---
title: How thoughtbot helped the MBTA improve communication among train officials
teaser: 'We''re excited to announce that our work with the MBTA is now featured in
  the Summer 2020 issue of Design Museum magazine, as well as in a new case study
  on thoughtbot.com.

  '
tags: design research,design sprint,product design,mobile development
author: Jaclyn Perrone
published_on: 2020-08-21
---

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is the public agency
responsible for operating most public transportation services in the metro-
Boston area. It is the fourth busiest subway system in the United States,
servicing over 1 million passengers each weekday.

When the MBTA came to us with an objective to improve communication between
officials on the Green Line, we were super excited to dig in. This kind of
exploratory work that combines the powers of Design Thinking with agile
methodologies to make peoples’ lives better is our bread and butter. That, and
working in Boston meant we were very familiar with the transit system (locally
known as “the T”), which meant we had the opportunity to impact a system we knew
intimately and experienced first-hand. What more could a product team ask for?

“How might we improve communication between Green Line officials?” is the sort
of nebulous question that calls for a structured way to answer it. We decided to
use [Design Thinking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking) to tackle
the problem with its solution-based, user-centric approach. The five phases of
the Design Thinking approach are: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.

With a small team of six thoughtbot and MBTA designers and developers, we
executed these phases over the course of three months and put our designs in the
hands of Green Line officials quickly to collect feedback and iterate from
there. And iterate we did! After a month of interviewing officials, followed by
a couple months of prototyping, testing, and building, our team released a
mobile app that is still being used and iterated on today.

Our work with the MBTA showcases how powerful design is and how it is
intrinsically linked to the people who use it. When you spend the time to really
listen to your audience and craft a solution that speaks to their experience,
you can create something that can be truly impactful and memorable.

When [Design Museum](https://designmuseumfoundation.org/) got wind of our work
with the MBTA, they jumped at the chance to publish our story in their magazine,
for sharing it so aptly aligns with their mission to "bring the transformative
power of design everywhere.” We were very excited at the opportunity to have our
work shared to audiences beyond our own, and therefore collaborated with the
MBTA and Design Museum team to get an article written and ready for print.

As a result, we are very happy to share that our article, ["Gliding to Success -
The MBTA and thoughtbot Launch an App for Train
Officials,”](https://designmuseumfoundation.org/gliding-to-success/) is now
published and featured in the Summer 2020 edition of Design Museum magazine. In
it you’ll find a more in-depth look into our design process, from research to
release.

In addition to Design Museum magazine, you can also read more about our work
with MBTA on our website in our latest case study: ["Improving Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority internal communication to ensure trains run
regularly."](https://thoughtbot.com/case-studies/mbta)

Do you also have a nebulous problem that you’re looking to solve with Design
Thinking? Or an idea on how to improve peoples’ lives but you’re not sure how to
get started? [Our expert designers are here to
help!](https://thoughtbot.com/services/design-research)