Ryan O'Connor

CS @umich '23 | Digital Projects + TrainTime @MTA, Prev. Intern @Apple |  WWDC ‘17 & ‘19 Scholar | Chaminade ‘19

[emily @north0fnorth]

love the mta app name. like hell yeah it is train time

[cemre güngör @gem_ray]

nyc mta’s train app has shockingly good design - even better than apple maps!

google is what you’d expect - tons of clutter iteratively added over time. no typographic hierarchy, everything kind of blends in, “live” information stands out more than critical things like which train you’re supposed to take.

apple has clearer hierarchy but feels like it could be better. “exit” is confusingly sequenced before the route, scheduled vs live times are laid out inefficiently and it’s needlessly causing anxiety with prominent schedule change alert (just tell me what’s current).

mta’s app isn’t doing anything in a super unique way, but the IA is so much clearer. trains and stations are clearly called out, alternate options are thoughtful (clock time + wait time) and more efficiently laid out.

such great execution by a public entity, i’m curious how the team pulled this off.

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@AirlineFlyer Not even separate airports? Where’s the challenge 😆

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@AirlineFlyer Ooh, we’ll look into this. For starters it’s probably using the depart time (+1 min from arrive time at Jamaica) 🙃

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@TheLIRRToday @AirlineFlyer @MTA @LIRR @MetroNorth We are looking into some options. The alternatives are not great, they are not as prominent as iOS and require manual setup in some cases I believe.

[Zach Griff @_ZachGriff]

Nifty new iPhone Live Activity from the @MTA!

This one’s for you, @AirlineFlyer

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@SwapnanilDhol Did you experiment at all with NFC capabilities on passes? If so, how hard is that to implement?

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@AirlineFlyer @LIRR these are not just any colored confetti

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@peterhoneyman It’s a beautiful venue!

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

I know some may say that this is the way it should've always been, but that's precisely the point — we've designed something so well that I hope our customers couldn't imagine it any other way. I'm very proud of our teams across @MTA to bring it all together for the new app!🎉8/8

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

When I started working on myLIRR with @wafisher & @SunnysWords in 2019, I never imagined that some day I would have the opportunity to design 3 apps at once, shipping what we call today "TrainTime". One of the most exciting challenges for me so far, here's some background 1/8

[MTA @MTA]

Say goodbye to switching between separate @MetroNorth and @LIRR apps to plan trips and purchase tickets.

The new TrainTime app is here.

Update your eTix app or download TrainTime today.

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

I myself really enjoyed the UX challenge of combining 3 apps, each with their distinct purposes, into an experience that felt intuitive and natural from the start. It was a huge learning experience and certainly at bigger scale than anything I've ever done before. 7/8

[Ryan O'Connor @ryan7oconnor]

@SunnysWords Is this service only in the summer? Would be awesome for skiing in the winter…

[Sunny Zheng @SunnysWords]

We got something good coming soon... https://t.co/EFMbWXuioQ