Car Pooling App Design Ui
Carpooling in the City with the World's Most Polluted Air — UI/ UX Case Study
In this case study, I'm going to walk you through the design process of the concept called Ride Buddy — carpooling app that can have a huge impact on the everyday life in Serbia's capital — Belgrade.
As somebody who currently lives in Belgrade, I felt the urge to address the burning issue we have in the city.
Design thinking and problem-solving approach helped me to propose a potential solution.
Introduction
Imagine this:
You live in a city where the number of personal cars is rapidly increasing, where 2-hour traffic jams are a daily-basis phenomenon, with hundreds of thousands of vehicles aged 10+ years and a non-existent metro.
You can probably assume that your everyday riding experience can become your worst nightmare. And you are right.
Back to reality: This city actually exists.
It's located in southeastern Europe and its name is Belgrade.
The description I gave you above is real, and it represents the harsh reality of Serbia's capital citizens.
Consequentially, a huge amount of CO₂ emitted due to the traffic situation has caused a range of serious ecological issues that affect every person.
Under these circumstances, another thing was inevitable — Belgrade has launched itself to the very top of the world's most polluted cities list.
And it isn't moving from there unless the traffic situation in city changes.
*Disclaimer: At the point in time of writing this article, Serbia is in a post-pandemic period and the air situation is slightly better (as a result of restrictive measures) but it is only a matter of time when the problem returns.
The Discovery
First of all, you should know that Belgrade is a city with about 1.4 million citizens out of which there are about 1 million people aged 18–65.
To find the reason for me deciding to design this app, we have to go a little bit back in time.
October 2019:
According to IQAir, Belgrade has been officially proclaimed as the city with the world's most polluted air for the first time.
It was all over the domestic media, so that got me thinking:
"Why is this happening to us?".
As the situation remained the same throughout the following months, I decided to discover more about the topic.
Facts & numbers that I found have left me speechless.
Here are the most surprising ones:
- The concentration of harmful substances in Belgrade's air continually exceeds the air quality safety limits recommended by the WHO guidelines.
- High concentrations of harmful substances in the air increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory disease, and stroke .
Traffic is found to be one of the main reasons for an increasing number of people who have acquired these diseases.
To make things worse, the traffic situation in Serbia is far from good.
- Serbia imports about 120.000 used cars with a polluting Euro3 engine every year. This engine has been restricted from the EU to protect health and the environment.
- The average car in Serbia is around 17 years old .
- It's predicted that by the year 2033 the number of vehicles on Belgrade's streets will increase by a staggering 39% .
- There are more than 640.000 personal vehicles in Belgrade and that number is rapidly increasing.
The last fact leads to the most surprising discovery:
Statistically, a single car in Belgrade is used by up to two people. (In other words, every other citizen of Belgrade has his own personal vehicle).
If we take the number of 1 million people aged 18–65, who are the actual owners of these vehicles, numbers should worry us even more.
Problem statement
All the facts pointed to one thing:
There are too many cars on Belgrade streets, and reducing that number must be our primary task.
So, how can we do it?
If there is already that huge amount of rides happening daily, why don't people with extra seats unite and save their time, money, nerves, and health?
Carpooling seems to be the perfect fit here.
So the idea of Ride Buddy was born!
User Research
During the user research, I strictly focused on the domestic market. Serbia has a specific, price-sensitive market, which I always had to keep in mind.
The research phase for this project consists of 3 parts:
01 Survey
02 Interviews
03 Competitive Analysis
—01 Survey
Goal: Confirm that people are interested in using this kind of service.
Before any work related to design, I couldn't help but wonder:
Is designing this app going to be a good idea?
To find the answer to this question, I created the survey.
The survey was filled by 49 people and results have shown both interests & need for this app to take place in people's lives.
When asked about the reasons for not using carpooling service, the most common answer was:
"I don't know how I can do it"
—02 Interviews
Goal: Learn about the users, their needs, motivations, habits and frustrations. Interviews should further help me in creating better user personas.
After finally deciding to create an app, it was time for me to empathize with users as much as possible.
I've led the interview phase trough video/voice calls with a total of 7 participants, all of them currently living and working in Belgrade.
Insights
Through the interviews, people's answers clearly defined basic motivations & frustrations when it comes to using such an app.
Motivations:
- Saving money
Increasing fuel prices, extremely high taxi fares, inability to afford a
high-quality personal vehicle due to low life standard - Saving time
- Reducing stress, traffic congestion, lack of parking spots
- Unreliable public transport
Non-existent metro, overcrowded busses, unbalanced ride schedule,
lack of comfort - Ecological awareness
Reducing carbon footprint and air pollution & preserving the environment - Social benefits
Meeting new people, sharing experiences, having engaging conversations
Frustrations:
- Drivers
Unprofessionalism, lack of tech-savviness & conversation barriers - Trust concerns
Knowing who are you riding with, dealing with scammers, non-verified users - Safety
Emergencies, endangered privacy, sensitive groups of users
(students and women) - Communication
Common misunderstandings & communication channel problems
User Personas
Interviews made creating user personas for the project much easier.
Since personas are based on real people, they helped me in making better design decisions and generating ideas, putting the user in the first place.
—03 Competitor Analysis
Goal: Taking a competitive advantage by focusing on competitors' weaknesses & establishing the market position.
Currently, there is only one active carpooling service in Belgrade - BlaBlaCar, so there is a huge potential for this type of service.
On the other hand, the transport services market is filled with taxi & ride-sharing apps. By far the most popular one is Car:go — sort of Serbian Uber.
I've included BlaBlaCar & Car:go into the analysis, as the main competitors.
Here are my findings:
In addition, I did some secondary research & gathered information about similar apps, based on Google Play Store reviews.
Opportunities
After analyzing rival apps & detecting "holes" in the market, I created the list of opportunities that will enable the app to gain a competitive advantage:
- Targeting in-city commuters
This group of users isn't fully targeted by any of the apps on the market. - Environmental awareness
Engaging users through reduction of the air pollution. - Interpersonal relationships
It would be cool if I can make the app feature people's lifestyles & hobbies. Users should be able to unite when traveling together frequently. - Promotions & offers
Enable users to complete tasks and get discounts in return. This should keep the app intuitive and fun to use. - Modern & friendly user interface
One more thing: not only that app should differentiate itself, but I also needed to make sure that it fits the industry standards in terms of trust and safety.
Ideation
The main task then was to implement these opportunities into the user experience and make the most out of them.
How will the app work?
The app's logic is simple — people traveling from point A to point B fill their extra seats by inviting other people to carpool with them.
On the other hand, people who need a ride can also search for drivers and invite them.
When the invited person accepts the invite, the ride is happening.
Okay, but why is this helpful?
The benefits in these situations are mutual.
Drivers get money to cover up their travel expenses.
(They aren't allowed to make a profit when carpooling)
Passengers get a very cheap ride & save time compared to public transport.
(Prices are calculated based on local public transport and gas cost, and they are fixed, in order to avoid negotiating and misuse).
On top of that, the number of cars on the street is reducing, which will
positively impact the air quality and the environment.
Defining App's Key Features
1. Focusing on recurring rides:
With in-city commuters being the primary group of users, the app should enable them to easily find & manage rides on their route.
2. Forming teams:
Users should be able to group and secure transport services they need.
3. Eco-friendliness:
Creating a system that will motivate users to use the app through their contribution to the environment.
All for one, one for all
Because in-city commuters are target audience doesn't mean other people shouldn't be using the app.
Conversely, every citizen is responsible for the problem that we have in the city and everyone should contribute to its solution.
The app is designed to serve both commuters & people who need separate rides from time to time.
Creating the experience that covers this wide group of users, while keeping it user-centered, was my biggest challenge for this project.
To be able to do so, I needed to carefully plan every part of the app.
Here's the flow for one of the many processes:
Sketches & Wireframes
There is no better way of beginning a UX design than throwing your ideas directly onto the paper and coming up with different design solutions.
Of course, this is a process full of iterations and corrections, but that's the way it should be, and I consider it as the most vital part of any design process.
With each revision, I was reducing the number of UX issues, big and small, which was getting me a step closer to the desired look & functioning.
UI design
As somebody who enjoys creating beautiful interfaces, this part was definitely the most enjoyable one for me.
It's not always how the app looks, there is something about how it feels when interacting with it.
I tried to achieve a friendly, lively feel, with rounded corners and saturated colors, with special emphasis on the copywriting.
*Note: The following design is the representative version and it's adapted for the English language for the sake of this case study.
Another important thing:
In order not to make the case study too long, the following designs are going to show the experience for the user who uses the app as a passenger.
Along the way, I'll briefly explain the reasoning behind the decisions I made.
Let's dive in!
Onboarding
*Note: the user login/sign up is skipped since it's quite a standard process.
The primary task for me was to separate the app's interface to serve two big groups of users:
1. Commuters
2. Non-commuters
So I came up with a concept covering both groups:
- Ride manager — this part of the app is reserved mostly for commuters, who will be able to plan their week & adjust the ride schedule accordingly.
- Quick ride — for users who need a ride ASAP, wherever they are.
Availability is determined by the number of drivers going the desired way.
Let's take a look at the commuters' experience:
The interesting thing to note here is the hobbies section.
This section is used to feature people's interests through the app, which will enable engaging conversations during the rides.
We are all familiar with situations where you don't know how to start the conversation with the driver, and the uncomfortable silence just lasts…
…and lasts…. forever.
With selected hobbies, users will have everything they need to spark up a conversation!
Setting the planner up
If I had chosen to include the process of adding addresses and schedules into the onboarding, it would be overwhelming, so I separated it completely.
The schedule is fully customizable and adaptable, so commuters have complete freedom when organizing their time.
Routes
Primary route
The closest most-used route is considered as the primary route.
-What this means?
The app looks for the closest route connecting places the user needs a ride for. If two (or more) routes are at a similar distance, the one which is used by more people becomes primary.
-Okay, but what's the point of having the primary route?
When matching carpoolers, the system searches for matches on the primary route first. If there's no match, the search goes on for the next closest route.
The good thing is a user can pre-define his pickup & drop-off spots and limit the amount of walk he has to do.
Or for example, if a certain route is the closest way to get from A to B, but congestion is common there, the user can choose different route & set it as
the primary one.
The reason I separated sections for different places (for work-home & home-work you can set separate primary routes) is that various routes can be the most active one at different times, so users can adapt.
Popular routes
Routes with a lot of drivers on a daily basis are the popular routes.
If a driver rides on a route slightly different from the popular one, the app suggests him to change his path a little bit and get onto the popular route. This way, these routes get even more traffic.
The good thing about them is that they hugely increase the passenger's chance of getting a ride in exchange for a little more walk (if needed).
The best case is when a passenger's primary route is a popular one too.
Building trust
During the research, the lack of trust was the number one reason people, especially women, were afraid to use a carpooling app.
I tried to make every person's profile a resourceful trust indicator.
To be able to do so, I used social proof as a strong tool:
- Passengers can give compliments after the ride, as a kind of special thanks for the driver's service and kindness.
- Users can verify their social media accounts
- There are reviews at the bottom of every driver's profile
In order to get a verified tick, which is displayed throughout the app, users need to verify their ID card, email, and phone number.
The two most important sections regarding trust are the top section and the verification section, and they should be fully visible without scrolling.
The planner — 1st key feature
Inside the ride manager, there are 2 tabs — Planner & teams.
The planner is a place where commuters have a complete overview of their rides, with the upcoming ride at the top.
From there, users can share locations for the upcoming ride, invite people to carpool with them, and organize future rides.
Inviting carpoolers
Once users set up their ride schedule and connect with different routes, it gets much easier to find rides.
There is a CTA for inviting all recent carpoolers at once, and by doing that, the chance of getting a ride increases.
Users have complete freedom of choice when selecting who they want to carpool with, so if they have any insecurities, they don't have to take a risk.
For the sake of people's safety, there is the option to filter drivers and then invite them.
Here's the flow for inviting a specific person user wants to carpool with:
There's also one really important thing I noticed:
People can find inviting people for every single ride boring and repetitive, so I was consantly thinking to avoid that step when it's possible.
To do so, I've decided to enable a couple of things:
Ride offers
Passengers can select an option to receive offers from drivers, which reduces the effort they have to make to get the ride.
The offer cards need to be as informative as they can in terms of trust — so there is information about the driver's rating and a number of rides, which saves users from checking the driver's profile.
Teams — 2nd key feature
This feature enables commuters to group for recurring rides. When 4 people have the same ride schedule on the same route, they can form a team.
Every team has a driver and 3 passengers.
-What problems does being in a team solve?
The best thing about having a team is that once a user finds one, there's no need for invites, rides are guaranteed and automatically confirmed.
Another benefit is that this form of carpooling strengthens people's relationships and brings them closer.
The teams tab is separated into two sections:
- Find a team
- My teams
My teams
When grouped in a team, people have their team's ride schedule and always travel together. A user can have as many teams as there are active lines.
If there's any reason a user can't carpool, he can quickly message other members of the team and explain the situation.
Find a team
-So how can users group into the team if they don't know people who have the same route and schedule?
For this situation, there is the "Find a team" section.
Inside, drivers can post they are looking for people to form a team, and a passenger can then see the schedule and the route for that offer.
To help passengers quickly scan through team offers, there are 2 tags:
- The first one is showing how well the time is matched
- The second one is showing how well the route is matched
When posting a team offer, drivers select for how long they want to search for carpoolers, and if there is no match, they can post that offer again.
If a passenger wants to join a team, he sends a request to the driver and waits for the approval.
Motivating users — 3rd key feature
It's all about the feelings
Being a part of Belgrade's traffic is rather stressful, especially for commuters. People connect traveling to the job/school with bad feelings.
I tried to make that experience more fun, and make people look forward to carpooling and interacting with the community.
The focus was on creating a sense of togetherness, where every person contributes to the environment as much as possible.
What are those little leaves?
I bet you noticed leaves attached to the profile pictures in the app!
If you wondered what they represent, here is the answer:
They represent the user's level.
There is a total of 12 levels, determined by the number of rides the user has completed. As the level increases, the margin for level-up increases as well.
But that's not all.
Some of the basic principles of the gamification I applied are:
- Missions — they motivate users to be included in rides more often and make them return to the app to finish incomplete tasks
- Points & Levels — earned for every ride user completes. They depend on the trip's mileage and increase if the user is in a hot streak
- Leaderboard — Every month, the leaderboard resets and users with most points get valuable rewards
- Badges — show achievements and express thankfulness for the special contributions to the environment
-What are the rewards?
For every mission completed, users get special discounts and promotions they can use in the app.
Yeah, this means sometimes drivers aren't going to have a financial benefit, but it's all in terms of building a happier and more responsible community.
Sometimes, negative and unpleasant facts can change a person's thoughts and motivate them to do different things.
Take a look at the cards on the right. Do they look familiar to you?
Yes, those are the facts from the research I did. Some of them were
mind-blowing to me, so I just had to include them in the design.
That's all for now!
In this case study, I was explaining the app's functioning for the commuters.
In the following weeks, there will be a second part of the case study, covering the section of the app for people who are not commuters, so stay tuned!
Conclusion
Note: This is a self-initiated project. It was done in order for me to acquire wider knowledge and skillset in the UX field.
Future scope
I would really like to test my design solutions and see how they perform in real-world use cases. Since this is a personal project, where I had to do all by myself, it wasn't affordable to me to run usability tests, and inquire about my assumptions and ideas which are based on user research.
Takeaways
Throughout the process, I realized that it is very important to reconsider every assumption you make by putting it into the user's perspective. You should always try to understand and predict users' mental models and you shouldn't let you think you are the user.
Emotions play another huge role in UX design. People remember feelings, and they tend to connect every situation with a certain feeling. After realizing that, I found that understanding human behavior is crucial for success.
Thanks for your time, I hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you like my work and find it useful, don't forget to leave some claps!
Also, feel free to express your thoughts and give feedback in the comments section below. Maybe there are some of you with a similar problem in your country. I'm looking forward to discussing this topic.
If you want to see more of my work, you can visit my dribble account here.
See you soon!
Car Pooling App Design Ui
Source: https://uxplanet.org/carpooling-in-the-city-with-the-worlds-most-polluted-air-ui-ux-case-study-47c8b3e3d1dd
Posted by: loftontreave.blogspot.com
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