CASE STUDY
BORING CO
Designing a convenient way to access The Boring Co.'s LOOP
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Company
Design Challenge
Commuters battle epic traffic on clogged freeways daily. Public transit via buses and trains still has a disconnected, slow and complicated customer experience.
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How could accessing the LOOP become a compelling user experience?
Considerations
Despite the incredible rate of smart phone adoption in recent years, we were aware that not everyone owns or prefers to use their smart phone when traveling. How can those without smart phones ride the LOOP?
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How would riding the LOOP compare to other forms of public transit? If the LOOP is a new system, what unfamiliar experiences might this generate for users and how might we design for this?
The Boring Company, founded in 2016 by Elon Musk, aims to build what they describe as “a high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported on autonomous electric skates traveling at 125-150 miles per hour. They envision the system carrying both public transport vehicles (8-16 passengers) and skates that carry a rider and the rider’s car—a sort of private, high-speed ferry service.
PROJECT INFO
Concept Project
Team
Jonathan Pon
Liz Glick
Ariel Shim
Methods Used
User Interviews & Personas, Contextual Inquiry, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, User Flow Diagram, Design Studio, Sketching, Usability Testing, Prototyping
Tools
Sketch, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Keynote
Timeline
2 Weeks Research, Concept & Design
RESEARCH
USER INTERVIEWS / BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS / CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY / PERSONAS / AFFINITY MAPPING / USER FLOWS
Establishing the Scope
Source: Boringcompany.com
Understanding the LOOP
I consulted a concept map and designs for Boring Co's planned LOOP. From this beginning point, I system constraints to serve as design considerations.
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System supports public transport pods (8-16 passengers) and high speed skates carrying private vehicles at 125-150 mph underground
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Lifts ascend/descend, carrying vehicles vertically between surface streets and tunnels
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Travel from any point to any point, with no stops in between
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Potential for automatic, system load-balancing of vehicles in response to lulls and surges in rider traffic
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Stations potentially as small as a single vehicle lift
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Customer price target similar to other forms of mass transit
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Focus on mass transit vehicles before development of skates carrying private vehicles
Clarifying the Value Proposition
I utilized a business model canvas to get as much of a business understanding of the LOOP as possible. I wanted to design with this in mind, while serving its users.
Focusing on Convenience
The value proposition of the Boring Co.'s LOOP comes down to offering riders the fastest, most convenient, short-haul ground transportation at an affordable price.
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I chose to focus on the "convenience" aspect of the LOOP's offering because this was the one part of the value proposition that extended beyond system capabilities into the realm of user experience.
Who's riding the LOOP?
To address user pain points and concerns, I worked with the team to identify 3 potential riders of the LOOP—a daily car commuter, a frequent train commuter, and family travelers.
Focusing on Commuters
From our user interviews with family travelers I got the sense that many utilized mass transit less frequently than commuters.
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I decided to focus our project on those who would use the LOOP most frequently.
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We created a persona for our daily and frequent car commuters. We also kept train commuters in mind and drew many insights from their particular needs and pain points.
In the Field
During a contextual inquiry at a Metro train station I saw the potential value of eliminating, automating or at least freeing up payment/ticketing from fixed locations (like kiosks).
Charting a Course for Riders
I mapped out the hypothetical user flow of the LOOP based largely around trains/subways, which we found to be the most analogous starting point.
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I identified account setup and ticketing/payment as parts of the process to streamline.
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I also considered how we could design for what happens once a rider is on board.
Key Research Takeaways
After affinity mapping our research findings, we arrived at the following pain-points to address.
Anxiety About the System
The prospect of autonomous vehicles, high speed travel in tunnels, and being lowered 20-30 feet below ground (and being able to see it) caused a lot of anxiety in interviewees.
Inconvenient Payment
Riders want a convenient way to buy transit fare without having to use kiosks, especially with the growing prevalence of ride-sharing and its easy app-based payment system. And the perception that "kiosks are filthy."
Current Subway/Train Fare Schemes Are Confusing
Pay schemes for Metro trains in LA offer many payment options, but this can increase confusion, especially during the purchase process via kiosks at stations
Tap Cards Are a Hassle
Pulling out a tap card from a wallet or purse represented one potential annoyance for users of the metro trains in LA.
DESIGN
STORY BOARDS / SKETCHING / WIREFRAMES / PAPER PROTOTYPES / CONCEPT MOCKUPS / BRAND ANALYSIS / MOODBOARD
Ideation & Prototyping
Visualizing the story
From our research takeaways, I began to visualize through a story board how a possible solution could play out. This helped surface questions about Chris' journey that we hadn't seen from our basic user flow:
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Where would Chris actually search for stations? At home or on-the-go?
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How might Chris' phone be involved in the "tapping" or check-in process once on site at a LOOP station?
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What should Chris see in the app when riding the LOOP?
End-to-End Navigation
Early concepts included end-to-end navigation all the way to a user’s end destination, but early user feedback from a paper prototype indicated users wanted to use their own map app—"I would just use Google Maps or Waze."
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We scaled back to providing a "find a station nearby" function that linked out to directions, via the user’s map app of choice.
Delivering an Effortless Pickup Experience
Simplifying the process to give riders a more convenient way to ride.
Skipping the turnstile
Based on initial user interviews and contextual inquiry, I envisioned in-app purchasing of fare eliminating the need to stop at a kiosk to buy fare.
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Geofencing could take it a step further by detecting when a rider arrived at a station and automatically checking their ticket.
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This would allow them to bypass tapping on a sensor with a card or a phone--which would mean a more seamless journey.
If You Don't Have a Phone
Those without smart phones (or edge cases like riders whose phone batteries died) could still use a tap card of some sort to ride the LOOP.
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Eventually all tapping could be eliminated with a combination of in-app purchasing of fares and geo-fencing technology setup at LOOP stations.
LOOP Stations
Unlike train stations, which have tracks, require platforms and thus have clear boundaries, the LOOP only consists of elevators (or a single elevator). That means riders could potentially enter and exit the station from any direction.
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An automated solution to ticketing based on an app and geolocation would be more suited to the LOOP's station layout.
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This also means stations could be more integrated into urban spaces, such as the one envisioned in the concept rendering I created.
Incorporating Wearables
Based on user interviews, we knew users would want some kind of feedback that the system "knew" they had arrived and were clear to ride (in the absence of tapping a card and receiving verification via the tap sensor display at a train station).
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We felt that utilizing smart watch notifications could be a potentially more elegant way of communicating with users and providing the feedback they wanted.
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Since not everyone owns a smart watch, watch integration would be an optional feature riders could enable to enhance their experience.
Making the Benefits Clear
We put our sketches together into wireframes and did usability testing.
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The account sign-up process received positive feedback in terms of its ease-of-use. However, we also received feedback that, because the LOOP is a new service that people were unfamiliar with, it was unclear why they needed an account in the first place.
We added a section at the beginning to introduce users to the benefits of using the app. We also added a 7-day trial to incentivize people to create an account.
Building on The Boring Company Brand
Getting to the Heart of The Boring Co.
To ground our branding, I mapped out the characteristics of The Boring Co. brand with a brand analysis.
Communicating Calm, Safety, and Trustworthiness
In terms of the visuals, we wanted to embrace the high-tech optimism of The Boring Co, yet inject vibrancy into its black-and-white minimalist aesthetic.
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We also wanted to address rider anxiety about the LOOP. We chose a deep navy and teal to convey a sense of safety and trustworthiness. We picked the Myriad typeface to convey friendliness.
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We built a mood board to guide the app's look and feel.
RETROSPECTIVE
Key Lessons / Things to Improve / Going Further
Key Lessons
When designing for an experience that doesn't quite fit into any existing category (i.e. the LOOP), it's extremely useful to draw on analogous experiences... We rode elevators and discussed airplane boarding experiences. I rode a subway and a train line and visited a carwash that pulls your car through a "tunnel."
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While conducting contextual inquiry and making environmental sketches, I was reminded how important it is to think outside of the app you're designing in order to design for your user's unscripted experiences out in the wild.
Things to Improve
I would like to explore other ways to help users who have concerns about riding the LOOP, which is a new and unfamiliar mode of transport.
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I would like to explore incorporating some kind of orientation/ demo of the system to reinforce to them that it is safe, reliable and convenient.
Going Further
Occasional users of the LOOP might also appreciate the ability to purchase one-off fares through their app, either at the station or in advance. I think you could use the same geo-location services to eliminate "tapping" for them.
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Getting multiple kids through payment and ticketing, is a special challenge for parents. How could we make that easier for them?