Transportation Autonomy: Older Adults Rideshare Case Study
Working with Uber to tailor their rideshare experience to fit the needs and accessibility concerns of older adults.
As older adults age, independent travel and transportation becomes increasingly difficult due to mobility and accessibility concerns. Rideshare services can provide older adults with the opportunity to independently travel without restrictions, but technology is often a barrier to entry. We set out to uncover specific concerns among older adults and arrive at a solution that eliminates these worries and empowers them to explore.
Background
Duration
May 2023 - Present
Role
Lead UX Designer
Team
Autumn Pressley (UXR), Prachi Chopde (UXR)
Final Designs
Profile Setup
User sets up a profile where they can customize what they want during a ride-share experience.
Booking a Ride & Saving a Driver
When the user goes to book a ride, they will see a recommended ride based on their percentage match of their profile to the driver’s profile.
Accessing Saved Drivers
If the user has a great experience with a driver they can save the driver’s profile in order to book a ride with them in the future.
Case Study
The Problem
01
How might we support older adults' transportation independence through ride-share without compromising on safety and convenience, and ensuring comfort with technology?
Significance
It is estimated that more than 20% of Americans will be aged 65 + years by 2030, compared with 13% in 2010.
Among older adults in the U.S., ridesharing is the second most crucial mode of transportation
A 10-year long study reports that out-of-home mobility of older adults improved their overall quality of life.
Target User
02
Research
Understand older adults' pain points with transportation.
Access their current knowledge and comfort with using ride-share apps/technology for daily needs.
Explore the current transportation routines of older adults to learn how ride-share can make it easier.
Objectives
Secondary Research
Completed a literature review with 7 papers focused on older adults’ experiences with rideshare and transportation in general.
Uncovered common pain points
Understand
Conducted a competitive analysis that analyzed 7 comparable transit and rideshare website and apps—many were specifically targeted to older adults.
Identified opportunities for Uber to fill in the gap
Compare
Themes that emerged from the literature review and competitive analysis:
Primary Research
We distributed the survey through various diverse channels in order to adequately represent out target user.
Survey
115
Total number of valid responses
91%
Respondents reported driving
76%
Respondents were aware of ridesharing
Transport Trends
78% said their most preferred way of getting around is driving themselves.
The top three LEAST preferred transportation modes reported were public transit, biking, and taxi services.
Preferences
28% said they don’t like to rely on others to get around.
19% prefer not to ride with strangers.
19% reported not having access to public transit near their residence
15% feel that taxi services and ridesharing are too expensive.
11% are uncomfortable using technology.
Reasons for Difficulty Arranging Transportation
Reddit Analysis
We posted open-ended questions on subreddits that did not allow surveys. The responses were analyzed through color coding and the following are the resulting identified themes:
In order to understand the themes and concerns identified through our survey and reddit inquiry, we interviewed 10 participants in our target user group. Our discussion guide specifically focused on questions related to users’ independence goals and comfort with technology.
Interviews
Who do you interact with on a day-to-day basis?
What does independence mean to you?
Does your ability to get around affect your independence and quality of life? How so?
If you couldn’t drive, how might you maintain your independence when it comes to getting around?
Independence
Tell me about your relationship with technology.
Do you use a smartphone? Or computer?
How confident are you with using your phone? What kinds of apps do you typically use?
What method/device do you prefer to book transportation — a computer, mobile app, etc.?
Technology
Findings & Design Requirements
Case study is a work in progress.
I’ll be adding in more details about the design process in the coming days, but for now check out the final presentation as an overview of the project.
