BMTC Accessibility & Inclusivity Audit

Team context

Completed by a four-member academic team. This case study presents the group's shared research and design process without assigning unverified individual contributions.

What needed to change?

BMTC users can face unsafe, rushed and inaccessible journeys because of unreliable timings, overcrowding, unclear information, time-pressured travel conditions and gaps in inclusive design.

How assumptions were reduced

1. Conducted interviews, surveys and observations to understand commuter behaviour, needs and frustrations.
2. Used field visits, context-of-use analysis and emotional mapping to study crowding, signage, noise, weather and user state.
3. Synthesised findings through affinity mapping and cognitive-load analysis.
4. Created personas, empathy maps and journey maps for commuters with different ages, abilities and levels of digital confidence.

From evidence to direction

1. Define — identified recurring problems such as overcrowding, unreliable timings and accessibility barriers.
2. Discover — gathered behavioural evidence through interviews, surveys, observation and field research.
3. Dream — generated ideas to improve navigation, safety, usability and commuter confidence.
4. Design — developed personas, journey maps, storyboards and low-fidelity wireframes.
5. Develop — refined concepts against user needs, feasibility and accessibility considerations.
6. Deliver — presented research findings and proposed improvements to the commuter experience.

What the work achieved

The team proposed a clearer mobile information structure, dedicated real-time bus tracking, easier access to route and bus-stop information, location-based facility search, larger text, reduced visual clutter, crowd indicators and reporting tools.