CATA
Usabliity Evaluation of Transit Website Experience
Client
Capital Area Transit Authority (CATA)
Role
User Researcher
Year
2026
Info
CATA is the primary public transit provider for the Lansing area and Michigan State University community.
In this project, I conducted a usability evaluation of the live CATA website (cata.org), as of February 2026, to understand how effectively first-time and infrequent users can complete essential transit tasks. The evaluation was completed as part of a moderated usability testing study, where I observed participants as they interacted with the site and identified barriers in key workflows.
The study focused on three core user goals:
Purchasing a student semester pass
Planning a bus trip
Finding service alerts and detours
The goal of this evaluation was to identify friction points in navigation, fare selection clarity, and access to critical information, and translate those findings into actionable UX recommendations.
Procedure
A total of 5 one-on-one usability sessions were conducted, each lasting approximately 45 minutes and including several components:
Task scenarios and task ratings: Participants completed a series of realistic tasks (trip planning, pass selection, and service alerts) while thinking aloud. I observed their interactions and noted areas of confusion, efficiency, success, and failure.
Post-study questionnaire: After completing the tasks, participants filled out a questionnaire to provide feedback on their experience, including ease of use, clarity, and overall satisfaction.
Post-Task Questions: Brief questions asked immediately after a participant finishes a specific task. They help capture fresh impressions and measure how difficult or easy that specific part of the site felt.
Overall, the site was evaluated across three dimensions:
Effectiveness
Measured via Success Rate
This is the percentage of users who finished a task correctly. If a user got stuck and couldn't move forward, we marked the task as a "failure."
Efficiency
Measured via Task Time
Participants were timed to the second on each task, from receiving the task to completion/ failure.
Satisfaction
First, the System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to get a final usability score out of a total 100. Second, the participants were asked six Post-Test Questions to hear their thoughts and feelings about the experience.
Key Findings
40% of users selected the wrong pass type due to weak visual hierarchy
60% of users struggled with AM/PM time input, causing form errors
Users experienced navigation uncertainty and cognitive overload across pages
Service alerts were not prominent enough and difficult to contextualize
The website supports task completion, but requires users to interpret too much on their own. This leads to hesitation, errors, and reduced confidence in decisions.
Metrics Summary
Task
Success Rate
Average Time (min)
Ease Rating
Buy Semester Pass
60%
1:57
2.8/5
Trip Planning
100%
3:13
2.2/5
Service Alerts
60%
2:17
3.2/5
System Usability Scale (SUS): 68.5
SUS is at industry average, but indicates marginal usability with clear friction points
CORE Pain Points
Fare Selection Confusion
Users struggled to identify the correct pass type, often selecting incorrect student options.
Semester pass not visually prioritized
Similar pass types lacked clear differentiation
Weak grouping and hierarchy
Trip Planning Friction
The AM/PM input design created repeated errors and slowed task completion.
Strict text format caused validation issues
Planner requires scroll to view resulted route options
Users expected toggle to clear trip to plan a new one
Service Alerts Discoverability
The AM/PM input design created repeated errors and slowed task completion.
Alerts buried in navigation structure
No homepage prominence
Users expected banner-style visibility
Navigation and Terminology Overload
Users hesitated due to unclear language and inconsistent structure.
“Inbound/Outbound” caused confusion
Layout inconsistency across pages
High cognitive load when scanning options
Design Reccomendations
Based on participant feedback, observed behaviors, and patterns identified throughout the moderated usability sessions, I synthesized the findings into a set of targeted design recommendations.
To align recommendations with the primary user goals evaluated during testing, the improvements were organized around the three core task flows explored in the study: purchasing a student pass, planning a trip, and accessing service alerts and detours.
Pass Purchasing
Group by "Rider Type" - Instead of one long list of "Fixed-Route Passes," break the page into distinct sections with bold headers. This creates a Visual Anchor so students only look at what matters to them.
Passes need to be distinguished. Within each group, differentiate the items based on how long they last.
Add a small line of gray text under each one to explain the intended use.
Put the most popular pass types at the top, maybe even using a different color to denote importance (Student Semester Pass- colored red)
Trip Planning
Instead of a text mask, provide two side-by-side buttons labeled "AM" and "PM." One is always "active" (e.g., highlighted in a brand color like blue), while the other is "inactive" (gray).
By using a toggle, the user no longer has to worry about spaces, or capitalization. They simply select the hour/minute and tap the corresponding button.
Service Alerts and Detours
High-contrast yellow banner at the top of the homepage. It catches the eye immediately, ensuring riders see critical info before they even start a search.
Add "Active Service Alerts" as the first element under the "Rider Information" dropdown.
When users plan a trip, if applicable, rider alerts should pop up in color in the route planning section for that specific route.
Outcome
At the conclusion of the study, I presented the usability findings and design reccomendations to CATA board members. The presentation focused on key friction points uncovered during testing.
Following, several of the proposed improvements were implemented into the updated website.
