About
FriendN'Go
FriendN'Go is a case study that I researched and designed for commuting college students who struggle with parking conflicts, financial issues in maintaining a car, and environmental pollution by developing an application that encourages students to adapt to an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Summary
•Project Type: UX/UI Case Study - Student project
•Project Duration: August 2021 - May 2022
•Team: Solo Project
•Tools: Figma, Invision, Adobe XD, Keynote, Google Forms, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects
•Responsibility: Developed a UX/UI case study
•Location: Farmingdale State College
Problem
Cars contribute to 1/5 of the United States' global warming pollution
Cars contribute to one-fifth of the United States’ global warming pollution but students continue to drive to school despite struggling to find a parking spot and having sufficient funds to maintain a car. Students need a transportation solution that is adaptable as an eco-friendly lifestyle and gives students an enjoyable commuting experience.
Solution
FriendN'Go, ride-sharing for college students
FriendN’Go is an application that promotes the environmentally friendly habit of ride-sharing for college students by creating friendships, rewarding Go-Go coins and cash, and featuring “Karaoke Mode” unlike Uber, Lyft, and other car services. This can avoid parking conflicts, save money on maintaining a car, and benefit students' mental health.
Design Process
15 Week Process
User Research
3 Research Methods Conducted
Interviews
Interviewees Express Difficulties of Commuting
12 participants were interviewed to help me identify how commuting college students felt about finding a parking spot on campus, the money required to maintain a car, and using eco-friendly transportation. As a commuter student myself, I can relate to some of the quotes stated in the interviews that revolve around the dislike of traffic and the difficulty of maintaining a car due to its costs. However, one statement from an interviewee has caught my eye. The interviewee discussed how sustainability is pointless and that he would rather drive his turbo car than a solar car. This statement gave me insight into a possible reason students may not want to use eco-friendly transportation. I began to question how I could encourage students to use eco-friendly transportation through the use of their cars.
Comparative Task Walk-Throughs
How Do Students Find a Parking Spot?
I then conducted 10 comparative task walk-throughs so I could compare two different personas. In this analysis, the comparison shows how navigation is useful and how caring for the condition of a car can effect student behavior. If I were to do another comparative task analysis, I would analyze more in-depth the students' behaviors. I would ask myself, what does the student do in the car during the commute to have an "enjoyable" commuting experience? Does the student listen to music? Does the student use their phone while driving?
Surveys
Commuting Students Have Insufficient Funds to Maintain a Car
I have conducted a survey with 100 respondents to help me identify how commuting college students dealt with finding parking spots, having insufficient money to maintain a car, and environmental pollution.
A key problem for commuting college students is having insufficient funds to maintain a car. This led me to wonder about the severity of this problem and how students are affected. In the bar graph, two survey questions compare respondents' financial comfort and their responsibility in maintaining their car regularly. 37% of 100 students are not financially comfortable while only 51% of the 100 students keep up with their car’s maintenance regularly. Based on the data, I began to speculate how insufficient funds to maintain a car are correlated with students' ability to maintain their car regularly.
User Archetypes
Meet Danny, Charlie, & Marina
Based on the user research, three personas were created: Danny, Charlie, and Marina. These three personas were then referred to throughout the rest of the design process.
User Archetypes
Marina, a Passionate, Determined, & Dedicated Environmentalist
Say hello to Marina, a passionate, determined, and dedicated environmentalist. Marina's persona was the main focus of this project as the purpose of this project is to encourage commuting college students to adapt to an eco-friendly lifestyle.
By studying Marina's persona, journey map, and empathy map, I was able to discover opportunities to live an adaptable eco-friendly lifestyle through her views on eco-friendly transportation and how she encourages her friends to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. This inspired me to create FriendN'Go, an application that motivates students to develop an eco-friendly habit of ride-sharing with other students by creating friendships.
Storyboard
Danny, Charlie, & Marina's Experience With FriendN'Go
I illustrated a storyboard to picture a possible scenario of how the three personas would interact through FriendN'Go in their mobile phone, smart watch, and car.
UI Sketches & Interaction Models
Brainstorming Through Sketching
Before creating interaction models, I quickly sketched out possible wireframes of FriendN'Go for mobile devices, smartwatches, and car touchscreen stereos. This way, I can begin creating interaction models and brainstorming the flow of the app through a visual plan.
After several drafts of the interaction models, I began to sketch UI comps based on styles I have discovered through competitive benchmarking and research on functional UI designs. To test the flow of the app based on the sketches, I imported the sketches to Invision and Figma to create a low-fidelity prototype.
UI Comps & System Requirements
Inspired By Dating Apps
After sketching UI comps, I began to develop the UI comps through Adobe XD and Figma. I continued to explore colors and styles that could be used within the design of the app. Several wireframes were inspired by the UI within dating apps such as discovering potential matches which is shown below.
Features of FriendN'Go
Access Different Features Through Various Devices
FriendN'Go can be accessed through mobile devices, smartwatches, and cars. Features include matching and becoming friends with other students based on their schedules and song interests, requesting rides from friends, and accessing navigation along with timely reminders to prevent tardiness. Riders can enjoy music and sing along to their favorite songs through the app's "Karaoke Mode" and Spotify API. After the ride, drivers can earn Go-Go Cash and Coins to earn money or claim rewards such as gas discounts and gift cards.
Reflection & Future Work
Receiving Feedback From a Research Conference
This recent spring semester, I finalized the UI comps and was able to create a high-fidelity prototype to wrap up the project. Due to time constrain, I was not able to complete user testing as shown in my Agile UX Process.
Recently, I presented my work to the SURC 2022 and received positive comments and feedback on where I could further develop the application. In the future, I plan to focus on completing user testing. With the results from this project, I can further research transportation, sustainability, and mental health.
