Bringing safety to ridesharing
Over the past year, Bird, Lime, and JUMP have taken over cities with the introduction of "last-mile transportation". However, with the rise of these electric vehicles flooding city streets, in addition to distracted driving, there's also been a rise in trips to the emergency room due to rider accidents and head injuries.
Industrial Design Senior Capstone project
Product Design, User Experience Design, Origami Engineering
September 2018 – April 2019
E-transportation companies such as Bird, require their riders to wear a helmet when riding, but there is no way to verify or enforce this rule. As a result, numerous riders have been involved in accidents ranging from minor scrapes and bruises to full on head traumas that require serious medical attention.
After conducting user interviews and a survey with 150 responses, I discovered that over 50% of scooter riders do not wear a helmet, and the biggest reason is due to how inconvenient it is.
Thus, I collaborated with three engineers to develop a flat-foldable helmet that fits the curvature of the human head using origami engineering principles.
The biggest pain point among users was the inconvenience of traditional helmet, which is bulky and difficult to carry around.
The great thing about origami is that there’s specific mathematics behind certain origami patterns that allow their geometry to have special properties such as flat-foldability.
Derived from the Arc-Miura origami pattern, the team and I adjusted the geometry’s panel angles and lengths to create a new pattern that would conform to the curvature of the head, while still maintaining flat-foldability.
As this project began to develop, I realized that the issue was bigger than just designing a new helmet.
How can we integrate the helmet into the experience of riding an e-bike or e-scooter?
Halfway through the project I widened my scope and began think about the electric vehicle riding experience as a whole: from a user unlocking the device, to docking it and going about the rest of their day.
Noggin is a conceptual helmet distribution service that partners with e-transportation companies, such as Uber's JUMP, to give riders access to helmets directly from their rented vehicle.
Through the existing Uber app, riders can locate JUMP bikes that are supplied with noggins. During set up, riders are prompted with whether or not they want to wear a free noggin helmet for safety (Y/N).
Once confirmed on the app, Noggins are then unlocked and dispensed to the user from its compartment on the rear tire of the JUMP bike. Riders can now ride safely and confidently while on the road. Once their ride is finished, users can fold up their helmet and save it for future use.
On the flip side, JUMP maintenance workers are notified via app when noggins are running low and they can easily re-supply helmets during the regular bike maintenance cycle.
Looking back on this project, I had no idea that it would take such a sharp turn from first focusing on developing a new foldable helmet to delving deeper into the user experience of JUMP riders.
Through this self-driven project, I had the unique opportunity to discover my own design issue through research, rather than being handed a problem like in past studios. I was able to think on the "big-picture" level, looking at an entire service that includes not only end users but also considers the back-end logistics involving other stakeholders.
I’m excited and honored to have had the opportunity to share this project at Dutch Design Week 2019. You can learn more about my experience here!
All rights reserved © 2024 Amy Virasak
