Service design — Rethink urban mobility to provide a more efficient and cleaner city

Project 1 — Ironhack’s UX/UI Bootcamp

Scope of the project

As part of Ironhack’s UX/UI bootcamp, I started my first collaborative project working on city mobility for 9 full days. The objective was to present low-fi wireframes illustrating our solution by the end of the project. We used the Design Thinking methodology to solve our problem.

Context

Nowadays, more and more people are navigating the streets. In the meantime, a huge variety of alternatives are emerging in the transformation field. We thus asked ourselves the following question:

How might we organize the variety of people navigating the streets to provide a more efficient and cleaner city?

Photo by Tim Hüfner on Unsplash

The team

I worked on this project with Mathilde, Kyne, and Lauren-Caitlin, 3 other UX/UI designers, most of the time remotely but some other times we were co-located. We did some workshops together but also took time to think individually, share our findings, process and synthesize the data to only keep the essentials.

Scope and constraints

We had the opportunity to learn how to work together in a short time as we didn’t know each other before starting the project. It was interesting to work with other UX/UI designers with different backgrounds and competencies. On the one hand, it enabled us to “join forces” and enjoy the abilities of each one of us. On the other hand, it was challenging because of the short deadline and the fact that we all had our own way of working.

Remotely solving a problem with people you don’t know is quite challenging! We had to make sure to keep our energy as a group, be proactive, dynamic, and adaptable in order to progress and deliver our solution on time.

Our process

As I said earlier, we conducted this project using the Design Thinking methodology, very useful to tackle “wicked” problems, that are ill-defined or unknown.

As we will see, Design Thinking is a non-linear and iterative process; we used the different steps (mainly empathise and define) in a non-sequential way.

We started with the first phase, “empathise” and conducted user research to understand the needs and frustrations of the users.

Secondary research

We began with secondary research and found the following key findings:

• Women: urban mobility is not women-friendly. Overall, women travel differently (they have less money, they use a different way of moving at night) and are afraid of being harassed during their trips.
• Safety: while new mobility services like e-scooters are emerging, they bring safety concerns. Moreover, there are more and more accidents as the density of the population in cities grows.
• Sustainability: the global exponential growth in transport is unsustainable, and it is now mandatory for every city to become green and provide alternatives such as renewable energy sources.
• Data: data is at the heart of the future of mobility. Indeed, data has emerged as one of the most important — and challenging — requirements for understanding and handling rapidly evolving mobility landscapes in cities.
• COVID-19: people have changed their habits since the pandemic. Depending on the country, there is a tendency to take bicycles or cars instead of public transports.

Interviews

After the secondary research, we interviewed 4 users to understand their habits and frustrations regarding city mobility. But who are our users? People living in the city or in a rural area but who work in a city; people who move around their city to commute to work, for instance.

As we conducted the interview during the day and had little time to prepare, we targeted our friends and relatives:

• Sabri: 32, freelance, living in Paris
• Delphine: 28, e-commerce manager at Maria Galland, living in Paris
• Tatiana: 29, store manager at Uniqlo, living in Paris
• Marie-Lou: 26, unemployed, living in Paris

After presenting ourselves, the context of the project, and some guidelines — no good or wrong answer, no judgment — we began with warm-up questions and asked them some of the followings:

• Can you tell me how you usually move around / go from point A to point B?
• How do you feel when you move around in cities?
• Can you tell me about your most significant/ memorable experience?
• How would you go about getting home in a city at night (30 min journey)?
• How has COVID-19 changed your habits of moving around?
• Are there any particular pain points that you encounter?

Affinity diagram

After gathering the data (diverging phase), we tried to synthesize it (converging phase) using an Affinity Diagram. We wrote each finding (any quote, insight, or relevant information) on a sticky-note on Mural, sorted the ideas into related groups with similarities, and created some headers for each group.

Affinity diagram

Main insights

The process was intense as we ended up with a lot of findings/post-its: it was easy to get lost with that amount of information. Gathering the same ideas and creating some headers helped us a lot to see things clearly.

After reducing the number of categories through dot voting, we ended up with 4 main design opportunities to work on:

• Infrastructure: users often expressed frustrations with the Parisian transport infrastructure, often noting that cohabitation between man-powered and human-powered vehicles was very complicated due to the cities planning. The fact that cycling is dangerous in Paris came out a lot as well.
• User’s preferences: Users mentioned their motivation and constraints: the weather, wearing heels, carrying any luggage: all of these matters a lot when they have to choose their means of transport. Also, users also expressed a love, yet dissatisfaction with the Vélib’ City Bike service. One user said that he didn’t take the Vélib’ anymore, even though he enjoyed it a lot!
• Safety: May it be feeling unsafe as a woman, or unsafe regarding other vehicles or people, the question of safety came back as a point of interest and worry for the users. From using Uber more than public transport as a way of traveling efficiently and safely at night, feeling afraid to bike during rush hour due to the traffic, or experiencing violence in public transportation, users often expressed weariness when navigating their city.
• Fresh air: Finally, many users noted a personal preference towards navigating cities in the fresh air. Disregarding pollution, city-dwelling is often inside. From home to the office, many noted that they preferred to use their commute time, if time isn’t a constraint, to experience the city in the open, get in some fresh air, and exercise. While expressing their preferences to travel above ground in the fresh air, yet economic or time constraints often led them to choose the metro as the city is planned out to make it more efficient.

Who are we designing for?

Based on our previous research and interview findings, we were able to create a user persona. Developing a persona enabled us to summarize the main goals, needs, and pain points we uncovered during the research phase. It helped us avoid designing generic solutions and best remember the user during the rest of the design process.

Camille, the active careerist city-lover

Our persona is Camille, a city-lover in her 30s. She loves her job — project manager — just as much as Paris, the city she lives in. She likes to walk or go cycling when it’s possible and when she has time, it enables us to be outside and do some exercise. In the meantime, she needs a quick and reliable way of transportation to go to work as she’s quite busy. That is why she usually takes the metro on her commute to work.

The Power of Personas

To make sure we do not lose sight of our problem and the pain points that emerged from the users, we always came back to the affinity diagram and what the users said, using their quotes for instance. We revisited Camille often in order to remind ourselves of her needs and frustration and to make sure to keep the user at the heart during the rest of the project.

Mapping Camille’s daily commute

To best understand and address Camille’s needs and pain points, we created her user journey map for her commute to and from work. This enabled us to identify her difficulties and thus design opportunities to make her life just that little simpler.

Design opportunities:

Based on Camille’s journey, we identified the 3 design opportunities below:

• Enters the train car
• Is on her ride in the metro
• Is being cut by a car

After dot voting, we focused on cycling home as the main issue as it’s a critical moment where she’s really afraid and anxious. We thought that solving this problem would help create a safer city where people could navigate the streets easily.

Finding the right words to define the problem

After diverging in the “empathize” and “discovery” phases to understand what the nature of the problem was, we went onto the “define” phase, converging our findings to give the project direction.

Based on the pain-points and opportunities we uncovered during the research phase, we defined our Problem Statement as the following:

“Camille, an active careerist city-lover, needs a way to feel safe cycling on her commute because she is afraid of getting hurt by other travelers due to city infrastructure making cohabitation between man-powered and motor-powered transport difficult.”

To define the problem, we took time to write a problem statement individually, then shared our proposition to the rest of the group to write a final common one. Even if we had pretty similar suggestions, it was challenging to find a clear yet concise description of the issue and to summarize it in one sentence. We took time to improve our problem statement after testing it until we found one that didn’t need explanation.

Our problem statement is the starting point of the ideation phase, which goes next!

Ideation

To find great ideas, it is useful to go for quantity, as a lot are often generic and mediocre, especially the first ones. We used the Crazy 8’s tool to help us to generate as many ideas as possible. The goal is to come up with 8 different ideas in 8 minutes using a pen and paper.

After three rounds of Crazy 8’s, we ended up with almost 24 ideas each, having 91 ideas in total. During the second and third rounds, we sketched new ideas and combined old ones in order to make THE super solution.

Sketches from third round of Crazy 8's

Shaping solutions

We selected 4 main ideas from the 32 that came out during the third round through dot voting:

• “THE” superbike with lots of functionalities
• A giant common bike
• Intelligent roads
• Separate roads according to the type of the vehicle

Our solution for a safe daily commute

After the second round of dot voting, we had it: Hopcycle, a giant common bike; a combination of train and bicycle.

The idea? A giant bicycle circuit all around the city that you can hop on and hop off wherever and whenever needed.

The advantages? Every user cycles, powering the bicycle, but as it is on a track, you do not have to feel worried about being focused on other vehicles or pedestrians.

Safety first!

Moreover, Hopcycle enables users to make the most of their commute. May it be looking at the scenery, doing some last-minute meeting preparation, concentrating on exercise, or simply daydreaming with music, Hopcycle aims at being the safest, social and enjoyable way to get from point A to point B. As a bonus, Hopcycle is as kind to you as it is to the planet, being completely solar and man-powered.

User flow

Now that we have THE solution, time to create our low-fi wireframes? Almost!

Before that, we created a user flow, a map that would help us define how Camille could accomplish the task of booking a seat on the bike. Thanks to the user flow, we quickly determined the screens that needed to be generated.

User flow (1/2)

User flow (2/2)

Low-fi wireframes

Safety and simplicity are at the center of Hopcycle. In that view, we designed clear, low-fi wireframes enabling Camille to accomplish the task of booking a seat on the bike.

After creating an account on the app, Camille navigates to the booking feature, inputs her departure and arrival locations, and chooses the time of departure. The app provides her with a set of journeys for her ride. She will be able to select the journey she prefers, the closest to her home, and to be in time for her 8:30 meeting. As Camille is focused on her safety, she also wants to book a helmet, which she can do in only 2 clicks. Thanks to the pre-determined method of payment, she’s only one click away from her ride on the Hopcycle!

What’s next?

We would continue iterating the app, build some mid-fi and high-fi wireframes before creating a fully functioning prototype thanks to the amazing feedback we collected!

And of course, we have crazy features for you (the possibility to charge your phone, chat with friends, joining the party carriage, a dating feature, etc.).

Key takeaways

Building our solution gave us great insights, namely:

• Users often have to choose between a pleasant journey (being outside, seeing beautiful things, doing some exercise) and a safe and fast one (like the metro).
• Moving around a city is not only about going to a destination but also about enjoying the ride: users prefer walking or cycling when they feel safe.
• The choice of transportation method varies according to many factors: the weather, wearing heels, carrying a suitcase, being tired or not, etc.
• People generally feel unsafe navigating cities, which were not built to take into account the modern way we travel
• In big cities like Paris, people would like to see commuting as a way to exercise, getting some fresh air, observing people? The reality is very different (odious travelers were often quoted during the interviews)
• The habits of transportation are always changing, and COVID-19 has accelerated this process

Thank you!

Thanks a lot for reading, you made it until the end. Lucky you, you earned the right to see our logo!

Any comments? I would love to hear them 😌!

See you soon 👋