Mobi

#Service Design #HMI Design #UX/UI

Mobi is an autonomous ride-hailing service cooperating with Uber and Shirley Ryan Abilitylab to offer patients with mobility disabilities customized and enjoyable ride experiences to the rehabilitation hospital.

Service design, Research & Strategy, User interface design, Automotive human-machine interface design

MY ROLE

TEAM

Individual work

DURATION

5 weeks

Project Overview

The autonomous driving project is a school project aiming to explore the possibilities of autonomous driving technology. In the project, I designed an autonomous driving service for people with mobility problems since I found their inconvenience and need for mobility through my research.

Brief

How might we solve the mobility problem of wheelchair users’ regular travel to the rehabilitation hospital?

Problem

Use the advantages of autonomous cars to solve the problem. Consider people with mobility problems needs, 
designing adjustable electronic ramps and flexible schedules.

Solution

Secondary Research

Percentage of adults with functional disability types in US

From CDC’s data, one in four adults in the United States has disabilities, and 13.7% of them have mobility difficulty.

Mobility analysis of persons with disabilities

Distribution of trips by modes of transport in Novi Sad

Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. The research was conducted both in the urban part of the city, and some rural regions, so the statistic can well represent persons with disabilities' modes of transport in Europe. From the diagram, persons with disabilities rely more on personal vehicles as transportation, most of whom are passengers instead of drivers.

Number of trips per year in UK, by grading of disability

Type of driving self-regulation by people with and without disabilities in USA

From the two charts, people with disabilities’ numbers of trips are far less than those without disabilities. Also, people with disabilities reduce their trips and choose not to go out because of more reasons. Reasons, such as bad weather and peak hours, restrict their trips.

Travel by trip purpose, disability status, and work status in US ( age 18-64 )

The travel needs of people with disabilities such as shopping, entertainment, and work are lower than those of people without disabilities. But the purpose of medical reasons are higher than those of ordinary people. Because this is not the main travel demand, it is easy to be ignored.

Primary Research

Empathy map

Pains

  • People with disabilities live harder life than I expected before. Except for the inconvenience brought by their disabilities, they have to face people’s discrimination and stares.

  • Most public facilities ignore their needs. Accessibility is very difficult for them when there are no ramps or a disabled toilet.

Gains

  • New ways of travel using autonomous driving can solve their mobility difficulties, such as uneven ground that makes it difficult for them to navigate wheelchairs.

  • The design needs to pay attention to their needs. Such as how to make the wheelchair go up and down freely.

Online ethnography

Lily, 26
eight-years wheelchair user

It's so hard when other people treat you differently and like you don't belong there just because you are in a wheelchair... And what's more frustrating it's that sometimes these people are people that know you forever.

Kathy, 34
one-year wheelchair user

When I started using a wheelchair, I was shocked at just how inaccessible the world actually is, even in places that supposedly have it right. I went to a local mall to practice using my wheelchair, and it was purportedly fully accessible, but half the time the accessibility features were broken.

John, 42
ten-years wheelchair user

I have been using a wheelchair for about 10 years now. The thing that is surprising on the negative side is how some people assume because you are in a wheelchair you are mentally deficient. My sister is the one who noticed this, that strangers seemed shocked at my being articulate and perfectly normal after they would speak to me.

Current user journey

Ideate

Choice of partners

• The largest ride-sharing company in the USA
• Convenience of reserving a car online and being flexible to adjust the schedule
• Willingness to offer people with mobility disability special & accessible services ( Uber WAV - Wheelchair accessible already existed)

Uber - Ride-hailing company

Shirley Ryan Abilitylab 
- Rehabilitation hospital

• Best rehabilitation hospital in the USA
• Most patients have mobility disabilities caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, and brain injury
• Patients are from all over the country so they have the transportation needs to the hospital

Business model

Stakeholder map

The first layer represents the service I want to deliver to users, the autonomous ride-hailing service. The second layer represents stakeholders who interact directly with the service, including the users, doctors who recommend the service to the users, the support staff, and the system administrator who directly operates the entire service. The third layer represents the stakeholders who may not interact with the service directly but also benefit from the service, including users’ family members, hospital management, ride-hailing company management, and sales. The fourth layer represents stakeholders who are in a wider environment, such as the media and the public.

Value proposition map

The users’ pains are caused by their mobility difficulties, and the current products cannot fill their needs. So the service focuses on using autonomous advantages such as more freedom of interior space, more privacy and safety of the ride experience, and a more flexible schedule system to solve users’ problems. Moreover, the service will consider the problems of getting in and getting off the car by using the adjustable electronic ramp and bring entertainment, such as watching movies on a big screen, to create an enjoyable journey for users. Help users easily and safely travel alone, thus helping them realize their self-worth.

Service blueprint

Design

Information architecture

Mobi comprises two parts: the automotive HMI and the app. I focused on driving monitoring and the control ramp function.

App user flow

Design principles

Design system

App interface

Automotive UI

Usage scenario

Emma’s doctor Tomas recommended Emma to use Mobi, an automotive ride-hailing service offered by Uber and cooperating with the hospital. So it would be much easier for Emma to go to the hospital independently next time.

Emma found the service in Uber’s app and reserved an autonomous car for her next week’s visit.

The car arrived 10 minutes earlier and waited outside. After the facial recognition, Emma had the authority to take the ride and control the car.

Emma connected her app with the autonomous car via Bluetooth and could easily adjust the ramp.

Emma interacted with the screen in car, and had great experience with different functions, such as entertainment function.

She felt her experience was great so she left good comments.

Prototype

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