Over 70% of Swiss residents have a smartphone, which puts Switzerland in the top position worldwide. Despite this, there are hardly any apps for Swiss public transport customers that make it easy to buy network tickets. Scandinavia demonstrates how it can be done. There, mobile ticketing is common practice. In the Copenhagen region alone, over one million tickets per month are sold by smartphone.
The "Tickets" app enables customers to purchase individual tickets and day passes for Switzerland’s northwestern tariff authority network (Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz) quickly, easily and reliably. Just two clicks to the desired ticket is the aim.
The design of the app has intentionally been kept simple to make access easy, especially for passengers who are not computer whizzes. The well organized, clear app design supports intuitive navigation. All processes are automated as much as possible, including localization, price calculation and language selection (German, French or English).
Presently, credit cards (MasterCard or Visa) and the Swiss Post bank card (PostFinance) are accepted for payment. The card is acquired immediately and one-time-only with the first ticket purchase. To ensure a high level of security, credit card data is not stored on the smartphone.
The "ticket preference" function allows users to define their desired profile (full fare, half fare, first class, second class). Optional features include sending a receipt to a user-defined e-mail address and activation of a password for purchase confirmation (for child safety).
The functional scope of the app has intentionally been limited to a core set to ensure clarity and simplicity. The highest priority right now is the market and customer acceptance, setting the pace for the further development of the product.
The future focus also includes additional means of payment. The aim here is to enable customers who do not have a credit card or PostFinance card to use the app.
The app is available for iOS and Android and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
The app was conceptualized by BLT and is part of the Wemlin public transport information system from the Swiss software company Netcetera. For "Tickets", Netcetera acted as prime contractor and was responsible for the technical implementation in collaboration with user experience specialist Nothing Interactive, responsible for the visual appearance and the interaction design.
The well organized, clear design of the app supports intuitive navigation. All processes are automated as much as possible, including localization, price calculation and language selection. For "Tickets", Netcetera acted as prime contractor and was responsible for the technical implementation in collaboration with user experience specialist Nothing Interactive.
For iPhone: Download "Tickets" here