The first sharing parking service in the U.S., tackling urban parking issues, easing driver burdens, cutting congestion, stress, and emissions for a greener future.
Exit Process System Iteration
Dec. 2023 to Feb. 2024
My Role
CPO, Founding Designer
Tools
User interview, Deductive Method, Inductive Method, Usability test, Figma, After Effect, Jira, Photoshop, Illustrator
Team
John Shahin(UX Writer) 、Antony Chang(CEO)、Kevin Chang(DevOps)、Fong Liou (Developer)、
Simpson Huang(Developer)
Goal
-
Increase the parking completion rate to 80%
-
Report rate lower than 5%
IMPACT
-
Build a mutual reporting mechanism to ensure the interests of all parties.
-
Boost host earnings, cut costs, and scale up operations.
-
Ensure a user-friendly parking experience, increasing users parking completion rate.
WHAT CHALLENGES WE FACE
-
How to design a scalable system that protects the interests of all three parties？
-
How to reduce user operating costs while allowing them to increase revenue？
-
How to improve the completion rate of the parking process without affecting the user experience？
Design Method
40% Primary Research + 60% Secondary Research
The design originated from complaints by parking space owners, who felt that the three-hour interval needed to be shorter. Additionally, the original design lacked a mechanism to penalize violators.
Design Issue
Interviewed with our 3 pioneer users and 2 local (Live in NY decade) people
User Interview
3 days
Collecting information
Select renowned platform-type products for reference to study their solutions to these issues
Product Analysis
3 days
Solution Direction
Directions:
-
Ensure all parties interests
-
Reduce Operating Costs for Hosts
-
Ensure Complete Parking Process
Inductive & Deductive Method
3 days
Based on Research
3 Principles for Designing a Mutual Verification System
1
Business
Ensure All Parties Interests
How to ensure the interests of all parties and maximize the rights of parking space owners, because if parking space owners cannot make money, we will lose both space owner and driver.
2
Priority of Information
Reduce Host’s Operation Cost
Efforts are underway to reduce hosting costs. However, without hardware or third-party tools to confirm exits, we must find a solution for hosts to avoid losing their cooperation.
3
User Experience
Ensure Complete Parking Process
Hosts and drivers may not finish the process for various reasons. How can we remind them to increase the parking completion rate at a minimal cost?
Challenge 1
How to Design a System to Ensure All Parties Interests
-
How to reduce customer service costs and attract drivers?
-
How to prevent drivers from being unfairly overcharged?
-
How to charge the overtime parking?
Solution 1
3 Rules to Ensure All Parties Interests
The main challenge in Exit mechanism design is balancing interests among three parties: the company seeks cost reduction, hosts aim for higher earnings, and drivers want lower payments. Using a balanced scorecard approach, each party receives 2 advantages (red) and 1 disadvantage (green) to achieve balance.
01 One-hour Buffer Time
After conducting thorough research, we've found that our users typically park to run errands nearby or catch the subway into Manhattan. A one-hour buffer time should suffice.
02 Overtime Reporting Mechanism
Hosts: To start overtime billing, we require hosts to upload photos to minimize disputes and reduce operational costs.
Driver: There's no mandatory photo upload for drivers, given the diverse nature of driver issues.
03 Automatic Overtime Billing
Since hosts may not be at home, to ensure host rights, we will activate overtime billing after the 1-hour buffer period ends, reducing operational costs and enhancing fairness. From the driver's perspective, they are already overtime and should pay the fee.
Challenge 2
How to Reduce the Hosts Operation Cost but Increase Revenue?
-
How to handle the overtime billing without in person?
-
How busy is the host in completing the exit process?
-
How to maximize the host’s earnings?
Solution 2
Reduce Operating Costs for Hosts
01 Automatic Overtime Billing
Considering that drivers may not be at home to rent out parking spaces and confirm immediately, the system will activate overtime billing if drivers still haven't responded after the one-hour buffer period.
02 Auto-Settlement on Next Day, 4am
Despite the host's lack of response, if the previous driver has left, the parking space can be opened for others. Research shows that the Bronx sees minimal traffic at 4 AM, prompting the system to clear spaces daily at that time. This allows hosts to earn passive income even if unresponsive.
03 Manual Verification of Exit
We offer a route for manual verification of exit. As soon as the driver's parking time ends, hosts can verify. The earlier they verify, the higher the turnover rate and the more they can earn
Challenge 3
How can we improve the completion rate of the parking process without affecting the user experience？
-
How to lower driver’s operation cost in the process?
-
How to increase completion rate for hosts and drivers in the exit process?
-
How to boost host willingness to complete the process?
Solution 3
Quick Exit Menu + Notification + Host Landing Page as Dashboard
01 Quick Exit Menu for Driver
To ensure timely departures for drivers, we've implemented a persistent interface on the landing page. This ensures that drivers can immediately view recent reservations, cancellations, or exit actions upon opening the app
02 A Non-intrusive Notification
To address potential checkout forgetfulness without inundating users with notifications, we've set reminders to trigger only at critical times. For instance, during the buffer period, notifications are sent every 20 minutes. Moving forward, we'll switch to email notifications to enhance the user experience further.
03 Host Landing Page as Dashboard
Create a dedicated dashboard for hosts, showing each parking status. Users simply need to click on the notification to navigate to the dashboard and complete the parking process
Defined the 24 Exit Scenarios
Thoughtfully analyzing every scenario, I crafted a detailed flow to convey the idea to stakeholders efficiently.
The Thoughtful Driver Exit Route
Reservation menu
Quick control parking and check info
Exit confirmation
Toast for making users reassure
Cancel confirmation
Toast for making users reassure
No reponse over buffer time
Use highlight color to notify users
Return to map when finish
Return to the map for a seamless experience
Dashboard: New Host Landing Page
Accessible checkout spots
Display checkable spots on the landing page based on first priority
Swipe to navigate tabs
A scroll bar to assist users in navigating between tabs.
Simplified inspection
Easily management for the upcoming reservations
Filter report for operation
Reduce Customer Service Costs by Channeling
