RideShare

Overview

As a part of my Project Management class in Cornell, a group of us had to find a problem that we would like to address. We identified that there was a lack of transportation services in Ithaca due to which students find it difficult to get to places. We addressed the problem in stages, or milestones and designed a high fidelity prototype as our solution.

Contribution

I conducted user interviews, created affinity diagrams and also gathered insights. Along with my team, I sketched rough screens for the solution and then led the design team while creating the final high fidelity prototype.

Problem

Cornell students without vehicles in Ithaca lack transportation options, particularly in long distance travel to and from campus before, during, and after academic recesses. 

Current options like public buses, Ubers, and private taxis are expensive, unpredictable, inconvenient, or uncomfortable, so students seek additional options.

Mission

Provide a cost-efficient, easily accessible and safe carpooling marketplace for all Cornell students living in Ithaca, NY.

Aim to connect students on campus who own cars to those who seek passage during times of high travel volume to provide financial compensation and companionship for the driver, and secure a better method of travel for the passenger than incumbent solutions.

Goals

To foster a sense of community and sustainability by promoting shared transportation and centralizing carpooling services.

To improve transportation accessibility by providing a convenient and cost-effective carpooling platform, reducing commuting expenses and travel time.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by promoting carpooling and reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles.

User Research

As a team, we conducted around 50 interviews in total (both drivers and passengers). Interviews were conducted either in person or via zoom. We gathered insights from the interviews and created an affinity diagram for both the drivers (students who own a car) and passengers (students who seek travel).

Key Take aways

Driver

  • Not interested in sharing ride inside Ithaca due to scheduling

  • More open to driving others of commute out of Ithaca

  • Driving strangers is comfortable for over half of drivers.

  • Majority of drivers view our plan positively

Passenger

  • Plethora of options to travel within Ithaca

  • Limited options to traveling out of Ithaca

  • Hate TCAT bus (Public transportation) due to delay

  • Majority of passengers view our plan positively

Risk Management

High Probability Risk

1. High driver cancellation is something we are expecting given the fast-evolving schedules of college students. Since our sole source of drivers will be other students, we are prepared for the event that drivers will not always be able to maintain their scheduled drives.

2. The lack of Figma technical expertise within the team is another risk that were both high probability and high impact.

Mitigation Plan

Implement a product feature that deincentivizes driver cancellation via a warning/fining system

We designated one experienced team member as team lead on the Figma implementation. In this case, I led the design team to improve efficiency.

Contingency Plan

Simultaneously step up the punishments for abandoning rides( ex. Banning account, levying greater fines ) while also increasing marketing, aiming to recruit more drivers who might be less problematic.

Resort to a simpler and less technical challenging platform called Balsamiq. This platform is much easier to understand, thus we are confident in picking it up quickly if necessary.

Design Process

Solution Description

  • User-Centered Design: Streamlined experience from login to ride confirmation.

  • Safety & Trust: Prioritized with a dedicated safety policy and driver verification.

  • Intuitive Interface: Familiar Cornell collar scheme and iconography, detailed profiles, and real-time messaging.

  • Prototyping Path: From paper prototypes to a Figma high-fidelity digital prototype.

  • Dynamic Evolution: Continuously refined based on community feedback.

Prototype solution

Passengers

Drivers

Lessons Learned

  • Starting with well-defined planning statements like the scope statement is essential to project success.

  • Market and user research is necessary, as initial designer assumptions fail to capture many aspects of user demand.

  • Detailed scheduling is key for efficient and effective team collaboration.

  • Diversity in skills helped boost the team performance.