AI Autonomous Ridesharing Experience

OVERVIEW

What do you value most during your ridesharing experience?

The answers to these questions have been at the core of our team. Ridesharing isn’t just about getting from point A to point B; for us, it’s about redefining the entire journey experience.

During the intense 9 weeks of design work, we explored, improved, and developed this main idea into the final solution. Have you ever imagined a car that doesn’t just drive itself, but also feels like a friend—someone who understands you, keeps you company, and even predicts your needs?

MY ROLE

UX Researcher
UX Designer

DURATION
2024.9 - 2024. 12
(9 weeks)

TEAM

1 X Product Manager
1 X UX Researcher
2 X UX Designers

PRODUCT PREVIEW

Our team presents a user-focused and city-based AI system. Brooklyn,
our AI-powered assistant in NYC, whether you're exploring or commuting,
Brooklyn provides smart navigation, entertainment, and safety features for a smooth and enjoyable ride.

Start the ride by exploring different features on the in-car screen

Ride& explore: browse the city and add a stop at your interests

In car entertainment: play music, videos, karaoke, or take a selfie

Switching between different modes

Safety drop off

VIDEO SHOWCASE

DESIGN SCOPE

Design for the riders, not technology!

By mapping the entire user journey—from ride request to trip completion—we discovered that existing apps heavily rely on drivers. In contrast, in systems like Waymo, the focus shifts from "autonomy" to the boarding and driving processes. However, after in-depth market research, we found that most of the autonomous ridesharing services did not explore much of the in-car features and how they can impact the whole experience.
Based on the current market situation, we decided to explore the potential in in-car systems.

User flow sketch

SURVEY

We first conducted an online survey, inviting 50+ riders to share their experience and expectations with ride-sharing.

When asked about riding with autonomous cars, 70% of participants expressed concerns about safety as well as how to interact with the car during the ride; however, 50% of them still wanna try the autonomous ridesharing service.
Therefore, after carefully analyzing our potential users, we did not consider safety as a main design problem, since we were designed for those who are already willing to use the service, but not expanding the user group.

INTERVIEW

After the survey, we would like to delve deeper into the real-world scenarios of ride-sharing experience. Therefore, we conducted 30-minute interview sessions with 5+ participants, who use ridesharing services more than 1 time a week.

During the interview process, we found that many potential users would choose ride-sharing services in unfamiliar places, concerned about getting lost, and complex transit systems.

TARGET USER

Based on the previous research findings, we decided to narrow our focus to the scenarios where people use ridesharing services: travel and business trips.

We set our persona as a female traveller who loves exploring different cultures, she likes relaxing and scenery viewing during the ride, and want to learn more local culture and history, and absolutely, she wanna save time and energy!

DESIGN QUESTION

These insights above led us to recognize the need for an innovative ride-sharing experience for self-driving technology. To refine our focus, we narrowed down our problem statement and came up with our design question:

How Might We Redesign a Smart and AI-assisted Ridesharing experience?

IDEATION

Through 2 weeks of design sprint, we decided to focus on user flow: in-vehicle features & seamless trip experience during the ride.

Initial brainstorming sketch

Refined sketch

We brainstormed different scenarios and stories, and iterated on the potential solutions. Finally, we decided to focus on designing a car dashboard that users can interact with during their ride in the absence of a driver.
Based on that, we have defined 3 main flowcharts for the following prototyping.

3 Flow charts

PROTOTYPE ITERATIONS

Design road map

In the final 2 weeks, we prototyped 3 iterations and ran 3 rounds of usability testing, including 1 round of RITE.

Onboarding Iteration: Initial prototype(top) vs Second prototype(bottom)

Main Screen Iteration: Initial prototype(top) vs Second prototype(bottom)

During the first round of usability testing, we invited our friends and peers. The most severe problem is the context; the user cannot understand the feature’s function through the name(which we refer to from Tesla), so we use a simple name and add a secondary status that provides more description to the feature. Users can easily tap to switch between different statues, and we still keep the simplest one when the user first opens the map view.

Final Feature Status

Map View Iteration: Initial prototype(left) vs Third prototype(right)

Instead of an extra window to show the ride information, we integrate the route and all the other important information into the map, so the user can easily add a stop or check the car speed and other information.

AI Assistant Iteration: Second prototype(left) vs Third prototype(right)

Initially, we put the AI assistant as a pop-up icon, and then added it to the bottom feature. However, during the second usability test, we found that participants found it hard to find the AI assistant when they needed it; they preferred one-tap or voice interaction. Therefore, we implemented the AI assistant as a permanent hovering button on the homepage. When it talks, the conversation frame will be expanded, and the user can easily choose to close or keep it.

Entertainment Iteration: Second prototype(top) vs Third prototype(bottom)

During the usability testing sessions, we asked our participants to complete the tasks and try to find the goal of our product. The results indicated a strong interest in the entertainment features, with many participants eager to explore additional controls and content within the car. However, the current information hierarchy is not clear, and it is too overwhelming for our users to explore. Therefore, we created a new information architecture and changed the visual layout.

At the same time, when we asked about the specific scenario of our participants when they tried the autonomous car, one thing they must do is take a selfie or videos. So, we added a selfie feature in the entertainment tab. We found that instead of focusing on safety issues, most of the participants are talking about emotional value. That makes us think more about what our participants really wanna do in the car. They wanna be “watched”!

We first decided to put the “Emergency Pull Over” button on the map view, which is the default screen. However, we found that a lot of users would like to touch it to explore, and some of them even worried that “why you put the emergency button here, does it mean the car is not safe?”. Therefore, we changed its location to be under the contact support, and according to the emergency level, placed the four different functions.

Information Architecture Sketch

In this stage, we further define our information system, what features we should have, the feature name, as well as what functions should be under each category.

FEATURE LIST

HI-FI PROTOTYPE

Ride & explore

Contact support & vehicle details

Media entertainment

FINAL SCENARIO

Scenario 01 Onboarding
This is Will's first time in New York. He had seen a poster about an autonomous driving taxi before and decided to give it a try. After getting in the car, Brooklyn warmly welcomed him and introduced him to how to use the vehicle!

Scenario 02 Intuitive System
Will is interested in the bottom bar and began exploring the different functions.

Scenario 03 Ride&Explore

Will noticed the first function is called Ride&Explore, and he decided to explore some interesting spots and food in New York.

Scenario 04 Media Entertainment
When Will was driving through NYC, he felt a little bit “quiet”, so he asked Brooklyn to play some music. The AI assistant, Brooklyn, recommended the Empire State of New York to him and switched the car to music mode, which allows him to immerse himself in the NYC style.

Scenario 05 Sleep Mode& Safety
The way to Times Square is long, so Will decided to take a snap before arriving. Brooklyn helped him adjust the light and strengthen the soundproofing. When arriving at Times Square, Brooklyn woke up Will and told him to bring all the carry-on and that the surroundings is safe.

TAKEAWAYS

Research: Keeping Alignment Across the TeamThroughout the project, maintaining alignment among all team members is crucial.

Synthesize: Prioritizing Design OpportunitiesIn group discussions, focus on selecting the most valuable opportunities by voting and refining research questions. It's important to ensure the team works toward a shared vision, optimizing the process of turning insights into actionable design directions.

Ideate: Embracing Diverse PerspectivesDuring brainstorming, it's essential to listen actively to each team member’s ideas, avoid unnecessary debates, and collaboratively explain and evaluate thoughts. This fosters creativity and ensures that all perspectives are considered while staying aligned with the design goals.

Prioritization: Knowing What (and What Not) to Focus OnIn time-constrained projects, distinguishing between essential and non-essential tasks is as important as defining the work itself.