222 Studios

Designing a safer, more efficient ride-share experience.

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Indigo Design Awards
Gold: (Branding) Electronics
Silver: (Mobile Design) UX Interface/ Navigation
Silver: (Mobile Design) Mobile App

Bronze: (Branding) Technology
Bronze: (UX Design) UX Interface/ Navigation

Meet the team

My Contribution

Research

I worked on primary research like the in-Uber interview, collecting swabs of car interiors, and making interview and survey questions.

I also handled all of the in-vehicle raytracing simulations and LiDAR scanning.

Ideation

All team members worked on ideation and affinitization together. I helped refine the solution and helped decide overall direction

FOrms + Function

I was on a sub-team with Nico: he was the "forms" half, and I the "function". He handled all of the fabrication, including model-making and the final prototype. I wrote all the code, prototyped the electronics, and fit them in the form he made. In the end, we had a comprehensive, fully-functional prototype.

Other

I directed the Vision Video and presented the final presentation.

Wyatt Michel

Roles

Project Manager
Visual Design

Major

UX Design

Year

Senior

Charlie Bowles

Roles

UX Research
Visual Design

Major

UX Design

Year

Senior

Nico Zafarana

Roles

UX Research
Physical Prototyping

Major

UX Design

Year

Junior

Sathvik Kotha

Roles

UX Research
Part Sourcing

Major

UX Design

Year

Junior

What's the problem?

Our prompt for this project was “design a solution that wasn’t needed 6 months ago.” We knew we wanted to tackle automotive sanitization, so the first thing we needed to know was just how dirty the inside of a car can be.

Here I am with some swabs!

We found a problem space for ride-share vehicles. The rideshare industry took a huge hit due to COVID, so we decided to perform field studies by taking Ubers and Lyfts and asking the drivers different questions.

This image is from Sathvik in India.

From our impromptu rideshare interviews, we found drivers were losing money because they would have to take time between rides to sanitize their vehicles. We also set up interviews with riders, delivery drivers, and more to find if our solution could overlap other problem spaces.

Our solution is to continuously sanitize the interior of the vehicle with a breakthrough technology: Far-UVC.

Final Product

ABUV

Our hero product is a smart-lamp named ABUV.

ABUV cleans the car with safe, effective Far-UVC light

ABUV automatically cleans after each ride on your way to the next

ABUV deep cleans at the end of each day to keep you safe

NODE

We also discovered a use case that may require more than a single point of radiance, such as an SUV. For these users, we made a smaller, more modular solution we call NODE.

The NODE product rests nicely in a cup holder in the back of a car with leather seats

Put NODE anywhere in your vehicle, from cup holders to doors

NODE oscillates back and forth to cover more area in the vehicle

NODE works together with the app and ABUV to get the best clean

Why Far-UVC?

Many of our users were concerned about bathing in UV light. Here's why we chose to prototype for this technology:

It's totally safe. Far-UVC light cannot penetrate the tear layer of the eye or the outer dead-cell layer of skin, so it cannot reach or damage living cells in the body.

Far-UVC is safe to absorb in unlimited quantities, according to research by Columbia University.

It's super effective. Based on their findings, the researchers estimate that continuous exposure to far-UVC light at the current regulatory limit would kill 90% of airborne viruses in about 8 minutes, 95% in about 11 minutes, 99% in about 16 minutes, and 99.9% in about 25 minutes. That's better than most liquid solutions.

Interactive Rider Prototype

Deliverables

Vision Video

This vision video was a lot of fun to make. In ideation, we started by setting the goal to show, not tell. We follow the journey of James (played by team member Charlie) as he goes across the city for his ride share job.

We wanted this to be a solution for both during and after the Pandemic, so in this vision video we chose not to wear masks. All actors were either a safe distance, outside, or both. We all wore masks when the camera was not rolling, and all non-recorded members kept masks on at all times.

I filmed the vision video with my phone, and it was edited by team member Wyatt. Wyatt also did initial location scouting and storyboarding.

A cameraman with a mask on accesses the back seat through the trunk next to an actor in the seat next to themAn unseen person holds a phone in a steady cam gimbal in a window to capture a video of a driver looking out the windowA silver car on a brick road across from a house with a tree in front of it

Poster

The poster touches on the product mission and the top features for riders and drivers. It also clarifies how Far-UVC works and how safe it is.

Download Poster

Look Book

The look book is a quick, one-page sheet that can be used as a small ad or visual reference for the style.

Download Look Book

Arduino Code

This is the code I personally wrote and shipped with our solution. It includes the code I used to turn a button into a toggle and the webserver I used to run the remote page.

See My Code
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Process Book

Our process book includes even more information than what is on my site and details all the iteration stages in-depth.

Download PDF

Miro Board

Miro was used for all of our collaboration, notes, affinitization, and other wonderful things that couldn't happen in-person because of Pandemic precautions.

Go to Miro Board

Figma Board

Figma was used for all graphic design, interaction design, prototyping, and visual ideation. We most likely would have used Figma even without the Pandemic.

Go to Figma Board

Research Methods

Interview

We conducted 11 interviews with people who either use or drive for ride share services. These interviews helped us understand more about what people expect when they enter a ride share vehicle and why they might not use them as much during the Pandemic.

Interview Guide

Survey

We surveyed a total of 60 people on their vehicular habits before and during the Pandemic. The majority of them gave good insight on the way locals and those across the United States have curbed their habits to stop taking any kind of public transportation.

Survey and Results

Uber Ride

The best way to find out what ride share drivers want is to ride along with them. We were able to take two 20-minute Uber rides, interviewing the driver on the way to an arbitrary outlet store area.

Watch My POV

Direct Observation

After we were done with our Uber ride, we drove around the outlets and noted the behavior of people getting in and out of their vehicles. Of those we saw (n=50), only 2 sanitized the interior of their vehicle.

See Data

Raytrace Simulation

We wanted to test the solution in a few different locations, but we didn't have light sensors to measure effectiveness. Instead, we got a 3D model of a car and put an emissive model in different locations to find the place that had the most coverage.

Download Results

Affinitization

We used lots of virtual sticky notes to group all our sentiments into clusters. From there, we could look at all the big sentiments our research sample had relating to ride share systems, transportation, and how they all relate to the Pandemic.

Download PDF

Design Criteria

  1. Our solution has to work fast, while driving and between pickups.
  2. Our solution will not harm passengers or their property.
  3. Our solution should be effective on all materials found in the vehicle.
  4. Our solution should provide a visual cue that it is working effectively.
  5. Our solution should not degrade the interior of a car.
  6. Our solution should have a way to work both automatically and manually.
  7. Our solution should notify users that it is effective.
  8. Our solution should be mutually beneficial for both drivers and passengers.

We had some great insights from a lot of different sources. Now it's time to find a solution and test it!

Prototyping

Arduino

I was in charge of the Arduino code and circuitry. Our goal with the Arduino was to make a device that had both manual and digital control with a phone. This is the original circuit plan.

I made a quick mockup of what we were going for with a box I had lying around. Most of these items don't do anything, but it gave the illusion of sensors and helped us simulate user reactions.

The end product was made with vacuum-forming and magnets. Nico did a great job with fabrication, although he didn't give me a lot of room to work with!

This is just the start — let's get in contact.

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