Varad Athalye

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Mumbai Local Ticketing:
Usability Gaps & Opportunities

Design-first solutions for Mumbai local ticketing challenges

Duration

3 weeks

Team

1 Member

Role

Interaction Designer

Process

Research, CompetiUI design, Prototyping, User interaction

Duration

3 weeks

Team

1 Member

Role

Interaction Designer

Process

Research, CompetiUI design, Prototyping, User interaction

Start Point

Why this project began?

The Mumbai Local is often called
the lifeline of the city, carrying 7.5-8 million commuters every day.

To manage this flow..

The mumbai local railway system offers multiple methods for booking tickets.

Scoll horizontally to view

Ticket counters

traditional offline counters

UTS Mobile App

enabling digital bookings through smartphones.

Smart Cards

rechargeable cards for faster tap-and-go transactions

ATVM Kiosks

self-service machines to reduce queues and speed
up the process.

Research

Understanding the system and people

While the surge of digital payment options promise faster, queue-free travel, ATVM Kiosk systems are still used by roughly 2 million travelers in a week

Key Findings

Alternative service

System provides an alternative to traditional ticket counter queues.

Limited adoption

Only 20-25% of commuters have tried using the ATVM system.

Wide coverage

ATVMs are available across all 119 local railway stations in Mumbai.

Facilitator impact

Adoption rates fell dramatically after human facilitators were removed.

User assistance

Human support proved crucial for encouraging commuter engagement with ATVMs.

Interface struggles

Many commuters find the ATVM interface difficult to navigate.

User lens

A ground level look of what challeneges real commuters face at the screen.

Persona 1:

Aakash

Age: 34

Goals: Book tickets while multitasking during calls or breaks.

Behaviours: Gets irritated when multiple screens slow him down

Triggers: Rush hour with limited time between train arrivals

Frustrations: Small touch targets → frequently wrong selections

Persona 2:

Vanshika

Age: 20

Goals: Get a valid train ticket in under ~30 seconds end-to-end

Behaviours: Often remembers to book on UTS only after reaching the station

Triggers: UTS geofencing / unavailability forces
ATVM kiosk usage

Frustrations: ATVM station map overload leads
to hesitation

Persona 3:

Ashok

Age: 34

Goals: A simple and dependable way to buy tickets without stress

Behaviours: Reads the screen slowly; prefers clear labels over icons

Triggers: Kiosks without staff support

Frustrations: Too many station names visible
at once

To sum it up

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Problem Statement

Why the volcano erupts?

The current ATVM interface does not support efficient, independent ticketing for a broad range of users, resulting in confusion, slow transactions, and high dependence on Human facilitators.

Journey mapping

ATVM Ticketing Journey

A detailed breakdown of how commuters navigate the ATVM and where confusion, hesitation, and delays typically occur.

These marked screens are observed to cause user struggles becuase of UI and ATVM Heuristic problems

Heuristic Evaluation

ATVM Usability Evaluation Heuristics

Studied and adapted core usability heuristics to fit the context of ticketing. This framework guided every design decision.

Keep visuals clean and focused

Ensure strong visibility & contrast

The interface should be multilingual

Communicate both visually and verbally

Guide users before they start

Make actions and touch areas obvious

Keep steps minimal and direct

Show progress and transaction feedback

Help users recover from mistakes

Prevent critical errors and confusion

Reveal the journey ahead

Design for speed and patience

Before

Evaluating the existing ATVM screens to pinpoint gaps in hierarchy, feedback, and navigation that impact real-world usage.

Home screen
Problems identified
Hero photo and QR banners add decorative noise
Fast Booking, All Other Stations,
Check train availability are not
clearly differentiated, encouraging
wrong‑flow starts.
Map screen
Problems identified
Dense zonal map, badges, and grid lines reduce chances of finding the destinations.
A map forces visual search & lack of search makes station selection longer.
‑first selection allows wrong‑zone pZoneicks without validation
Select station screen
Problems identified
Excessive white space while the actual station chips are cramped at the top.
No search or favorites; users must scan long chip rows.
The faint “ticket preview” area does not confirm selections in real time.
Despite a preview panel, no step indication or “what’s next” is surfaced.
Journey details screen
Problems identified
No search or favorites; users must scan long chip rows.
The UI appears to allow invalid combinations (e.g., 0 passengers) without gating or graying incompatible options.
Fast booking screen
Problems identified
Text‑heavy tiles (route, class, train type, two CTAs) slow scanning.
No dedicated area confirms the selected tile or shows the next step.
Near‑identical tiles increase wrong via/route picks without validation.
Payment screen
Problems identified
Sponsor logos and fee text blocks overshadow the payment choices.
Small grey fee details and a dominant red Cancel outshine the selection list.
Immediate actions are far away from the users reach
Season ticket renew
Problems identified
Faint labels/preview and small copy are hard to read in glare.
Field permits invalid characters;

Home screen

ATVM issues range from physical to
digital problems.

Map screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Select station screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Journey details screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Fast booking screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Payment screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Season ticket renew

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Error screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Home screen
Problems identified
Hero photo and QR banners add decorative noise
Fast Booking, All Other Stations,
Check train availability are not
clearly differentiated, encouraging
wrong‑flow starts.
Map screen
Problems identified
Dense zonal map, badges, and grid lines reduce chances of finding the destinations.
A map forces visual search & lack of search makes station selection longer.
‑first selection allows wrong‑zone pZoneicks without validation
Select station screen
Problems identified
Excessive white space while the actual station chips are cramped at the top.
No search or favorites; users must scan long chip rows.
The faint “ticket preview” area does not confirm selections in real time.
Despite a preview panel, no step indication or “what’s next” is surfaced.
Journey details screen
Problems identified
No search or favorites; users must scan long chip rows.
The UI appears to allow invalid combinations (e.g., 0 passengers) without gating or graying incompatible options.
Fast booking screen
Problems identified
Text‑heavy tiles (route, class, train type, two CTAs) slow scanning.
No dedicated area confirms the selected tile or shows the next step.
Near‑identical tiles increase wrong via/route picks without validation.
Payment screen
Problems identified
Sponsor logos and fee text blocks overshadow the payment choices.
Small grey fee details and a dominant red Cancel outshine the selection list.
Immediate actions are far away from the users reach
Season ticket renew
Problems identified
Faint labels/preview and small copy are hard to read in glare.
Field permits invalid characters;

Home screen

ATVM issues range from physical to
digital problems.

Map screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Select station screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Journey details screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Fast booking screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Payment screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Season ticket renew

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Error screen

ATVM issues range from physical to digital problems.

Journey mapping

Revised ATVM Ticketing Journey

Problems identified

This flow reduces the steps upto just 4 for a single ticket buying user

This flow reduces the steps upto just 4 for a single ticket buying user

Two clear and clean ways of choosing a station and booking a ticket (Map and search).

Two clear and clean ways of choosing a station and booking a ticket (Map and search).

Clear payment instructions to follow through with ticket buying

Clear payment instructions to follow through with ticket buying

How might we?

How might we help everyday commuters book tickets in under 30 seconds on ATVM kiosks by introducing an error-tolerant, map-first flow?

Output

Let's start

Home screen now directs commuters to the correct booking path.

Home screen now directs commuters to the correct booking path.

Primary actions are highlighted up front, while secondary options remain accessible without cluttering the interface.

Primary actions are highlighted up front, while secondary options remain accessible without cluttering the interface.

Pick a zone

Easy navigation through division of zones (clear information hierarchy).

Easy navigation through division of zones (clear information hierarchy).

Auto filled journey details with most commonly chosen option (Can be changed as per user discretion)

Auto filled journey details with most commonly chosen option (Can be changed as per user discretion)

Pick a Station

Choose where you want to go once you identify your zone.

Choose where you want to go once you identify your zone.

Pay now

Generated Qr code for easy scan and pay through any UPI application or bank app

Generated Qr code for easy scan and pay through any UPI application or bank app

Clear Journey ticket preview to check and confirm for details.

Clear Journey ticket preview to check and confirm for details.

Search your station

Search your station instantly with predictive search.

Search your station instantly with predictive search.

Let's see it all work together

Consistent Components &
Clear Details

A maximum of 4 steps required to book a single user ticket (the most commonly booked ticket)

Result?

By prioritizing user feedback, I streamlined navigation and transformed ticket booking into an intuitive process, reducing friction and boosting satisfaction for a more engaging, user-centric experience.

Key Learnings