Hike One designs inclusive digital transport platform for RMC

Serving a vulnerable audience of 13,000

Those who don’t have their own means of transport in Rotterdam can rely on public transport. There is a particularly vulnerable group, however, for cannot use the public transport system and must rely on door-to-door transport instead. For these 13,000 individuals, the Rotterdam Mobility Centre (RMC) provides a tailored service called ‘Vervoer op Maat’ ('personalised transport'). Hike One helped RMC create an accessible digital platform to put these customers back in control and provide a smooth ride for all.

Preparation is everything

To really understand what passengers experience, we listened in on calls to the call centre and rode along on the bus so we could talk to both driver and passengers. These experiences helped us understand what they liked about the service and where there was still room for improvement.

“Hike One showed strength in creativity and flexibility. Their ability to understand both the client and the end-user resulted in 'best in class' design concepts and, ultimately, into strong and practical solutions.”
Quinten Passchier
Manager Business Development at RMC

No more being put on hold

Hike One designed an accessible and user-friendly trip planner. RMC clients can book and modify their ride online and no longer have to make a phone call to the call centre. It saves them so much time.

Leaving no one behind

The app was specifically designed for the vulnerable group that makes use of the RMC's services. We’ve made it super accessible without overstepping the mark: it looks professional while still being extremely user-friendly.

Making life easier, from departure to arrival

We noticed that uncertainty about the route and time of arrival was quite stressful for clients. That is why we have made sure to provide route information in real time on buses, as well as departure times at popular pick-up locations. This allows customers to benefit passively from the new platform without having to learn to use a smartphone.

A skinnable white label

RMC asked us to make the new platform usable for other regions, as well as other target groups: schoolchildren, for instance, or employees who work at a business park that is hard to reach by regular public transport.

No more stress at the call centre

The new industry standard

While the initial group of users in Rotterdam was relatively small, RMC required a mature platform that would scale to a larger audience when needed. Feedback from clients has been very positive so far. The vast majority of those who discover booking a trip online as an alternative to calling continue to do so for subsequent trips.

Personas as a benchmark for our audience

Using personas helped us truly understand the people for whom we were designing the system. By defining each individual user journey, we discovered where RMC could add to its service to create a seamless user experience.

Lending a hand

This smooth travel experience was achieved through close collaboration with RMC and Egeniq for development.

“This project is proof that listening to your customers can lead to completely new insights and successful products.”
Roderick Trompert
Team Lead interaction design