JUMP Bikes | Mobile App, UX Writing
Tell your users when you're going to charge their card. Tell them before you charge, not after.
Tell your users when you're going to charge their card. Tell them before you charge, not after.
Tell your users when you're going to charge their card. Tell them before you charge, not after.
Tell your users when you're going to charge their card. Tell them before you charge, not after.
Nobody likes unpleasant surprises. While JUMP provides an amazing physical product experience, its digital product is a source of anxiety. Why? Once users make a reservation, the ominous countdown timer causes panic. Users have no idea what will happen when the timer hits zero.
JUMP operates fleets of pedal-assist electric bicycles that don’t require docking stations. Active in Washington DC, JUMP recently won a permit from the SFMTA to pilot a stationless bikeshare system in San Francisco. Users can pick up a JUMP bike anywhere in the City, go for a ride, and leave the bike anywhere within JUMP's service area.
My team addressed usability shortcomings in the reservation flow with a clearer information design that minimizes cancellations and churn. We believe these solutions will help JUMP win the bikeshare arms race in San Francisco.
Goals Improve the usability of mobile app. Optimize for conversion and minimize cancellations.
Responsibilities Worked collaboratively with two other UX designers. Conducted end-to-end research, synthesis, design, and testing.
Timeline 2 week sprint.
Goals . Improve the usability of mobile app. Optimize for conversion and minimize cancellations.
Responsibilities Worked collaboratively with two other UX designers. Conducted end-to-end research, synthesis, design, and testing.
Timeline . 2 week sprint.
Goals Improve the usability of mobile app. Optimize for conversion and minimize cancellations.
Responsibilities Worked collaboratively with two other UX designers. Conducted end-to-end research, synthesis, design, and testing.
Timeline 2 week sprint.
Goals . Improve the usability of mobile app. Optimize for conversion and minimize cancellations.
Responsibilities Worked collaboratively with two other UX designers. Conducted end-to-end research, synthesis, design, and testing.
Timeline . 2 week sprint.
Goals Improve the usability of mobile app. Optimize for conversion and minimize cancellations.
Responsibilities Worked collaboratively with two other UX designers. Conducted end-to-end research, synthesis, design, and testing.
Timeline 2 week sprint.
New Designs
A walk time estimate that helps users plan their trip
List the rate by the half hour, since it's charged by the half hour
Explain the reservation system before users commit. Eliminate accidental charges and bad PR.
Discovery
We spoke to skateboarders, bicycle owners, bus riders and everyone in between. We wanted to understand how people make decisions about which mode of transportation to use.
Competitive and Comparative Analysis
We identified bike litter as a persistent problem across stationless bikeshare services.
Competing bikeshare companies use two strategies to combat this issue: security deposits and credit ratings (where users who misbehave frequently are charged higher rental fees).
Online Survey
84% of respondents valued ease of pick-up when considering a bikeshare service, more than any other attribute.
This insight directed our focus towards making bike pick-up seamless.
In-Person Interviews & Contextual Inquiry
In-person interviews underscored data from our survey around potential use cases for JUMP. People see it as a leisure activity, not as a commute replacement.
This insight drove the creation of our primary user archetype, a casual weekend rider.
Next, we signed up our co-workers for JUMP and paid for their first rides. We followed their journeys and took notes.
This experience revealed major pain points in the reservation flow.
Synthesis
People who don't own bikes are attracted to the service because it seems like fun.
“Biking is a fun way to see the city on a nice day.”
Bike owners find value in bikeshare services because they eradicate concerns about bike theft. Although owners do not envision using JUMP during the week, they are drawn to the stationless feature.
“I’d use JUMP to bike to a weekend dinner date. If I rode my own bike, I would be paranoid about parking it on the street.”
This made us realize that weekend riders include bicycle owners and non-owners. The benefits of JUMP can be messaged to both groups simultaneously.
Weekend leisure riders are the ideal beachfront market because their time wealth makes them more willing to experiment with a new form of transportation.
Unlocking the trends in our qualitative data
Ideation and Pivot
We decided to focus on improving the reservation flow.
Initially, we sketched a feature that would allow a rider to book multiple bikes at once.
Early feedback on a paper prototype elicited lukewarm responses at best. Nobody thought it was useful.
We circled back to our data. During contextual research, our friend Amy abandoned her trip and decided to walk to her destination. Why? She couldn't find the right bike before the timer expired.
After watching the footage again, we pivoted into the reservation flow.
Design Studio
We started with a design studio exercise to generate ideas quickly. We finalized a paper prototype after coming together to synthesize our work.
Click to scroll through the paper wireframes.
Paper Prototype
We conducted guerrilla usability of the tests of the paper prototype and confirmed our hypothesis. Additional information about walk time and payment made the reservation process more assuring for users.
It also helped us understand how much hold time users expected before the grace period expires (5-10 mins).
Hi-Fi Iterations
We took our paper wireframes into Sketch.
We started with the map. During contextual inquiry, Amy got frustrated when she attempted to unlock a bike that was out of commission (its battery needed a recharge). Representing these bikes on the map creates a better match between the system and the real world.
Users found the wrench icon misleading, so we used a greyed out bike icon.
Next, we added a walk time estimate to the "select a bike" screen.
Before
After
We mocked up variations of the copy on the call to action button. The original "RESERVE THIS BIKE" was the most successful.
We changed the pre-confirmation screen to show the true billing rate ($2/half hour).
There is only one ride plan available in San Francisco, so we replaced the ride plan with the reservation time.
Now users can measure walk time against hold time and make more informed reservations.
Before
After
Next, we iterated on the confirmation text.
Users responded better to a button versus a timer.
When users can read at their own pace, they have more control and freedom.
Here are walkthroughs of the flow before and after.
Next Steps
A/B testing to validate (or invalidate) our hypothesis.
Outcome and Reflections
I found that the design studio methodology helped my team stay on track. The exercise gives each person enough solo thinking time to develop their ideas. It also gives them the chance to present and defend their ideas with a concrete sketch or visual artifact to reference. This helps put visual communicators and verbal communicators on a level playing field.
Periodic use of this exercise helped us stay aligned throughout the sprint, and deliver a solution we felt mutual ownership of.
JUMP Bikes · Lawfty Connect · Verizon Project Manager Intranet · Wizz Tutoring