Rav Kav Online Case Study

Project Type: Bootcamp project, UX Academy

Role: UX/UI Designer

Timeline: December 2024 - January 2025

Tools: Figma, Zoom

Redesigning the Rav Kav Website for Simplicity and Usability

It’s that sinking feeling: you swipe your Rav Kav card, and the dreaded red light flashes — insufficient balance. Suddenly, it’s more than just being late — it’s a wave of stress, uncertainty, and the looming possibility of a fine.

What should be a simple task — reloading your card — becomes a frustrating ordeal. Between login issues, unclear balance updates, and a confusing maze of subscription options, the experience leaves much to be desired. As a commuter myself, I know the pain all too well. That’s what led me to ask: How can we simplify the reloading process and give users a worry-free travel experience?

Research Objectives

Understand how users manage and reload their Rav Kav cards

Identify the common behaviors and processes users follow when adding funds to their Rav Kav cards.

Identify pain points and frustrations in the current system

Uncover the challenges users face with account access, the reloading process, and subscription management.

Explore user expectations for simplicity and transparency

Investigate what users need for a smoother, faster experience, and what information they value in managing their cards.

Analyze competitor solutions to uncover best practices

Examine how other transportation platforms handle similar tasks and identify opportunities to improve Rav Kav’s system.

Listening to Users: Key Insights from Interviews and Analysis

To gain a broader perspective on fare and card management, I studied several transportation and credit card websites, including Amtrak, Israel Railways, Google Wallet, Visa (prepaid cards), and OV-chipkaart. This comparison helped identify best practices and common issues in similar services.

I also conducted interviews with five participants to understand their pain points with their current Rav Kav experience.

Key Pain Points

Through interviews with five parents of young children, I identified common pain points:

Difficult account access: Many users experienced issues with scanning and logging in

Inefficient reloading process: The process to add funds is time-consuming

Confusing subscriptions: Users couldn’t understand or compare contract options

Balance Visibility: Users reported that they could not immediately see their updated balance

Affinity Map Insights

I synthesized the results into an affinity map to find key themes. The results could be split into these categories: public transportation use, using/reloading your Rav Kav, transportation history, checking your balance, positive feedback, issues/criticism, challenges, and suggestions/desires.

The Faces of Rav Kav: Personas Driving the Redesign

Through interviews and research, I uncovered the real struggles Rav Kav users face in their daily routines. To ensure the redesign addressed these pain points, I developed detailed personas representing two key user groups.

Jacob: the anxious commuter

"The contracts are complicated to sort through."

Goals/Motivations: Find the best reload option; monitor his balance; and top up quickly

Challenges: Confused by contract options; constantly checking his balance; stressed when funds run low; and unclear about what he’s paying for

Expectations: Easily compare contracts; receive low-balance notifications; reload quickly; and understand what he’s paying for

Eliana: the frustrated traveler

"It's frustrating that there aren't kiosk machines everywhere. You can get stranded.

Goals/Motivations: Wants to reload quickly and reliably, especially while on the go

Challenges: Finds the current process confusing and unreliable

Expectations: Needs easy account access, a simple reloading process, and the ability to quickly top up on the go

Tackling the Reloading Frustration

Research revealed a major pain point: users were frustrated by the complex, multi-step reloading process. Participants like Eliana and Jacob found the system slow and confusing, often stressing over low balances and constantly checking their funds.

The solution was clear: users needed a faster, simpler way to reload their Rav Kavs.

Based on these insights, I focused on one critical design challenge:

How can we simplify the reloading process, reduce steps, and make it more intuitive for users?

Key Design Solutions

1. Simplified Reloading Flow

I mapped out a user flow that reduced friction and allowed users to reload in just a few taps.

2. Automatic Reload Setup

To prevent last-minute stress, users can now set a minimum balance threshold. When their balance drops below it, a preselected amount is automatically added to their card.

The redesigned reloading process is quick and intuitive, with an automatic reload feature that reduces anxiety and ensures worry-free travel. I also added a manual login option for users to enter their Rav Kav number, bypassing the unreliable scanner and eliminating frustration. These updates address key pain points, offering users greater control and peace of mind during their daily commutes

The user flow illustrates two paths: one for a one-time reload where users manually add funds, and another for an automatic reload option, which adds a preselected amount once the balance drops below a set threshold.

Redesigned Screens

The first flow is the one-time reload process: the user is prompted to update a low balance, selects an amount to reload, confirms payment details, and receives a confirmation of the successful payment.

The second flow is the automatic reload process: the user is asked to choose a balance minimum and an amount to auto-add. They then confirm their payment details and receive a confirmation for enabling automatic reload.

User Feedback: Testing and Iterations

I conducted usability testing with five participants, asking them to add money to their Rav Kav and set up automatic reload. Users erformed the test with my prototype.

Click to view!

Results:

Task Success Rate: 100% for both

Customer Effort Score:
- Adding funds: 5/5
- Setting up automatic reload: 4.8/5

“It was really easy.”

“It was very

self-explanatory.

It was easy and clean.

"I would maybe change the color of the slider.

It blended in.

Based on user feedback, the following improvements were prioritized and shown in the prototype above:

Differentiating the slider from the number buttons on the "Automatic Reload" page

Adjusting the slider scale to better align with users' travel needs

Next Steps: Future Improvements

If I had more time and resources, I would have extended the redesign to include the subscriptions page, which users also found confusing. While I initially created wireframes for this feature, I wasn’t able to fully address it within the scope of the project. Additionally, further iterations could focus on refining the overall user journey, ensuring a seamless experience from reloading to managing contracts.