Betsy O'Donnell Design

Divvy Bikeshare Research & App Redesign

Who is the core audience that uses Divvy bikes? How can the mobile app be better tailored to their needs?

PROJECT OVERVIEW

This was a month long project as a student at a digital design school. The team consisted of myself and three other design students. We contacted Divvy leadership and received support and enthusiasm for the information we could provide to improve the Divvy mobile app.

ROLE & TOOLS

UX-UI Design, User Research & Interviewing, Sketch, and Invision

Understanding the Opportunity

Our goal was simple: get outside and talk to real people who use Divvy bikes, using UX research methods. The full Divvy experience consists of the website, kiosk, bikes, docks, and mobile app.

01. Interviewing and Competitor Research

UX Research included: user interviews and observations, and a competitive analysis. Some key findings from the research:

Confusion over pricing + resentment over lack of price communication
Availability of bikes and docking stations is a major stressor
The time limit for using the bikes is not as stressful as not being able to track the time limit
Concerns that the app will drain battery life
Out of town users and commuters are heavy users and have the most complaints

02. Personas and Studies

Using insights from interviews with real Divvy users in several high-use Chicago neighborhoods, we created Mirco personas to document key characteristics and needs. We found a strong bias toward tourists and daily summer commuters, as well as occasional users who use bikes to get around the city efficiently.

03. Journey Mapping

I focused on the commuter persona during the journey research process to explore many scenarios. My other teammates focused on the other two personas, and we worked as a unit to share together.

04. Low Fidelity Mockups

Taking into account all the information we gathered, my team and I prioritized the improvements to the existing mobile app in order of feasibility and importance. Below you can see our changes to the existing app:

Providing information on the welcome screen such as: congestion, availability, and weather
Preventing errors by adding information about available bikes and docks
Optional geolocation for planning destinations, real-time maps and for reservations
Clear communication of time limit + time remaining
Options for power users, including turning off GPS tracking inthe app for battery life

05. Mobile App / High Fidelity Mockups

Features could be helpful with high contrast text and images. We also put a focus on sensory feedback.

Double vibration and sound low timer alarm provides sensory feedback while biking
Mapping as a convenience inthe app vs. opening an external app
Reservation details near the touch area are most important to the user when the timer is low

The ability for the user to reserve a free space to dock their bike was an important improvement for user feedback. However, further testing would need to be done to ensure the safety of this feature.

The timer was another big improvement based on user feedback. We used color, a large countdown timer, and a visual display. This combined with sensory feedback allows the user to focus on enjoying the ride and less stress about making it on time.

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