Summary
Providing information to public transit riders is complex. The information needs to be consistent across touchpoints and channels. Like many old, large organization ours is defined by its silos. When information is inconsistent across channels and touchpoints our organizational silos become apparent. More importantly, inconsistent information causes confusion for transit riders. While we can't stop maintaining and improving the information in our 'silos,' we build bridges across them so that riders get consistent information. This approach requires us to be intentional and patient.
Key Insights
-
•
Organizational silos between operations-focused and rider-focused teams create confusing and inaccurate transit information for users.
-
•
Transit riders like Julie need precise, contextual alerts, but current alerts often generalize disruptions, causing unnecessary stress and extra costs.
-
•
Multiple channels (third-party apps, official apps, stations) complicate delivering a consistent, interconnecting system of service information.
-
•
No two riders or disruptions are alike, so product teams must think holistically about diverse rider experiences and operational realities.
-
•
Cross-functional product teams structured around discrete products, not end-to-end experiences, cause fragmented service delivery.
-
•
Service design should hide internal organizational complexities from users, avoiding barriers caused by siloed structures as per Lou Downs' Good Services.
-
•
Product-agnostic roles, like researchers and content strategists focusing on systems rather than single products, can bridge team gaps.
-
•
Formal leadership roles provide leverage to advocate for holistic problem solving and breaking down silos.
-
•
Building trusted partnerships inside organizations enables honest feedback and shared vision needed for improving collaboration.
-
•
Accurate real-time information depends both on technology (GPS, digital tools) and organizational alignment to digitize and share operational data.
Notable Quotes
"Julie can't afford to miss her connection, but the alert she got didn’t actually apply to her bus."
"No two transit trips are alike, no two riders are alike, and no two service disruptions are alike."
"A service must work in a way that does not unnecessarily expose a user to the internal structures of the organization providing the service."
"We unintentionally created a complexity—our team structure causes confusion and frustration for our riders."
"If we avoid how we work together, we create disjointed experiences and become the cause of rider frustration."
"Being a formal leader is harder but you have more leverage to make systemic improvements."
"Make space to connect the dots between products along the rider journey to create an interconnecting system of information."
"We must work on the whole problem, not just our slice, even if it feels overwhelming."
"Accurate information is what government is supposed to provide so people can make good decisions."
"We have to look at how we are organized and ask if it’s causing unnecessary burdens to the public."
Dig deeper—ask the Rosenbot:
More Videos
"We’re using Slack as the heart and soul of this conference — it's where the party is."
Bria Alexander Louis RosenfeldWelcome
September 8, 2022
"Business leaders identified elimination of redundant processes as the number one value of design."
Mike OrenWhy Pharmaceutical's Research Model Should Replace Design Thinking
March 28, 2023
"Technology is often blamed, but many issues come from uneven training, misunderstandings, and poor configurations."
Jodi ForlizziDesign and AI innovation
June 5, 2024
"If you have questions for speakers, please put them in the thread pinned to the specific talk — otherwise we might miss them."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
October 3, 2023
"Marketing is psychology; to sell, you need to know how people think and feel."
Michael WeirMixed Methods and Behavioural Science (Videoconference)
May 26, 2023
"We created one-pagers — lightweight, skimmable documents — to help people from all areas quickly understand research insights."
Molly FargotsteinMultipurpose Communication & UX Research Marketing (Videoconference)
September 12, 2019
"Applying techniques without question does not liberate good research outcomes."
Verónica Urzúa Jorge MontielThe B-side of the Research Impact
March 12, 2021
"Information architecture is the art and science of organizing information to make it usable, accessible, and meaningful."
Husani OakleyTheme Two Intro
June 6, 2023
"This approach gives you a nearly pixel-perfect one-to-one match between design and the compiled app."
George Abraham Stefan IvanovDesign Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)
October 1, 2021
