Case Studies

Two colleagues review project plans, brainstorming ideas on whiteboards.

Two colleagues review project plans, brainstorming on whiteboards

Shaping Transit Through Research

UX Research | Co-Author, Federal Evaluation Report

The Challenge

The $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge, a statewide initiative sponsored by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Passenger Transportation (OPT) and the Office of Mobility and Electrification (OFME), aimed to tackle mobility gaps for seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans. MDOT, with funding from the FTA, engaged us to conduct an independent evaluation to assess the outcomes of 13 innovative projects, ranging from app-based paratransit booking systems to autonomous wheelchair securement technologies.

These pilots explored bold innovations in real-world contexts. Our goal was to surface what worked, what didn't, and how these insights could inform future funding strategies at the state and national levels.

Project Details

Timeline: 26 months (2023-2025). I contributed from 2024-2025 as part of the evaluation team

Role: UX Researcher + Co-Author, Federal Evaluation Report. Co-led qualitative evaluation across 10 pilot projects and drove cross-pilot thematic synthesis

Team: Rotating UX team (4 researchers total), 1 PM, FTA and MDOT OPT Stakeholders

Client: Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Passenger Transportation (OPT)

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

Deliverables: Final evaluation report (co-authored), individual site reports, stakeholder briefings, cross-pilot thematic synthesis, field notes + interview documentation

Project Context: Part of the $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge, a statewide initiative funded by the FTA and administered by MDOT OPT to evaluate innovative transit pilots for underserved populations

An electric scooter secured on a bus by the QUANTUM system.

QUANTUM Automatic Wheelchair Securement Station on a AAATA bus

Objective

The primary objective of this evaluation was to assess the successes and challenges of the 13 pilot programs funded through the $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge.

Key goals included:

Evaluating the achievement of pilot goals and the impact on riders, particularly those with disabilities, seniors, and veterans.

Identifying successes and challenges in program implementation and the sustainability of each solution.

Generating actionable insights to inform future state and federal transportation funding, particularly regarding mobility solutions for vulnerable populations.

Providing recommendations to improve similar future mobility programs, focusing on best practices and lessons learned.

In addition to individual project evaluations, we synthesized findings across all pilots to highlight overarching themes and opportunities for broader policy and program improvements.

We are risk-takers, but calculated. Some risks are not appropriate for taxpayer money.”

Stakeholder

My Role

As a researcher on a rotating team, I led and synthesized user research across 10 of the 13 pilots, driving insights that helped shape state and federal-level decision-making.

My responsibilities included:

Conducting interviews with MDOT project managers, project leads, transit, tech, and community partners, users.

Synthesizing findings for each pilot into structured summaries, highlighting project-specific goals, successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

Presenting insights in ongoing working sessions with MDOT and FTA, shaping the evolving direction of the evaluation.

Collaborating with one other researcher to co-author the final synthesis report, ensuring that local pilot insights translated into actionable recommendations at the policy level.

Person using app to request The Rapid ride-sharing service.

Via app in front of a Rapid paratransit bus

Strategy

This was not usability research—it was systems-level evaluation rooted in UX thinking.

Key methods:

Conducted remote interviews with a subset of pilot stakeholders and users.

Reviewed each pilot's original proposal and final report to align our inquiry with their goals and context.

Adapted Menlo's discovery interview method to focus on pilot success, implementation changes, and sustainability.

Balanced individual project depth with the broader need for cross-cutting insight, capturing emergent themes across the entire Challenge.

Ensured role diversity across planners, vendors, riders, and agency leads for the 2-7 interviews per pilot.

As one of two researchers synthesizing the entire evaluation, I helped identify shared themes, clarify high-level learnings, and co-write strategic recommendations for future funding initiatives.

Approach

Visualization of the evaluation strategy for individual pilots

Approach

Visualization of the evaluation strategy for individual pilots

Evaluation Insights

Success Hinges on Proven Partnerships

Projects with experienced, mission-aligned partners saw stronger outcomes—especially when paired with early technical feasibility vetting.

Innovation Needs Realistic Timelines

Many pilots underestimated complexity of deploying new tech. We identified where flexible planning and iterative rollouts could have mitigated risk.

Local Context Mattered

Solutions that succeeded in one region failed in others. For sensitive use cases like the visual impairment, the bar for usability and precision was significantly higher.

Qualitative Research Made Gaps Visible

Field interviews and rider stories revealed critical insights—such as the tradeoff between automation and human assistance—that might otherwise be invisible in performance metrics.

The Value Extended Beyond Technology

Even less successful pilots valued the opportunity to test bold ideas. The program created a statewide sandbox for innovation, and the learnings will serve Michigan and national partners well beyond this cycle.

We understand that tech is risky and thought we could assume that risk. As long as there are good lessons learned, that meets our definition of success.”

Primary Stakeholder

Outcomes

Synthesized findings across 13 pilots into a strategic report shared with FTA and MDOT leadership.

Highlighted common pitfalls—short timelines, tech integration issues, and pandemic-related constraints.

Surfaced insights that helped explain why rider-centered design is essential in public innovation efforts.

Report is expected to inform future state and national transportation funding programs.

Earned perfect 10/10 scores from all three MDOT stakeholders across 11 evaluation criteria, including research rigor, communication, deliverable quality, and milestone execution.

The trust and success during the evaluation led MDOT to launch a follow-on engagement with our team before the project concluded.

The quality and ability to put all of the information together and present it in a way that was easily understood by everyone—that was impressive. The execution was realy great!"

MDOT Stakeholder

Metrics

months of research

pilots

evaluated

hours of interviews

stakeholder voices

organizations

& agencies

FTA report

These numbers represent the scale and complexity of the evaluation, and the depth of the voices we engaged.

Data Collection between April 2023 and November 2024:

19

months of investigation

13

pilot projects

63

interview hours

73

stakeholder perspectives

63%

organizations

Insights

The affinity map based on our interviews led to six key themes and four priority insights we wanted to address.

How Might We questions narrowed the focus of our solution.

Affinity Map

Goal Statement

Our EdTech learning platform will let students practice academic content while encouraging interpersonal communication which will improve academic performance and interpersonal skills and engage students in the school environment.

Filling the gap

There were so many stellar academic products on the market already, so we realized that the best way to solve our problem was to create a layer of interpersonal activities that integrates with the online academic practice tools teachers already use to help students communicate and have fun with each other.

Wireframes

I created this rough wireframe and a lo-fi prototype to explore our concept through the teacher user flow.

For our initial mockups, we chose a calming blue theme for our design. These mockups follow the lo-fi wireframes closely.

Initial mockups

Final Homepage Mockup

To simplify the usability, I condensed all of the main actions to the header.

Outcome

The feature we developed for reducing dimensionality will greatly benefit the IMAP mission. Scientists like Joanie will be able to conduct advanced data analysis more efficiently and accurately. Our iterative, user-driven approach ensures the tool will meet all requirements and be ready for the 2025 launch.