Payam+Azadi+Hop+Stop+Critique

=HopStop Travel Website Critique= September 28, 2011 by **Payam Azadi**

A usability and interface critique of the major-city transit guide HopStop.

HopStop

HopStop is a transit portal for many major cities in America as well in different parts of the world. It will give you directions on what routes to take using what modes of transportation, essentially allowing you to navigate an unfamiliar city. I first used this site because of trips I take to New York City. Overall the website feels clean and pretty, is easy to use, and provides highly valuable information with a high degree of efficiency.

From the first moment you land on the webpage, it seems to choose the metro area closest to you. When I am in New York, the page starts with your location set to New York, and accordingly when I am in the DC area. Your eye is taken to a big green button that says "START HERE" next to "Get Transit Directions". As you navigate, you see that the theme of the website is very consistent in font style, but also seems to match a "heading" style with regard to font size to distinguish levels of importance of information. The important areas are boxed off and have meaningful headings, and secondary information such as paid ads are off to the side, and don't seem to be too distracting.

The form for actually getting the directions is simple and neat, but doesn't seem to support adding multiple destinations. However, filling out the form is intuitive, and there is a "transportation mode" selector using pictures that are highlighted when turned on. The big green "GET DIRECTIONS" button is difficult to miss, and the page seems accessible for peoples of all vision types. The only problem with the navigation is that the "tab" button only moves between the destinations and the submit button, not allowing you to select departure time.

The search results page and subsequent manipulations are a little bit loud. The form on the left allowing you to refine parameters of transportation mode get in the way, and the heading for the main results pane is almost non-existent. However. the actual route information given is highly useful, and perfect for people like me who are terrified are missing stops: it tells you which things you'll pass before needing to take an action, such as get off the bus or transfer trains. At the top and again at the bottom, you get travel statistics of time and ETA, as well as distance, even estimated calories burned and carbon dioxide emissions savings.

With regard to functionality, the site gets the job done, giving you exactly the information you need with minimal time and effort. The interface is consistent end-to-end in icon choices, colors, fonts, and navigation. The ability to handle errors is presented, as there are links that you can click that will take you back to the search page (instead of having to click back on your browser), as well, there is a side panel where you can change some of your travel options, such as mode, or preference of walking more versus taking more stops. I feel that the interface is well done more or less to a degree that I could have my computer illiterate, older father use it and get the directions he needs without feeling like he might need my assistance. My only complaint is the organization of the results page, and the inability to add multiple destinations: however the latter is more of a feature request than interface shortcoming.