Understanding Amtrak's Current Design

Empathizing with train riders' frustrations

We interviewed students from different hometowns to perform a few tasks on the Amtrak website. We noticed that most of them struggled with similar parts:

• Users couldn't find where to book special ticket types
• Users didn't correctly select the right fare type for each train
• Users took a while to identify how to proceed once they selected a train time.

The Problem

Route Selection, Seat Selection, and Fare Selection

All possible combinations of different times, fares, and seats are shown on one page, which makes the process extremely confusing with no apparent heirarchy. There's unclear call to actions and a confusing display of options.

The Solution

Distinguished Steps & Intuitive Ticket Booking

My partner and I focused on improving the discoverability of all the different types of ticket options available, and separated the overwhelming amount of options into digestible steps. Our design incorporates:

• Clear & accessible display of trip information
• Breadcrumbs that indicate user's progress until successfully booking a ticket
• Clear visual hierarchy between fare and seat options
• Visible prices
• Noticeable call to action to proceed to next step
• Dropdowns reveal more details about a specific route
• Clear distinction between different options

Future Plans

I would conduct more tests to see if our redesign improved, and continue to iterate on making our design more intuitive and straightforward to use. I would also like to conduct more tests on a more general user base to better understand the average user.