UX Case Study
The dPod
Project done as part of the course CS6755 - HCI Foundations by Dr. Bruce Walker
A detachable interface mounted on a bike handlebar that helps food delivery bikers communicate with customers and restaurants in the delivery process
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A dedicated on-boarding app for setting up the dPod device
My contribution in the 4-person team
Project Documentation
User
Research
UX Design
(dPod Connect App)
User Testing & Iteration
Overview
In this project, we ideated and designed a setup device for food delivery bikers that enables them to perform the core functions of calling, texting. navigating and updating status for orders while on-the-go. The setup consists of 4 main parts.
The biker's safety is kept paramount in the device's
design and the interaction with the device using the
attached joystick is limited to minimum in order to avoid any safety hazards while riding.
Background
User Research Process
Literature
Review
User Group
Analysis
User
Interviews
Affinity
Mapping
Literature Review
Major Insights
The bikers work as independent contractors and often take on multiple orders on different applications at the same time
Bikers often stopped to check GPS / call customers on the way.
Bikers often spent time waiting at the restaurant for the order to be prepared.
Bikers do not have any workers compensation or healthcare included.
User Group Analysis
Third Party App Employees
Single Restaurant Employees
Independent Bikers
Independent Bikers
Affinity Mapping
To consolidate our findings from the research methods, we created an Affinity Diagram to get a visualized picture of the notes generated during the interviews as well as in the literature review session and the competitive analysis report. We wrote our raw and low-level notes
on the yellow stickies, and grouped them with the pink, blue and green stickies to generate major themes and pain points for our users.
Affinity Diagram
Major Themes and Pain Points
Our Affinity Diagram revealed a lot of major themes and pain points about our users that were radically different from the assumptions
that we had made before starting the research. One major theme that occurred during the analysis of the Affinity Map was the issue of lack of effective communication between the biker and the customer as opposed to the previously thought navigation, which was only a secondary concern for most bikers.
THEMES
PAIN POINTS
Community
Bikers often work in teams and make friends with other bikers.
Love for the Job
Bikers enjoy the adrenaline, freedom and the exercise that their job provides.
Equipment
Bikers use their personal smartphones and bags for the job and prefer inexpensive equipment.
Customer Communication
Do not have clear idea of location and customer preferences before starting.
Receiving the Order
Restaurants have huge waiting times and don't update order status in advance.
Navigation
Relying on GPS slows down the process. Bike parking and safety is an issue too.
Experience
New bikers often take a lot of time to
learn assistive technologies for navigation and communication.
Safety
Are often riding on crowded roads to finish orders fast.
Brainstorming Diverging Ideas
After identifying the themes and pain points for our users, we then generated design ideas in a very divergent manner, which implies that
we generated as many ideas as we could. Most of our ideas were targeted towards tackling common themes such as efficiency of the
process and simplicity of the design.
Generating Design Ideas
After listing all the design ideas, we then rated every idea on 2 concepts - Creativity and Practicality (C and P in the image) on a scale of 0 to 5. The average of these 2 scores helped us get our Top 14 Design Ideas.
Top 14 Design Ideas
Initial Individual Brainstorming Ideas
The dPod Design
Core Functions of the Device
Quick Call
Call customers and Restaurants with one click.
Template Texts
Send pre set text messages
with one click.
Navigation Aid
Get global and turn-by-turn
audio navigation assistance.
Check Orders
Sort and mark order as Complete.
Designing the Information Architecture and Initial Sketches
We used our takeaways from the themes and pain points to design the structure of the device in two phases - designing the hardware of the
setup and then defining the information architecture.
Initial sketch of the dPod device and the controlling joystick on the side
Designing the Information Architecture
Storyboard
Structure of the dPod Setup
The dPod is designed and conceptualized as a set of four distinct components that work together from the start, when a biker receives the order till the order is finished and the biker updates the order status. The four distinct components in dPod are identified and explained below.
01. dPod Circular Interface
This is the main interaction screen (only has visual interaction; no touch is involved) while riding.This nullifies the need for the user to look down and navigate since the functioning of the joystick is widely intuitive, hence taking the safety point of the biker into consideration.
Pink Foam model of the device
The circular cylinder has a 4 inch diameter and a 1 inch thickness. The user interacts visually with the screen and controls the functioning with the four-directional joystick on the handlebar. The device can detached to ensure safety when the bike is parked on sidewalks as found during the user research process.
Interactive Wireframes for dPod Device
2. Four-Directional Joystick
(A typical image)
This device is the primary navigation control for the design. It is a
detachable (to accommodate handedness) flat joystick mounted to the side of the handlebar.
3. Bone Conduction Headphones
(A typical image)
Special type of headphones that sit on/around the ear and allow the wearer to hear their surroundings while listening to the headphones, thus promoting safety of the biker while calling customers.
4. dPod Connect Mobile App
To use the system, the user first opens the dPod Connect application on their phone and connects to the order tracking system. Then, the user can select deliveries to complete in the order. After that, the dPod Connect will automatically send all relevant information such as contact numbers and addresses to the circular screen interface, and the user is ready to get on the road and start the delivery. The application works in dual modes, based on whether the user works for a restaurant or for a third party application that supports multiple restaurants.
Interactive Wireframes for the dPod Connect App
Onboarding
Biker Categorization
Setting up Biker Profile
Selecting Orders
Checking Profile Status
Reviewing Order Sequence
Interactive Prototypes for dPod Connect App
User Testing
The Testing Process
Usability Testing: dPod Connect Application
1. Walkthrough with pre-defined tasks
2. Post-walkthrough interview
3. Microsoft Product Reaction Card
List of Tasks
1. Browse the application
2. Arrange deliveries by location
3. Arrange by distance
4. Change the order of deliveries both by location and distance.
Usability Testing: dPod Circular Interface
1. Walkthrough with pre-defined tasks using the Wizard of Oz technique
2. Post-walkthrough interview
3. SUS Survey
4. Microsoft Product Reaction Card
List of Tasks
1. Send text template #1 to customer
2. Call fellow biker
3. Access global map
4. Activate turn by turn navigation
5. Check address and call customer
6. Mark delivery as complete
User testing session with a biker
Wizard of Oz simulation for testing sessions
Interactive Prototypes for dPod
Quick Call
Template Text
Navigation
Assistance
Order Status
Who are the users?
People who deliver food using bikes in urban, crowded spaces.
Bikers who work for third party applications such as Uber-Eats.
Bikers who work for restaurants such as Jimmy John's or as independent bikers.
User Interviews
Age
21-31 years old
Gender
4 Male; 1 Female
Ethnicity
4 Causasian; 1 Indian
Employment
2 Single-Restaurant Employee
1 Third Party Employee
1 Independent Biker
Experience
1: >10 years
1: 5 years
3: 1.5-4 years
Who are the testing users?
(The users that we tested our designs with)
Food Delivery Bikers
1
(11 years of experience with bike food delivery)
Others
4
(Users with moderate level of design knowledge)
