Uber Thumbnail.png

Uber

Uber • A counterintuitive approach to empowering older adults.

UX RESEARCH/CO-DESIGN/ACCESSIBILITY

Background

I am working with Uber's design and research team for my Georgia Tech capstone project to explore and improve the senior adult ride-sharing experience. I am working in a team of three and leading research alongside Autumn Pressley.

Duration

August 2023 — Ongoing

Role

Lead UX Researcher


THE PROBLEM

significance

  • It is estimated that more than 20% of Americans will be aged 65 + years by 2030, compared with 13% in 2010.

  • Among older adults in the U.S., ridesharing is the second most crucial mode of transportation.

  • A 10-year-long study reports that out-of-home mobility of older adults improved their overall quality of life.


target user

 

secondary research

Compare

We analyzed 7 transit and rideshare services, looking for commonalities, differences, and gaps in order to find what works effectively and what does not. We compared existing web solutions and mobile apps —

  1. AgeWell Atlanta

  2. On The Go (San Diego)

  3. Senior Services North Fulton (ATL)

  4. Rides In Sight

  5. Onward

  6. SilverFleet (Singapore)

  7. SafeRideNow

Following prominent themes emerged from the competitive analysis & literature review:

 

exploratory survey

We wanted to understand the challenges and experiences of seniors with ridesharing or other forms of transportation. Specifically, we wanted to…

  • Learn about their daily routines and habits.

  • Examine their current level of independence.

  • Guage their knowledge, opinion, and experience of ridesharing services.

  • Examine comfortability with using technology.

  • Identify main preferences and pain points with arranging/using different modes of transportation.

 

survey distribution

We used diverse avenues to distribute and advertise the survey —

 

SURVEY RESULTS

 

About 40% of the respondents were between the ages of 60 to 65 years old and fit into the "young old" category.

 

Greater than 50% of the respondents reported driving every day of the week. This is consistent with the fact that most respondents are young older adults.

 

88% of the respondents were female and majority of were between 60 to 70 years old.

The top 3 most common forms of transportation respondents use are driving themselves, riding with friends or family, and walking.

 

28% said they dislike relying on others to get around.

19% prefer not to ride with strangers.

19% reported not having access to public transit near their residence.

15% feel that taxi services and ridesharing are too expensive.

11% are uncomfortable using technology.

Discomfort with technology, inaccessible public transport, vision impairments, and physical mobility concerns are the main issues/reasons why respondents find it difficult or very difficult to arrange transportation.

On the other hand, respondents who found it easy or very easy to arrange transportation have not run into common issues but have voiced concerns regarding the use of technology, vision impairments, and physical mobility issues.

 

reddit analysis

We posted open-ended questions on some subreddits that did not allow surveys. We analyzed the comments on our post using color coding and discovered below themes. The highlighted themes were the main patterns we uncovered.

 

approach to user interviews

Independence and Technology were the two prominent themes we found in the survey data. We incorporated specific questions about these topics into our user interview discussion guide.

Independence

  • Who do you interact with on a day-to-day basis?

  • What does independence mean to you?

  • Does your ability to get around affect your independence and quality of life? How so?

  • If you couldn’t drive, how might you maintain your independence when it comes to getting around?

Technology

  • Tell me about your relationship with technology.

  • Do you use a smartphone? Or computer?

  • How confident are you with using your phone? What kinds of apps do you typically use?

  • What method/device do you prefer to book transportation — a computer, mobile app, etc.?

 

 
 

This is an ongoing project, and I am working on updating it as we make progress. Please check back in a few days to see updates! In the meantime, please check out some of my other projects. :)