DC Metro

After arriving in Washington D.C. for our family vacation this summer, we parked our vehicles and relied on alternate transportation around our nation's capitol. Outside of our primary mode of transportation (our feet!), the secondary mode was the Metro. And let me tell you, it is difficult to navigate through a large city on the week before a big holiday with 30+ people, many of whom are under the age of 12. We didn't need the additional challenge of trying to decipher the kiosks in the station! This is one of the machines where riders can purchase a fair pass. Sorta makes one's head spin, doesn't it?

I found myself befuddled by how the passes were used too. A columnist for our local paper also visited D.C. this summer and in her article, she mentioned that they threw out their metro passes after a day--before they realized they could redeem the card balance on their next pass. I did the same thing, spurred by the fact that the gates will not accept a pass that has less than $1.60 on it. To make it even more confusing, users can add to a single pass, but can't combine more than one pass.

I'd be surprised if there was a user experience designer involved in this project. If so, I guess I wasn't the target audience. It just felt counter-intuitive to me, especially for a city that has masses of tourists.

Shouldn't it be easier?