis

For Ticket Booking Process

Competitive analysis tables comparing GSRTC with Abhibus, Redbus, KSRTC for tourists and CityFlo, Chalo, UTS for daily commuters across filtering, saved routes, tracking, tourism, and payment features

Learnings

  • GSRTC significantly lags behind competitors in key features, including saved routes, real-time tracking, and filtering options, making the booking process inconvenient for users.
  • The app lacks personalization and efficiency, as users must manually enter details for every booking, while competitors offer saved routes and quick rebooking options.
  • Real-time tracking is a crucial missing feature, causing uncertainty for both daily commuters and tourists, whereas competitors provide accurate live tracking and updates.
  • The payment process is not as seamless as competitors, requiring multiple steps and lacking the flexibility of RedBus and Abhibus, which offer smoother transactions.
  • GSRTC fails to cater to tourists effectively, lacking tourism suggestions and curated travel packages, whereas KSRTC and RedBus actively promote destinations and offer specialized travel recommendations.
Competitive Analysis — GSRTC compared with Abhibus, Redbus, KSRTC, CityFlo, Chalo, and UTS with learnings summary

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

  • Operated by the Gujarat state government
  • Offers cost-effective transportation

Weakness

  • Poor user experience with confusing navigation
  • Absence of live bus tracking and real-time updates
  • The payment system is complex
  • Missing features may drive users to switch to competitors.
  • Unreliable bus schedules can impact user trust and retention

Opportunities

  • Potential for expansion with integration of modern features
  • Introduce daily pass options and past routes for daily users
  • Adding travel suggestions could attract more users
  • Add different language options to cater to a diverse user base
  • Post ticket booking experience could be improved

Threats

  • Non-tech savy might face issues using app with modern features
  • Multiple features can confuse the users
  • Modern design might confuse users into thinking it's only for AC buses and intercity travel, ignoring its support for daily non-AC intracity transport
SWOT Analysis — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for GSRTC

Proposed Taskflow

Tourists

Proposed Task Flow 1

Installed GSRTC App

Onboarding Screen

From and To

Date and Return Date

Booking for Women/Divyang

No. of passenger

Intercity or Intracity

Search Bus Button

Offers Ad

Booking History

Menu

Search Bus (Different Screen)

Filters, Sort by button

Bus Options

Seat Selection (Different Screen)

Seat Selection

Bus Details

Bus Route Map

Choose Boarding and Dropping Point (Pop-up)

Select Boarding and Dropping Points

Passenger Information (Different Screen)

Selected Bus and Seat Details

Fill Passenger Details

Travel Insurance

‘Continue to Payment’ Button

Payment (Different Screen)

Ticket Summary

Selected Bus and Seat Details

Passenger Details

Pay Now Button

Strength
  • Steps are arranged logically, reducing user confusion
  • Clear Information Hierarchy
  • Added Features like filters, sort buttons, and bus route maps
Weakness
  • Might look same as the existing flow

Proposed Task Flow 2

Installed GSRTC App

Onboarding Screen

From and To

Date and Return Date

Booking for Women/Divyang

No. of passenger

Ticket Booking/Quick Pass

Search Bus Button

Menu

Search Bus & Boarding/Drop Points (Pop-up)

Filters, Sort by button

Bus Options

Select Boarding and Dropping Points

Seat Selection (Different Screen)

Seat Selection

Bus Details

Bus Route Map

Passenger Information (Different Screen)

Selected Bus and Seat Details

Fill Passenger Details

Travel Insurance

‘Continue to Payment’ Button

Payment (Different Screen)

Ticket Summary with Edit options

(selected bus, seat details, boarding/dropping points, total amount)

Pay Now Button

Ticket Booking (Different Screen)

Ticket Details

Location of boarding point

Live Bus Tracking

Strength
  • Consolidates redundant steps, saving time
  • Each step logically follows the previous one, with minimal distractions.
  • Streamlined ticket booking for easy navigation.
  • Flexibility for users to edit selections before payment.
Weakness
  • Advanced users may miss options like saved routes or travel suggestions during the booking process.
  • Removing extra features from onboarding might reduce engagement for repeat users who rely on offers and booking history.

Daily Commuters

Proposed Task Flow

Installed GSRTC App

Onboarding Screen

From Settings - Buy Pass

Enter Pass Details

Monthly/Yearly Option Button

Quick Pass (Different Screen)

From and To

Date and Return Date

Booking for Women/Divyang

No. of passenger

Ticket Booking/Quick Pass

Search Bus Type

Menu

Bus Selection (Different Screen)

Bus Selection

Bus Details

Bus Route Map

Choose Boarding and Dropping Point (Pop-up)

Select Boarding and Dropping Points

Payment (Different Screen)

Pass Summary

Payment Options

Quick Pass (Different Screen)

Quick Pass Details

Location of Boarding Point

Bus Tracking

Task Feedback

  • The Quick Pass feature should visually display a QR code for seamless scanning and entry.
  • Essential bus details should be presented clearly to assist users in selecting the most suitable option.
  • A customisable pass plan should be introduced, allowing passengers to tailor their access to the Quick Pass based on their travel needs.
  • Alternative bus options should be displayed based on the selected time, with unavailable buses clearly marked as disabled for that specific day.
  • Real-time bus tracking and a clearly defined boarding point should be integrated to enhance the passenger’s boarding experience.
Proposed Taskflow — tourist and daily commuter booking flows with strengths, weaknesses, and task feedback

Initial Mockups

Changes / Improvements / User Feedback

Initial Mockups — hand-drawn booking wireframes with user feedback markers

Iteration & User Feedbacks

  1. Incorporate app identity by adding the app logo on the homepage.
  2. Allow travel information to remain editable until the payment process is completed.
  3. Replace the intercity and intracity options with Ticket Booking and Quick Pass for more intuitive access.
  4. Display boarding and drop-off points on a separate screen, rather than combining them with bus details and seat selection.
  5. Clearly show the boarding point to help passengers easily locate their pickup location.

Iterations Based on User Feedback

Following Hick's Law, this section is simplified to include Ticket Booking and Quick Pass options. This change replaces the intercity and intracity, one-way and return selections, aiming to improve the user experience.

Replaced the scrollable bus details section with a slider-based selection for boarding and drop-off points after seat selection, reducing cognitive load and improving clarity.

This feature is integrated into the filter section also to facilitate users in selecting the suitable options.

User testing session showing Figma designs and Google Meet participants

To validate my design improvements, I conducted a user testing session via Google Meet.

Participants shared real-time feedback on usability, booking flow and key pain points, helping me refine the final design for a seamless experience.

Iteration and User Feedbacks — design improvements, phone mockups, and user validation session

Design Theme

Open Sans

Open Sans is a humanist sans serif typeface that is easy to read and has a neutral, friendly appearance, captures the essence of classic and modern city.

Typography

Open Sans

AaBbCcDdEeFfEeGgHhIiJjKkLlMm

NnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz

0123456789

!@#$%^&*/)

Colour

  • Air Force Blue #143094
  • Summer Blue #B6DCFF
  • Cream White #F0F0F0
  • Lavender Mist #CCD4EC

Components

GSRTC UI components including filter chips, ticket cards, form fields, tabs, bottom navigation, and payment button
Design Theme — Open Sans typography, colour palette, and UI components

Final Design

GSRTC final high-fidelity design — Home Page and Ticket Booking screen flows with annotations GSRTC final high-fidelity design — Quick Pass screen flows with annotations GSRTC final high-fidelity design — After Booking screen flows with annotations

Learnings & Takeaways

  • Enhancing Usability: GSRTC lacks essential features like real-time tracking and a seamless booking process.
  • Personalisation Gaps: Competitors offer filtering options and rebooking options, improving user convenience.
  • Tourism Potential Untapped: Unlike KSRTC and RedBus, GSRTC does not promote tourist destinations.
  • Payment Experience Needs Improvement: A complex payment process discourages users; a simplified checkout is essential.
  • Real-Time Tracking is Crucial: Live tracking can enhance reliability and user confidence.

Notable Enhancements

  • Enhanced UI design for a better visual experience, from old and messy UI to modern UI.
  • Live Bus Tracking for accurate ETAs was added in the app for better user experience.
  • Simplified ticket booking with 6 steps from 11-12 steps in the existing application
  • A clear boarding point has been introduced to eliminate any potential confusion.
  • Added a Quick Booking option for daily commuters which was not functioning in the existing application.
  • Simplified Payment Flow with multiple options in one click instead of 2 screens with confusing features.
  • Integration of tourism features to engage potential travellers, enhancing their overall experience and encouraging exploration of various destinations.
  • Implementation of advanced filtering and sorting options to enhance user experience.

Redesigning GSRTC was more than just improving an app, it was about making every journey smoother, simpler and stress-free.

Thank you for joining me on this ride!