A case study that aims to provide a safe, secure, and scalable riding experience for Uber Teens was done during my Uber Work Experience program in partnership with CCI x Uber Technologies Inc.
MY ROLE
Ideation
UX Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
TEAM
Yuri Kawada
Akiru Kimura
Homare Kawahara
TOOLS
FigJam
Figma
TIMELINE
5 weeks
We interviewed 3 high school students and 2 parents to understand their transportation challenges. The teenagers expressed a desire for greater independence, coupled with their parents’ trust and reassurance.
Deriving from the provided online data, many parents worry about their teenage children’s safety due to distrusting the drivers. The data below depicts parents’ concerns over their teenager’s safety.
Driver not driving safely (speeding, distracted)
Driver sexually assaulting teen
Driver bring impaired from drugs or alcohol
Teen not wearing seatbelt
Through this competitive analysis, we found research insights on similar current platforms like Uber. Although some of these transportation platforms have safety assistance and a secure background check for drivers, none of the existing platforms provide a safe and secure ride exclusively for teenagers under 18 years old.
We interviewed 3 high school students and 2 parents to collect information on their daily struggles with their mode of transportation.
In our user interviews, we asked our teenagers if they had an experience when they struggled while being transported from one place to another. The analysis stated that the majority wanted their "parent's assurance and trust" to be independent. To better understand our users’ behaviors and pain points, we created two user journey maps, one for the teenager and the other for the parent.
Brian (15 years old)
Brian's Parent (43 years old)
To ideate the possible solutions to the teenagers' and parents’ pain points, we first highlighted the two main pain points from our parents' and teenagers' concerns, which are:
1. Parent's trust and teenager's safety
2. Teenager's independence and freedom
In our brainstorming process, we mapped out all our ideas first and discussed what works best moving forward.
• Two Factor Authentication
• Link teen and parent's account
• Teen's ride tracker for the parent to
see in real-time
• Camera recording of the teen's ride
• Driver's Speedometer
• ‘Emergency Button’ for when the teenager is in danger
Deriving from our ideation process, we wanted to incorporate features that involve the driver driving safely for the teenager to ride safely. To do this, we did more research on our drivers and what incentivizes an Uber Driver. In getting a clear understanding of each of our user's needs, we created the core user statements for teenagers, parents, and drivers with supporting research.
My team and I developed an IA that organized the app’s content to meet teen safety requirements. This structure guided our process, ensuring intuitive access to safety features like real-time tracking and notifications, creating a secure and seamless experience for both teens and parents.
The teen user can set up their account with two-factor authentication by verifying their ID or passport and taking a picture for facial recognition. Once confirmed, the user must link the account to the parent or guardian's account with approval to use Uber. Thus, the parent must create an account before setting up the teenager's account.
The teenager’s request for a ride is redesigned with the implementation of the rides approved by a guardian and ride permission from the parent. Before the teenager’s ride request, the parent filters out the kind of cars the teenager can take. Additionally, if the teenager requests a ride to a new unapproved location, the parent must first approve the new location.
To ensure a safe and secure ride, every ride will have an Emergency Button that will connect to a live assistant in case the teenager feels uncomfortable, unsafe, or in danger. Once the teenager has reported the issue, the live assistant will connect with the driver and will be told to stop the car immediately or stop at the nearest freeway exit. This will lead to a canceled ride and the teenager will be able to request a new Uber ride.
Once the parent or guardian sets up an account, they can approve any locations for the teenager to request a ride and travel.
Before the teenager’s ride request, the parent or guardian can filter rides and drivers for the teenager. This assures the parent or guardian’s trust and the teenager’s safety.
During the ride, the parent will be able to see the car’s speedometer, the teen’s live location, and a recording of the ride. These features ensure the teen’s safety. In any emergency situation where the parent sees potential danger, they can report a safety issue to immediately alert the driver to stop the car.
During the teenager’s ride, the speed of the car will be monitored as a priority to maintain the teenager’s safety. If the vehicle exceeds the speed limit, the driver will have a 10-second time limit to slow down the vehicle. If this condition is not met, the driver will be asked to stop the car immediately and will receive a call from the Uber safety live assistance.
Collaborating closely with my team, effective communication was essential for sharing findings and addressing key pain points. Given more time, we would love to dive deeper into our user research in Uber drivers, exploring how their experience could integrate better with Uber Teens. Additionally, we would conduct A/B testing to refine the onboarding process and safety features for teens and parents, particularly examining parent-teen communication throughout the experience. Since Uber operates globally, we’d also broaden our research to include insights from users outside North America to ensure a universally supportive and safe experience.
