TFI App

Overview

Ireland’s public transport, managed under Transport for Ireland (TFI), relies on several disconnected apps: TFI Go for tickets, TFI Live for bus tracking, and Leap Top-Up for card recharges. Each works on its own, but together they create confusion and friction in everyday commutes. This project explores a unified TFI app that brings those functions into one accessible platform.

This is a conceptual redesign inspired by personal experience and research. It is not affiliated with or commissioned by TFI, and it focuses on key screens and flows rather than a complete product.

The problem

As a new student in Ireland, I juggled Google Maps and multiple TFI apps without realising essential services were split between them. For months I didn’t know mobile tickets allowed free transfers, or that TFI Live didn’t auto-detect my location. Most of my peers had the same issue, which raised the question: why are we using three apps for one journey?

The fragmented ecosystem leads to poor feature discoverability, inefficient ticket use and frustration.

Process

I followed a design thinking process: empathise, define, ideate, design and test.

• Online survey: 86% preferred a single unified app, 63% didn’t know TFI Go tickets allow transfers within 2 hours, and 55% found switching apps during commutes inconvenient.
• Observation and informal input: my own experience as a new commuter plus peer feedback revealed app-switching fatigue and UI inconsistency.
• Synthesis: SWOT analysis, a user persona, a customer journey map and a heuristic evaluation.
• Information architecture: the existing flows had redundant paths and overlapping features. I proposed a modular structure with 5–7 main tabs, each built around a user goal rather than a platform feature.
• Flow ideation: early sketches identified primary actions and overlaps between TFI Go, Live and Leap, and shaped the unified navigation.

Key features

• Balance summary: Leap card balance and fare cap remaining, right on the home screen.
• Quick top-up: recharge a Leap card without leaving the app.
• Active and available tickets: see which tickets are live, and which unused tickets are ready for future trips, so you don’t buy them again.
• Live favourites: real-time arrivals for favourite buses, trains and trams.
• Notifications: service, stop and operator alerts in one place.
• Bottom navigation: Home, Buy Tickets, Track Bus and Favourites.

Visual design

I used Roboto for its readability across devices, with TFI green (#058457) as the primary colour, black and grey (#757575) for text, and a light grey (#F5F5F5) background.