The initial project at DESIGNATON was to create a mobile app for a theoretical car sharing branch of Uber. Our three person team had experience with the ride-sharing industry, but had little to no experience when it came to car sharing.
We began by researching the car sharing industry. This helped us get a better understanding of the landscape and potential competitors. We found that there are different segments in the industry. P2P companies, such as Turo and Getaround, allow users to rent out their vehicle. B2C companies, like Zipcar and car2go, own their own fleet of cars.
After conducting interviews with users of both P2P and B2C car sharing services, we got an idea of the different types of users. The most common user in the industry was one that just needed to rent a car for a few hours to run some errands. The other type of user was one who needed to book a vehicle in advance for a long road trip.
We created a scenario for our main persona, Erin Renner the errand runner, so that we could better understand our user's needs. By empathizing with our user, we discovered that allowing users to add time to their rental is crucial, especially for users like Erin Renner.
I sketched a quick paper prototype to test with users. The first screen was a map view that gave a similar look and feel of users that are familiar with Uber. This map view would also allow users to know how long it would take to get to the vehicle, or they could even request the car be delivered to them, a unique feature in the industry. A search was also provided for users who wanted a specific vehicle or were booking in advance.
After conducting tests with users on the paper prototype, we discussed adjustments to make based on user feedback. This included some minor tweaks, as well as bigger adjustments such as more robust sorting and filtering for the search feature.
With the functionality of the app finalized, we created an app map to solidify the structure and the overall flow of the UberShare app.
Looking back to the competitors, I analyzed their visual styles. This allowed me to create moodboards and ultimately style tiles that took into account the trends of the competition and where we can differentiate the UberShare app.
After some iterations based on user desirability feedback, the final UberShare app design is complete. I utilized a clean yet playful look in the visual design of the UberShare app. Users appreciated the overall fresh look and feel with the use of red throughout the app.
This project was a great experience in allowing me to complete a project from concept to final prototype. As a UI focused designer, getting experience on the UX side of a project was invaluable, by helping me better translate the UX vision into the final visual design.