We need to design for many different users in mind. Once we had an understanding of current users, we wanted to gather more in-depth knowledge. We performed semi-structured interviews with e-bike owners, asking open-ended questions about their feelings and experiences.
Semi-Autonomous E-Bike Dashboard & App
Overview
There is a paradigm shift towards semi-autonomy, and while cars are at the forefront of this change, other forms of transportation need to catch up. Electric bicycles are on the rise, and the Ford Motor Company wants to develop semi-autonomous electric bicycles in response. These will utilize level 3 autonomy, meaning humans do not have to pay attention to the road, but they should be ready to take control, if needed.
The Brief
My team was tasked with designing this new form of e-bike, focusing on digital and physical controls, as a CMU assignment.
Discovery
Research into the Problem Space
Before exploring how semi-autonomy would function in an e-bike, we wanted to gain a solid understanding of current electric bicycles. We first conducted guerrilla research to establish users and their needs.
We found a range of users with very different user needs:
Students
They use their e-bikes to get to class quickly and to travel to areas near their campus. They need quick speed, flexibility to pedal when they want, and easy access to navigation.
Person with suspended license
He used the e-bike as his main form of transportation in place of his motorcycle. He needs to be able to travel long distances.
Food Delivery Driver
He made quick stops to deliver food. Sometimes he would pedal to get a workout, other times he would use the engine. He needs flexibility to pedal when he wants, and easy access to navigation.
Middle-aged Couple
They used their e-bikes for exercise and bonding. They would pick a destination and pedal until they got tired. They need flexibility to pedal when they want and easy access to navigation.
A common complaint
I'd want a larger, better computer [screen] that is easier to use
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—E-bike Owners
A main point of contention found from both research methods is how non-user friendly current e-bike screens are. Users complained about their small size, their awkward controls, and having to scroll to see stats they liked. They would even attach their phone to their bike just to follow Google Maps.
Now that a foundation for the current e-bike problem space was established, we had to design solutions that fit different user needs while also applying semi-autonomy. While this is completely new technology for a bike, keeping the design similar to a current e-bike is important so that users can easily adopt our new products.
How might we convey the novel concept of semi-autonomy, while still:
Matching the user's mental model of e-bikes
Maintaining user freedom
Enabling the user to easily use our design
Final Solution
New Dashboard Interface & App
Final Solution
The Interface
We created a dashboard interface that conveyed important information and the status of certain features, but still felt familiar to the user and was therefore easy to use. The user can get directions to their destination and follow them, or use a new feature, autonomous mode, which will do the navigating for them. If the bike has low battery, the user is warned when the battery will not last through certain routes.
Autonomous Mode & Pedal Assist
Pedaling is decoupled with autonomous navigation to give users more control over their biking experience. Pedal assist moves your bike for you, with an option for half assist or full assist. Autonomous mode navigates for you, balancing the bike in the process. Separating these two modes suits the needs of a larger demographic of people, from the exercise-savvy, to the commuter.
Take-over Moment
Since the e-bike is semi-autonomous, there may be times the user needs to take over control of the bike. We implemented pop-up screens meant to alert the user without being too panic-inducing. If the user does not take control, the bike will pull over and instruct the user to prepare to put their feet on the ground.
Introducing the User to New Concepts
There are several new icons and concepts that the user needs to learn in order to operate the e-bike. We wanted to make learning easier by adding a familiar information icon that can be tapped to learn more about new features.
Final Solution
E-Bike App
Bike Overview
The app appeals to the wide range of user needs we found in our research, with features ranging from a fitness tab for our health-conscious users, to live feed from security cameras built into the e-bike. It will allow people to feel connected to their bike even when they are away.
Bike Location Finder
Users might not always be near their bike. We designed a feature that locates the bike and gives users directions to it.
Security
Security was a major worry of e-bike users that we uncovered during our research. I designed a camera monitoring system so users can watch their bike from afar.
A closer look
The Design Process
01 Research & Synthesis
Primary
After doing secondary research on e-bikes, I dove into primary research with my team. We started with guerrilla research and semi-structured interviews to gain a better understanding of the problem space and pain points of current e-bikes. People used e-bikes for a variety of different things—for making deliveries, in place of cars, or for exercising when they no longer had the health to ride a regular bike. Thus, our new design needed to be suited for a wide variety of needs.
Next, we constructed a task analysis for when users use e-bikes. This would help us look at the big-picture and determine how our design could influence different steps.
I decided to take aspects from planning the ride and integrate them into the e-bike. Finding a route and following it can all be performed on the dashboard. Arguably the most important step in the task analysis is riding the bike, and it requires the highest cognitive load. Therefore, introducing semi-autonomy to this part of the e-bike experience could prove extremely useful.
What if an UberEats driver could put in an address, hop on their bike, and be autonomously taken to the location? While some users would love this option, other users use e-bikes for exercise. What if they don't want to think about navigating, but still want a workout? We decided to separate "navigation" from "movement", making them two distinct features called "auto mode" and "pedal assist". This gives users more flexibility in their biking experience, and can appeal to a wider ranger of users.
02 Design & Testing
Iterations & Usability Testing
We explored different interface layouts to determine how to best convey information and conducted many usability tests on our low fidelity and high fidelity prototypes to learn key pain points or misunderstandings. Our takeover notification screen went through many iterations because of the feedback of participants. At first, we made it take up the entire page, which users said was too scary. Then, we put it as a pop-up in the corner, but users said it did not seem urgent enough for the nature of the situation. Participants also suggested icons or images of what they needed to do, instead of only text. Finally, participants wanted to know how much time they had before the autonomous mode turned off. All of these suggestions were critical to shaping our final product.
Another point of confusion was the difference between auto mode and pedal assist. Before we added the information pop-ups, users could not figure out how the two modes differed. The language we used for the modes in earlier iterations was confusing, as well. We went through many different icon designs, display concepts, and names for the modes before arriving at our final product.
Our many iterations of conveying Autonomous mode & Pedal assist
Our Impact
Outcomes
Our designs were created to lead the change for the future e-bike landscape. The products appeal to a wide variety of people by matching their current mental models of e-bikes and giving users flexibility. Fixing problems conventional e-bikes have, such as small screens with frustrating user interfaces and poor security features also makes our design more desirable.
Since semi-autonomous e-bikes have not been created yet, implementation is out of the scope of this project. However, during the last round of usability testing, once icons were iterated on and introductory tooltips were added, people understood our dashboard and how to use it.
