Making ticket booking faster, clearer, and less frustrating
Redesigning the UTS ticket booking experience to
reduce friction in navigation, login, and ticket generation.
Role
UX Designer
Duration
1 Month
Tools
Figma , FigJam , Maze
Product Context
UTS (Unreserved Ticketing System) Indian Railways official mobile application that enables passengers to book unreserved train tickets, platform tickets, and season passes digitally, eliminating the need to stand in ticket counter queues.
Project Overview
Outline
Redesigned the UTS mobile app to create a faster and more intuitive ticket booking experience for daily commuters. The project involved identifying usability issues through research, simplifying the booking journey, and redesigning key interactions to reduce friction and improve clarity.
Impact
9 → 4 steps
Reduced booking flow
50%
fewer taps to complete task
8 → 4 steps
Reduced decision points
Design Approach
Discovery
01
User Research
Gathered quantitative insights through survey and interviews from commuters who use UTS regularly, to understand how they book tickets and where they get stuck
App store review analysis
We clarify the mission, scope, and success metrics. This step creates alignment and sets a strategic foundation for everything that follows.
App Audit
Audited the existing UTS app to map out where the current flow adds friction
Define
02
Affinity Mapping
Grouped research findings to identify recurring patterns and user pain points.
How Might We
Reframed key challenges into solution-oriented design opportunities.
Design Principles
Defined a set of design principles that translated user insights into actionable design decisions, ensuring every improvement addressed a real user need.
Design
03
User Flow
Mapped the existing and redesigned booking journeys to identify friction points, remove unnecessary steps, and create a more streamlined user experience.
Wireframes
Explored layout and interaction ideas before refining the interface.
High-Fidelity UI
Designed polished interfaces with improved hierarchy, accessibility, and consistency.
Validate
04
Usability testing
Evaluated task completion and identified usability improvements through user feedback.
Feedback Synthesis
Organized user feedback into actionable insights and identified opportunities for the next iteration.
Understanding the Commuter's Journey
We started with conducting primary and secondary research to understand how commuters book tickets, where they face friction, and what prevents a seamless booking experience.
Primary Research
25+
Survey Responses
Collected quantitative insights to understand booking habits, frequently used features, and recurring pain points among daily commuters.
5
In-depth Interviews
Conducted interviews with daily local train commuters to map their journeys, trigger points, and physical behaviours on active platforms
Secondary Research
App Review
Play Store & App Store
Analyzed user reviews to validate interview findings
and identify recurring complaints at scale.
Community Forums
Quora & Online Discussions
Explored commuter discussions to understand edge cases, frustrations, and expectations beyond direct research.
Identifying friction in existing booking flow
Before redesigning the experience, I analyzed the existing booking journey to identify
where users encountered friction during the ticket booking process.
Login & Authentication
Repeated Login/OTP verification interrupted the booking process for returning users.
Home Dashboard
Important actions lacked clear hierarchy, making navigation less intuitive
Journey Selection
Users manually entered frequent routes, increasing repetitive effort.
Passenger & Payment
Multiple input fields and unclear payment feedback added friction during booking.
Ticket Confirmation
Essential travel information wasn't prioritized, reducing clarity after purchase.
Key Research Insights
Confusing Navigation
“New users finds the app’s navigation difficult due to no proper instruction”
Poor Readability
“Poor contrast and readability issue.”
Repetitive Login
"It constantly logs me out. Waiting for an OTP while rushing to catch a train is pure stress."
Lengthy Booking
“Have to navigate through multiple screens for ticket process.”
Translating insights into design decisions
Improve navigation
Surface frequently used actions with clearer hierarchy.
Enhance accessibility
Improve readability and support faster interaction outdoors.
Reduce & simplify booking steps
Reduce unnecessary steps and repetitive interactions.
Increase trust
Provide better payment feedback and confirmation states.
Defining Commuter's Pain points
Redesigning the Booking Experience
Since ticket booking is the primary function of the UTS app, every design decision
focused on making this journey faster, simpler and easier to complete.
Research Insight → Design Decision → User Benefit
Applying Design Principles
Prioritized Hierarchy
Improve accessibility
Building Trust
Reduce cognitive load
Prioritize frequent tasks
Reduce booking time
Simplifying the Booking Flow
Simplified the booking journey by optimizing it for two key user scenarios
returning commuters and first-time bookings.
Repetitive Actions
No review before payment
High Cognitive Load
Longer Booking Time
High Decision making process
Eliminated repetitive route
selectionReduced booking steps
Faster ticket booking
Simplified the booking process
Reduced cognitive load
Clearer task progression
Eliminated repetitive route selection
Users Mentioned "I travel the same route every day, but I still have to
enter everything again booking takes longer than it should."
Prioritize Frequent Tasks
Reduce repetitive actions while supporting faster bookings with fewer interactions.
Reduce Booking Steps
Reduce repetitive actions while supporting faster bookings with fewer interactions.
Simplified form layout
Organized inputs into a cleaner, easier-to-follow structure.Progressive disclosure
Displayed only relevant information at each step to avoid overwhelming users.Better spacing
Improved spacing between elements for quicker scanning and easier interaction.Cleaner grouping
Grouped related information together to reduce visual clutter and improve comprehension.
Users Mentioned "There are too many options on the screen. I wasn't sure where to begin"
Clear Information Hierarchy
Prioritize the most important actions and information so users know exactly where to focus.
Primary CTA prioritised
Book Ticket is visually dominant and immediately discoverable.Related actions grouped
Frequently used features are placed together for quicker scanning.Reduced visual clutter
Secondary information is de-emphasized to keep attention on the booking task.
Users Mentioned "The app feels overwhelming ,There is too much information at once"
Reducing Cognitive Load
Reduce the amount of information users process at one time.
Simplified form layout
Organized inputs into a cleaner, easier-to-follow structure.Progressive disclosure
Displayed only relevant information at each step to avoid overwhelming users.Better spacing
Improved spacing between elements for quicker scanning and easier interaction.Cleaner grouping
Grouped related information together to reduce visual clutter and improve comprehension.
Users Says " I wasn't sure what to tap next, the text is too small to read while travelling"
Improve Accessibility
Improve readability and usability across different users.
Improved typography
Increased text size for better readability.Clearer visual hierarchy
Highlighted key actions and information.Regional language support
Improved accessibility for a diverse commuter base.Prominent CTAs
Made primary actions easier to identify and access.
Users Says " The payment process felt unclear and confusing, No feedback after payment"
Building Trust Through Clear Feedback
Create a transparent and reassuring payment experience by offering clear payment choices, visible system feedback, and an unambiguous booking confirmation.
Reorganized payment options based on payment methods instead of payment providers.
Reduced visual clutter with a clean bottom-sheet selection pattern.
Highlighted the selected payment option with clear visual feedback.
Introduced a prominent Pay Now CTA with the payable amount.
Designed a dedicated ticket confirmation screen to reassure users that the booking was completed successfully.
Validating the Redesign
Testing Overview
The redesigned prototype was evaluated through moderated usability testing, where participants completed an end-to-end ticket booking task. User interactions were analyzed using Maze analytics and session observations to validate design decisions and identify remaining usability issues.
Objective:
Addressed the usability issues identified during research, I conducted moderated usability testing with representative users performing a complete ticket booking task.
What Users said:
"This feels much easier than the current app."
"I immediately knew where to click."
"Quick Booking would save me a lot of time."
Resuts:
Users located the booking action more quickly
Users completed the journey with fewer pauses and less confusion.
Frequent commuters preferred the Quick Booking feature.
4 out of 5 participants completed the booking without assistance.
Easier to navigate
Less overwhelming
More confidence
Better readability
9 → 4 steps
Reduced booking flow
85.7%
Task Success Rate
67%
Were able to access to language settings
4.2/5 → 4.8/5
Average rating Improved
Key Takeaways
The usability test validated that simplifying the booking flow and applying clear UX principles improved efficiency, reduced cognitive effort, and created a more intuitive experience for daily commu
Future Opportunities
While the redesign significantly improved the booking experience, usability testing also uncovered opportunities for future iterations.
Quick Access to Active Ticket
Participants wanted the active journey ticket to be visible on the home screen, enabling them to quickly present it during ticket inspections without navigating through multiple screens.
