UX Writing Case Study: NJ Transit
NJ Transit is New Jersey’s public transportation corporation.
The agency operates an active fleet of 2,221 buses, 1,231 trains and 21 light rail vehicles. NJ Transit provides nearly 270 million passenger trips each year.
In this conceptual case study, I focus on useability issues with the ticket buying process.
Landing Page
The landing page has several significant writing and useability issues:
• The top of the page contains a confusing piece of content. It appears to function as an advertisement but also contains an important alert. Users may interpret this area as a banner ad and miss the alert.
• The center of the page offers several actions with overlapping functionality. It is not clear which action will start the most efficient process.
• The bottom of the page contains features that appear as if they will lead to a site outside of the application.
Buy Tickets
The primary call to action on the landing page is a button labeled Buy, which begins the process of buying a ticket.
This user flow seems uncommon. The process may work better if it reflects the way riders think about their trip:
• The user’s primary goal is likely to be “I want to travel from Point A to Point B.”
• The action of buying a ticket for rail, bus, or light rail supports this goal, but is not the primary objective.
Quick Buy
The Buy Ticket page contains a noticable call to action for a feature called Quick Buy.
This feature seems worth exploring as it promises to speed up the process. However, the page does offer any text to help the user learn how to use the feature.
Select Origin
If the user selects Rail from the Buy Ticket page, the next step is to choose a point of origin for their trip.
The process requires the user to know the names of rail stations in order to proceed.
Select Destination
After selecting a point of origin, the next step is to choose a destination.
Although an origin has been selected, there is no confirmation of that action.
Select Via
After selecting a destination, the user is asked to select a transfer station.
Although Select Via is a concise title, it does not clearly indicate what choice the user needs to make.
Select Tickets
Once the route has been selected, it’s time to choose a ticket.
This page changes the labeling conventions for station names and does not capture all of the information about the trip.
Notification Text
Selecting a specialty fare brings up a notification.
The notification text is not easy to read and is inconsistent with the information provided on the Select Tickets page.
Payment Type
The payment process begins with payment options.
Although the checkout process has begun, the app shows very little information about the selected route and ticket.
A user may abandon the checkout process if they cannot confirm their selections have been accurately captured.
Takeaways
The NJ Transit app could be redesigned to better align with a rider’s primary goal: moving from Point A to Point B.
Along with this fundamental restructuring, content updates could provide:
• Consistent and clear labeling and terminology.
• A visible record of a rider’s selections throughout the process.
• Improved text alignment and hierarchy to foster readability.
• Helpful text in empty states.