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> I can take public transport in a place I'm unfamiliar with Pre-smartphone, I had immense trouble taking public transport in a place I'm familiar with. Usabil
by quadrifoliate 7y ago
> I can take public transport in a place I'm unfamiliar with
Pre-smartphone, I had immense trouble taking public transport in a place I'm familiar with. Usability seems like the last concern of the people who design most bus systems, at least in the US.
- ghaff 7y agoI frequently think this when traveling and, if anything, it's probably gotten worse. It used to be a case of giving some cash to someone in a booth. Now it's often about fumbling around with some machine, hoping your credit card works if you're in a different country, figuring out what the appropriate fare type is, etc. Oh, and doing this in a tourist destination like an airport so there's a long line of people doing the same thing. No one who designs these systems gives more than 30 seconds thought to their use by people who don't use them every day.
- thisrod 7y agoIn Melbourne, the designers got their comeuppance. The barristers ganged up with the judges, and for a while it became a principle of Victorian law that the ergonomics of public transport tickets were irredeemable, and anyone who claimed to have made a reasonable attempt to pay their fare would be let off. That didn't last long, but the panic it provoked in the bureaucracy was hilarious.