eCycle Case Study

eCycle has developed an user-friendly application to access ebikes throughout Canada, addressing global concerns.

Overview

Nowadays, two of the most important concerns of human beings, are how to save our planet, and how to stay healthy. eCycle is an application that tries to respond to those concerns by creating an easy to use platform to access ebikes across Canada. We all do our parts to hand a better and healthier world to our kids.

Problem

Our planet has changed in many ways in recent years. Two of the most important changes were climate change and COVID-19. According to EPA, motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the U.S. Also, most people are staying home during the pandemic, and This has caused many health concerns for people, such as gaining weight due to inactivity. There are many apps in the market for renting bikes and ebikes, but most of them are not practical. Users are struggling with unnecessary features and confusing user experience in those apps. Also, the time-consuming process of renting a bike in some apps, drives the users away.

Solution

Creating the app to provide detailed information about renting a bike from A to Z
Showing the users the number of ebikes available at each station
Providing an easy way of scanning QR code to unlock the ebikes at the stations
Recording history to make tracking favorite routs easier for users

My Design Thinking Process

Design thinking is a powerful methodology that offers a solution-based approach to problem-solving. The process of finding the best solution as a designer involves more than just 5 main steps. It’s a dynamic and non-linear process that requires constant back-and-forth movement between the steps to ensure the best possible outcome.

A

Empathize would help us to define the problem.

B

Testing would help us to create new ideas to solve the problem.

C

By testing, we would learn more about users and their concerns.

D

We would learn from prototyping to create more new ideas.

E

Testing would help us to redefine the problem and have better understanding of it.

DesignThinkingProcess — Click to see image in full size

Research Process

Competitive Analysis, Persona, Storyboard

Competitive Analysis

In the preliminary stage of our research, it is crucial to conduct an in-depth Competitive Analysis. Through this assessment, we aim to gain actionable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor, their market positioning, and customer engagement initiatives. This comprehensive analysis will enable us to make informed decisions and formulate effective strategies to enhance our competitive advantage in the ebike rental market.

Persona

In the design process, creating personas is crucial for understanding the needs and behaviors of the target audience. Personas are detailed profiles representing the characteristics, goals, and pain points of typical users. They help in guiding design decisions and ensuring that products or services resonate with the intended users.
In this document, we are introducing Riley as our audience example.

Storyboard

In the design process, storyboarding is a technique used to visually outline the user experience and interactions with a product or service. It involves creating a series of illustrations or sketches that depict the different stages of a user’s journey, highlighting key touchpoints, actions, and emotions.

User Flow

In the design process, user flow refers to the visual representation of the steps a user takes to accomplish a specific task within a product or a service. It typically outlines the sequence of actions, decision points, and possible paths a user may follow. User flow diagrams are crucial for understanding user interaction and navigation within an interface, helping designers identify potential bottlenecks and streamline the user experience.

Summary

For one of my college projects, I independently completed this entire project over the course of approximately 8 weeks. My objective was to craft a minimalistic design that aligns with the app’s intended functionality.