The Iconography of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) - A Focus Group Study

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) smartphone applications are designed to allow users to plan, book, pay for and navigate journeys across a range of travel modes including own or shared car, active travel (walking, running and cycling), micromobility (e-scooters and e-bikes) and public transport. By giving the user trip-specific information about each mode it is hoped MaaS may provide a solution to increasing the use of sustainable travel options whilst encouraging active travel, thereby reducing car use. MaaS apps are being adopted to help develop healthy, liveable urban spaces worldwide. Typically in mobility app design, icons are used to depict physical artefacts such a vehicle types and items in the real-world environment but also to convey the nonphysical such as instructions and waiting times. In order to make MaaS accessible to all members of the community icons need to be easily interpreted without the need for prior knowledge or learning. As these apps are being developed concurrently by both commercial and public organisations in many countries it is becoming clear that the icons used within the interface by developers vary a great deal. Yet it is not clear which of the icons are most effective in conveying specific meanings. In order to determine which icons should be used in a new MaaS app currently in development within the Solent area of the UK six focus groups were held in which members of the public were asked to comment on a variety of icons from three MaaS apps. This was in order to understand how easily the icons were understood by a wide range of the population.