I recently had a poor user experience using the MBTA Transportation app.

I use the app to purchase rides between Salem and North stations, and have my credit card info stored in the app.

I had 7 minutes to purchase a round trip ticket.

First

After I chose my trip, I selected my credit card, which I’d already linked to my MBTA account.

Second

My email was stored in the app, but not the CVV for the card.

Annoying. I started digging through my purse for my wallet, so I could look up the CVV number.

Not very user-friendly for someone hurrying to purchase a ticket before boarding a train.

Third

I didn’t have the card tied to this account in my wallet. I only use that particular card for online purchases, so it often stays at home.

I’d used it that morning for an online purchase, and recalled the digits in the CVV, but not their order.

Not having much cash on me, I made my best guess.

Fourth

I seemed to have guessed correctly, as I reached what looked like a final purchase screen.

If there had been a problem, I would have expected it to prevent me from reaching a final purchase screen.

Apparently I made a good guess.

Fifth

The confirmation screen says TODO on the top, provides a quote number (whatever that is), and a Check Details button.

Not sure what “TODO” means. There’s no guidance on this screen proving any context.

There’s a quote number. Not sure what that’s for, either.

My purchase must have gone through. Weird screen, though.

I clicked the Check Details button, expecting to see a purchase confirmation.

Sixth

The Check Details button put me back on the screen where I input my CVV.

Everything is still filled out from my purchase, except for the CVV number, but there’s no indication that I’ve input the wrong number.

If there was a problem I would have expected the incorrect data to be highlighted, or to receive an error message alerting me to what I needed to fix. Neither of those things is presented on the screen.

Having the incorrect CVV remain on the screen in a highlighted manner – with the words “wrong CVV” next to it, in the input, would have been most helpful. I could have seen the incorrect number, and known not to use it again on my retries.

Knowing I’d guess at the CVV number, I assume that’s the problem, but without any explanation from the app, I’m not sure this is the issue.

I retried my purchase several times, AFTER I’d boarded the train, using different combinations of the CVV. All failed. None of my attempts provided a proper error message.