SBU Ryde - Overview
Creating a centralized platform to connect the student community with transportation
For many students that move to a suburban college campus, not having access to a car can be a major struggle. Without a car, getting groceries, making appointments, and exploring the local community can be difficult and time-consuming. For this project I was tasked with creating a viable solution to help address the limited transportation options that limit and inconvenience a student’s independence and college life.
Responsibilities
- UX Design (low fi + high fi mockups)
- User Research
- Development and making the design come to life
Project Context
- September 2021 - Present
- Ideated and created prototype for testing and development purposes
Tools Used
- Figma
- Google Forms
- HTML/CSS/JavaScript
The Problem
Unreliable bus schedules, high costs of ride sharing, and un-walkable cities create difficulties for students in terms of transportation
A survey sent out to 40 students attending Stony brook University expressed that they often leave campus in order to shop for groceries or eat outside. Some of the transportation options students have includes a campus shuttle service and a local bus.
1. Take a bus, railroad, or campus shuttle service
Inaccurate real-time bus tracking and inconsistent arrival times
Infrequent campus shuttle service & coverage to shopping destinations
Missing a ride often results in needing to wait another hour to make the next bus/train
The issue with these options however is that the campus shuttle service is limited since it only runs on Sunday and the local bus has highly inaccurate real-time bus tracking and inconsistent arrival times. An overwhelming majority of people (81.1%) feel that the current transportation options are limited and insufficient and therefore they typically choose to carpool with friends or call a Lyft/Uber. These options still have their downsides with one relying on knowing friends who have cars and the other being an expensive option.
2. Ride Share or carpooling with friends
Common ride sharing applications like Uber or Lyft can end up being really expensive
Hitching a ride with someone on campus requires knowing someone with a car
Limited schedule and options when it comes to finding someone who can drive to a destination
Goals
User Goal
Being able to get to a destination without wasting a lot of time and money
Product Goal
Find a way to connect the student community with existing ways of getting around
Design Process
Chipping away and finding a solution that connects the student community
SBU Ryde will connect students without cars to student drivers on Stony Brook University campus. This system works off based on what is currently happening in between small friend groups. What happens is that if your friend with a car is headed to Target, you ask to hop along for the ride whilst giving some money for gas. With the idea of both parties headed to the same destination, we created an application that would exist as a platform to connect those with cars to those who don’t. There are 4 main features to SBU Ryde.
1. Posting
- Posting feature allows both riders and drivers to participate
- Drivers can find potential passengers with the same destination
- Riders can find people willing to donate their time to drive them
- Students can specify their role (rider or driver) in the post
- Destination, date and time of departure, number of open seats can be specified in the post
- Tags can be added to help people search for posts.
2. Chatting
- Built-in messaging platform for quick and convenient communication
- Allows for negotiation of price and pickup/drop off time and location
- Users can use the chat feature to get to know each other
- In-app messaging for convenience and ease of use
- Can be used to finalize details before rides
- Can be used for general conversation or to exchange contact information
3. Profiles
- View profiles of riders and drivers before booking a ride
- See recent activities of users on their profiles
- Add other users as friends to see their posts on your home page
- Explore page allows you to search for users based on location and tags
- Interactive map on explore page to navigate and discover new users.
4. Reviews & Ratings
- Helps others make informed decisions about who to ride/drive with
- Leave a rating and review for your driver or passenger after the ride
- Read through reviews from other users to help you decide if you want to ride with or drive for a particular user
- Use the rating system to help ensure a positive and safe experience for everyone using the service
- Leave honest and detailed reviews to help others make informed decisions about their rides
