In response to the evolving landscape of urban commuting, our team embarked on a project to enhance the interaction design of electric bikes, focusing on cyclists' concerns about semi-autonomous modes, navigation complexity, and safety.
Our initial exposure to electric bikes occurred through our encounter with a POGOH (public, rental-as-a-service in Pittsburgh) and locals' personal e-bikes in its natural environment. As a result of this encounter, we gained a deeper understanding of the form and functionality of different e-bike models and modes.
There are significant differences between the controls and dashboards of POGOHs and personal bikes in terms of features and placement. The knowledge that we have gained through our own experiences and observations led us to formulate questions based on what we know and what we have found ambiguous that needs to be further explored.
Interview: 7 in-depth interviews were conducted to assess participants' views on safety consideration, community connection, information accessibility, and usability in varied environment.
Contextual Inquiry: 4 participants
We conducted the interview with both experienced owners of semi-autonomous bikes and individuals who are beginners in navigating this technology. The contextual inquiry structure is designed to gather nuanced insights into users' experiences, preferences, and challenges associated with the current state of semi-autonomous biking, as well as their real-time decision making.
Task Analysis
Following a task analysis to identify the major actions users must take to operate an electronic bike, we identified opportunities in different touch points based on the actions users must take.
Bullseye Diagram
Once we have insights from the task analysis, we create a bullseye diagram to prioritize opportunities, ranking them on a scale, considering factors like impact and risk.
1. Battery and speed are few of the most essential information on the screen.
2. Considering that riders must look down to see the dashboard screen, it cannot be too distracting for them during their ride.
3. Control panels are used differently by left-handed and right-handed people.
4. Bike owners desire a quick and convenient method to lock their bikes.
5. Additional functions are needed to make the ride safer, especially at night.
6. The controls should not interrupt the user's line of sight.
From brainstorming session, we conclude main features of the electric bike including:
ITERATION 1
After finalizing the physical prototype, we came back to the dashboard design. From the Think-Aloud testing, we tried to get as much input from users of the information or data they would like to see on the dashboard. Our primary goal was to strike a delicate balance, ensuring that the dashboards were seamlessly integrated, so that they wouldn't distract or confuse our users.
ITERATION 2
Our prototype has been modified based on the feedback from the critique session. The onboarding process is the main change we made.
ITERATION 3
During Tepper Business School's user tests, we received valuable insights. Since our dashboard isn't a touch screen, we can't set the destination directly on the dashboard, so it is important to include a map and destination setting on the app home page. As a result, we redesigned the app's home screen. The battery part and the figure part remain on the screen, but we replaced the average statistics part with a map component.
We also received some small suggestions that the dashboard looked cluttered. As a result, we removed the pedal assist section from the dashboard and made the map larger. As a result of feedback, we redesigned the warning signal in our final version to be larger and more visible.
