Mobility as a service, interface design requirements with a focus on gender differences

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is an innovative transport solution that aims to provide seamless travel options offered by mobility service providers. It proposes alternatives to private vehicle use and encourages more sustainable travel choices. It is implemented through a single interface, typically a MaaS mobile application (app). Although gender is one of the major factors predicting adoption of new technology, gender differences in interface use have rarely been addressed in designing a MaaS app. Therefore, this study identifies key criteria for gender differences in interface use and investigates design requirements based on the criteria for developing a MaaS app that better suits gender-specific needs. The criteria were defined through a literature review on gender differences in interface usage behaviours. Three main differences were defined as 1) attitudes towards interface use, 2) information processing behaviours and 3) needs for support. Design recommendations using the criteria are suggested as follows. First, females show lower confidence and acceptance in new technology than males. Thus, a MaaS app should be designed for ease
of use by enabling simple access and process for main tasks to better assist female users. Second, females tend to be comprehensive information processors who absorb all the information before reaching a conclusion, in contrast to males who tend to be selective information processors. Simplicity should be prioritised for designing content, such as route and ticket search results that could cause complexity due to multiple options. This could help female users make an optimal decision more efficiently without being distracted by subtle cues. This could also benefit male users who pursue readily available information and want to gather information quickly. Furthermore, providing shortcuts to menus and saved searches could be useful for males. Third, females expressed a stronger need for support when conducting a task in mobile apps. Thus offering help, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and instructions on how to use a MaaS app especially at an early phase of launch would be beneficial. Identified female and male users’ characteristics from this study will support optimisation of a MaaS app that elicits positive user reactions and acceptance by all gender groups.