Easyride slide bar - bad UX ?

guest__user

Hello ! I was curious what people thought of the easyride slide bar. I often use it and often have no problems. However sometimes (maybe when the battery is low on my phone and location services is maybe not working well) I will slide to turn on the ticket and then close my app - later, upon opening the app see that the slider is in the right position but the wheel is still spinning and the ticket hasnt actually started. The same thing happens sometimes when closing out the ticket. I open up the app the next morning to find that it is still closing down the trip.

So the question is - should there be some kind of warning like “ you tried to start an easyride but it hasn’t started” should there be something else that happens on the backend where once it is slid it will start no matter what, even in some kind of degraded mode? (Eg I don’t wait to check that my twint is sent , I click the button and it sends). What are people’s thoughts on this ? Is it just an edge case ?

Curious what app devs think too !

RedBaron

guest__user
Actually there is a kind of confirmation whether EasyRide is actively tracking, at least on iOS:
The two SBB app related live activities (= slider and QR Code “buttons”) on the lock screen (no idea about Android). I got used to always check those after starting EasyRide, for peace of mind in case of a ticket control.
Also within the app, the EasyRide icon at the bottom gets a red dot once EasyRide is active/started.

Should those not appear after starting EasyRide, then something is definitely wrong. After one year of almost daily EasyRide use, this has happened to me only once though, and fully restarting the app solved it. Thererore I’m not sure this can be considered as an UX issue, especially if you’re (apparently) not waiting for whatever potential timeout messages to appear.

As for the reason for those delays/timeouts in your case: It’s very unlikely they’re battery related, unless your phone is already in some low power mode. It’s rather a GPS accuracy thing, and regarding this, I’d suggest to start or stop EasyRide ONLY when you basically can see the sky. Never within vehicles (not allowed anyway according to the EasyRide T&Cs), nor in larger buildings or when underground.

guest__user

RedBaron
Hello - thank you for your response! Yes I know there are different visual confirmations, the dot, the QR code etc - but I feel like the fact that the slider goes to the ON position when it isnt actually on is a bit problematic. I too have only had this happen a few times, but now I find that I swipe and wait on the screen a few seconds sometimes longer confirming that the ticket started. When I had an older android the location/battery settings seemed to negatively impact this.

Of course best practice is to wait and verify that the ticket started, or see if there is a timeout message, just starting a conversation about the workflow. The way you suggest using easyride (only when you can see the sky) isnt always the case (in train stations, sometimes underground, etc)

RedBaron

guest__user The way you suggest using easyride (only when you can see the sky) isnt always the case (in train stations, sometimes underground, etc)

Sorry if I was unclear: In such situtations, the point is to activate EasyRide before going underground, as doing so later on the underground platform means asking for trouble.
E.g. at Zurich HB, activate it while still outside of the station, before taking the escalators/stairs down to the shopping areas. At the Zurich Airport station, it still works around the Check-In 3 area just above it (where you can see the sky through a glass roof).