Drive 95
Drive 95 is a project motivated to create a more fluid college experience for all students in relation to transportation. With the quantity of colleges students steadily trending upward, the project recognizes the need for innovative solutions to improve transportation on campuses. The establishment of a student-operated rideshare system has been its main initiative, as Drive 95 sees value in an affordable and efficient private transportation network.
Role
UX Research, UI/UX Design
Duration
12 Weeks
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Miro
Understanding the Problem
A critical issue in the American higher education system is its discrimination towards underprivileged individuals. A few of these marginalizing factors include a high cost of tuition, unaffordable housing, and limited transportation options. Drive 95 aims to address the latter as lack of transportation directly correlates in difficulty attending classes, accessing on-campus resources, and participating in extracurricular events. In their mission in making private transportation accessible and inclusive, Drive 95 is looking to create a phone app, free to use for all students.
With the project beginning from the ground up, Drive 95 needs help understanding how college students currently interact with both private and public transportation.
"How can we elevate student success in higher learning regardless of economic background or status?"
Data Collection
Survey and Interviews
A survey was conducted and a total of 38 responses were recorded. From these responses, 12 individuals participated in a follow-up interview, where more in-depth information could be gathered to supplement the survey responses. The follow-up interviews provided valuable insights and perspectives, contributing significantly to the depth of the project's findings.
"Safety is the most important factor for me. Without complete knowledge, or trust of whoever is driving me, I won't even go. I'll just stay at home."
"I use Uber because its familiar, but unless you're going with friends it feels unsafe. When you're solo its because the driver. When its with strangers, there's also weirdness."
"I use the Georgia Tech ride app whenever I was going home from school and it was too dark. During busy times I could wait an hour. Maybe 15 during the downtime. But it was always worth the wait because I trust the school's system and I had no other way home safely."
Data Collection
Affinity Map
The interview questions mainly involved ideas of cost and how/when rideshares were used. The responses were collected and categorized into an affinity map. Thus, several different themes and patterns were identified.
Because the interview relied heavily on understanding when rideshares were used (what day, what time, etc.), this insight would be valuable for the booking process.
Affinity Map on Miro
Key Findings
01 Safety and Familiarity
In nearly every case, safety and familiarity is most important. This holds true about who the driver is, who the other passengers in the car are, the routes that the driver takes, and how reputable the rideshare is. Drive 95 needs to find a way to make familiarity and communication accessible between both drivers and riders.
02 Routines
Many college students follow to strict routines that extend far beyond their class schedules. From extracurricular activities to lunch destinations and meetups with classmates, their days are marked by a series of repeated events. Driver 95 aims to harmonize schedules within the app.
03 Peer Influence
Students are prone to "following the crowd." Peer recommendations and experiences heavily influence the perception of services. A service used by one student will more likely be used my multiple members of their social circle. That being said, Drive 95 will need to create a system to incentivize riding with peers to increase usage likelihood.
User Personas
The initial study was was taken with riders in mind, but was expanded for both riders and drivers during the research process as it became evident that understanding drivers would conclude in the most holistic user experience. To target both users, two separate personas were developed, Charlotte the rider, and Hamza the driver.
Through a comparative analysis of both user groups, valuable insights into the divergence and intersections of their behaviors were gained. Understanding these nuances needed to be studied for the Drive 95 project to be as inclusive and user-friendly as possible.
The biggest takeaway from the User Personas was understanding financial motivations. Like many students, Charlotte prioritizes her personal safety over the price of the ride. Meanwhile, Hamza focuses on maximizing his earnings. To accommodate to both users, a reviewable driver profile would be created. This allows riders to check driver safety, and gives drivers more client opportunities the safer they are.
Competitive and Comparative Analysis
To stay updated on a highly saturated and competitive industry, competitive and comparative analysis was performed to stay updated on market trends. To avoid falling into market irrelevancy, Drive 95 would need to adapt their features and services, while maintaining a more narrow scope, that being aimed for college students. For the analysis, five different companies were studied, each filling different needs in the ridesharing industry.
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Uber - most popular rideshare globally and has expanded to include many services
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Lyft - has large following in the United States and has notable incentive system
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Curb - geared towards connecting users to licensed taxi drivers
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Via - focuses on shared rides as it also works with public transportation and includes flat-rate fares
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Gojek - dominates the Indonesian market and is making strides in other Southeast Asian countries
Design Process
Initial User Flow
To focus purely on the core functionality of the app, the ride booking function would be the only one being designed. This process would also allow for early testing and feedback, allowing for identification of any pain points or usability issues.
Low-fidelity Wireframe
High-fidelity Wireframe Version 1
User Testing
The first high-fidelity iteration was based off of research and data collected. The next step would be to conduct a heuristic evaluation using the half of the individuals who had previously participated in the interview. Changes were made and the process was repeated with the second half for ensured clarity. They were asked to perform the main task of booking a ride and to interact with the prototype as a whole.
Key Change 1: Dashboard Readability Issue
The users found difficulty reading the locations in the original Dashboard. Because the initial prototype fit four cards, the corresponding text was cramped. For example, under the recent tab, one of the cards shows the "Center of Schloss." If the users had no knowledge of what the location looked like, they would have to press onto the card to view its details.
The interface was changed to only perfectly contain three cards rather than four. This was accompanied with a larger text size to make the visibility more accessible. As result, the character count increased by four per card and the "Center of ..." becomes the "Center of Schl...," a much more intuitive location.
Key Change 2: Information Overload Due to Inefficient Use of Space
The evaluators had difficulty scanning the original design's cards. The information was organized by price, but users struggled locating the price. The main contributor to this issue was the price being on the bottom right side of the page, the terminal area of the Gutenberg principle.
The price being relegated to the right side was a result of an excess of ride information. During the Plan your Trip section, users provided their ride details. However, it was unnecessary as every card contained the same information. The new design only included the Estimated pickup, Estimated arrival, and the cost was moved to the more visible left side.
Key Change 3: Lack of Confirmation throughout Prototype
The assessors were uncertain of whether their actions had been successfully completed. During the Need a ride? section, after putting in the location, the pause before Planning your trip confused most of the assessors as they continued clicking the screen, waiting for a change. This was replaced with a deactivated button prior to entering the location and the "Find rides" button activating after for additional clarity.
After booking a driver, the confirmation page lacked an undo function. The user flow went straight into splash screen and the driver was booked. This screen was replaced with a confirmation page providing the user the ride details.
