Sepideh Zehtab

Busmiete.ch - Bus Booking Platform

Helping Users Navigate the Booking Process to Find, Compare, and Book the Perfect Bus

My Role
UX Design, User Research, Usability Testing

The Team
4x UX/UI Design Students, 1x Mentor

Time Line
1 Week

Tools
Figma, Miro, Adobe Illustrator, Chat GPT

Deliverables
Competitor Analysis, Expert Review, Personas, Information Architecture, Site Map, User Flows, Prototyping (Low to Mid Fidelity), Usability Testing

The Spark

As part of a Usability & User Experience course, we analyzed Busmiete.ch, a Swiss bus rental platform, to identify usability issues and enhance the booking experience. Through expert reviews, user research, and competitive analysis, we restructured the platform’s navigation, optimized the booking flow, and improved content accessibility to create a seamless, user-friendly experience.

Problem

Booking Complexity & Lack of Transparency

Our expert review and user research revealed that Busmiete.ch’s booking process is overly complex and lacks essential features for a smooth experience. Users struggle with:

Limited bus details: Missing or unclear information on vehicle amenities, capacity, and condition.
Lack of rental transparency: Unclear terms and conditions create uncertainty and hesitation.
Cumbersome booking flow: Lengthy, unintuitive forms with insufficient guidance lead to frustration.

These issues result in abandoned bookings, lower user trust, and a suboptimal experience. Improving usability and transparency is key to increasing conversion rates and user satisfaction.

The Solution

To enhance usability and streamline the booking experience, we implemented a multi-layered approach:

Clearer Information Architecture & Automated Search

Refined information structure for better clarity
Automated search process for faster results
Filter and sorting options to help users find relevant buses and rental details efficiently

Improved Navigation & Process Transparency

Step-by-step booking flow with a progress indicator (Stepper) for clarity
Back navigation option to prevent frustration from restarting tasks
Retention of critical steps when navigating backward, reducing friction

Stronger Visual Hierarchy & Consistent UI

Improved Clarity & Readability – A unified style guide, structured typography, and icon usage enhance content clarity and navigation
Optimized Color & CTA Visibility – A refined color palette directs user focus and improves the visibility of key actions

Homepage: A dynamic, automated search function in the hero section allows users to quickly find and filter relevant vehicle options.

Search Results: Icons and sorting options enhance intuitiveness and efficiency, while the sticky stepper ensures orientation and seamless back navigation.

Vehicle Details: A detailed vehicle preview in an overlay allows users to compare features, pricing, and availability without leaving the search results.

Step-by-Step Booking Flow: An automated booking process ensures clarity and minimizes errors, while color-coded navigation highlights key actions.

Understanding the User

Understanding the User

Expert Review: Identifying Usability Barriers

To better understand the usability issues of Busmiete.ch, we conducted an expert review using three key methodologies: Usability Heuristics, Accessibility Evaluation, and a Cognitive Walkthrough.

By evaluating the platform through the lens of a typical user scenario, we aimed to uncover barriers that hinder the user journey and propose actionable improvements.

Task: Book a bus with driver for a group of 20 people with specific amenities.

Understanding the User

Key Hypotheses from the Expert Review

Based on the findings of our Expert Review, we identified the following hypotheses to address key usability issues and improve the platform’s overall user experience.

1. Enhancing Navigation will help users navigate the platform confidently and complete tasks with ease.

Inconsistent design elements, disappearing menus, and unclear navigation states undermine user confidence and control.
Without progress indicators or structured booking steps, users feel disoriented and frustrated, unsure of their position in the process.
A missing back button forces users to restart tasks entirely when revisiting previous steps, further adding to their frustration.
A defined color palette can guide users through the booking process and emphasize primary actions.

2. Improving Information Architecture will streamline decision-making and improve the overall user experience.

CTAs lack visibility due to inconsistent design and poor placement, often hidden below the fold. Oversized header images further distract users from key actions.
A poor information hierarchy makes it difficult for users to find essential details where and when they need them.
The absence of filtering and search options prevents users from finding relevant, personalized results efficiently.
Weak visual hierarchy disrupts decision-making. Using structured typography, icons, and bullet points will improve clarity and usability.

Understanding the User

User Interviews and Affinity Map

Building on the findings from the Expert Review, the next step was to analyze user feedback to validate earlier insights and ensure our solutions align with real user needs. Using qualitative data from five user interviews, we organized key observations into an Affinity Map.

Finding common patterns and pain points using an affinity map

From the Affinity Map, we identified the following recurring pain points that highlight critical challenges faced by users.

Complicated and frustrating search process:
- Lack of detailed information about bus features (e.g., amenities like WiFi, seating capacity).
- Unclear or incomplete descriptions of vehicle condition.
- Insufficient transparency around rental terms and conditions.
Cumbersome and unclear booking process:
- Long, unclear forms requiring significant effort to complete.
- Missing step-by-step guidance, leaving users unsure about the next steps in the booking process.

Understanding the User

User Persona

To bring our insights from user research to life and build empathy with our users, we crafted two personas based on our findings. Each persona reflects the frustrations, needs, and aspirations of key user groups.

Meet Günter and Anna, representing users striving for clarity, efficiency, and a stress-free bus booking experience.

Persona o1

Persona o2

Finding A Solution

Ideating: How Might We Statements

Using insights from user research, we crafted 'How Might We' questions to address key challenges and identify practical solutions. These questions laid the groundwork for brainstorming ideas that address user needs and enhance the overall booking experience:

How Might We ...

... ensure users can easily find and understand the information they need, such as bus features, vehicle conditions, and rental terms?

... ensure that users always know where they are and what to do next throughout the booking process?

... help users intuitively find, fill out, and submit the correct form to successfully complete the booking process?

Finding A Solution

Brainstorming: Generating and Evaluating Solutions

After defining the challenges through the HMW questions, we conducted a structured brainstorming session to generate a wide range of ideas. These ideas were then discussed, grouped (if similar or complementary), and prioritized through a voting process (4, 3, or 2 votes). This allowed us to focus on the most promising and impactful ideas for further exploration.

HMW Categorization and Validation
Next, we grouped the prioritized ideas thematically and mapped them to their respective HMW questions. This alignment validated the relevance of each solution and ensured a strong connection between our ideation process and user-centered objectives.

Finding A Solution

Competitive Research

To broaden our perspective and ensure a comprehensive approach, we conducted competitive research to explore how industry leaders address similar challenges. This process helped us uncover best practices, identify gaps, and align our solutions with user expectations and industry standards. Although we analyzed multiple competitors, Europcar.com was chosen as a representative example for this portfolio.

What We Learned from europcar:

Our analysis of Europcar.com validated many of our brainstorming ideas, confirming their alignment with industry best practices. It also offered additional inspiration and highlighted opportunities to further refine and enhance our proposed solutions.

Finding A Solution

From Ideas to Structure: Information Architecture

During user research, we identified challenges in how users find and access information. Building on ideas from brainstorming and competitive research, we designed a clear and user-friendly information structure.

To achieve this, we conducted an open card-sorting session with four participants, carefully observing and analyzing their categorizations to find their’ mental models and preferences for structuring content.

Final structure refined and consolidated from participant card-sorting insights.

These insights guided the final structure, organizing content into primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

Since both user and competitive research highlighted the dynamic search functionality as a key solution to address user pain points, we chose to spotlight its user flow separately. This demonstrates how the search adapts dynamically across pages, helping users quickly find relevant options tailored to their booking needs.

Dynamic search adapts to user selections for an efficient and seamless booking experience

From Information Architecture to Sitemap

Building on the Information Architecture, the sitemap translates the content structure into a navigation framework. This step ensures a logical flow and user-friendly navigation across all touchpoints.

Ideating: How Might We Statements

© 2025 Sepideh Zehtab

© 2025 Sepideh Zehtab