My Group Ride App
Task
To come up with a digital product that fills a need in the market and then research budget, design, prototype, and test the product in order to create a pitch deck you can show potential investors.
Problem
The group ride is a long-standing tradition within the cycling community. Everywhere that there is a community of cyclists, enthusiasts gather to ride with each other and test their legs with (and sometimes against) each other. Finding these rides has been traditionally a word of mouth affair. When moving or traveling through an area, it can be a challenge for riders to find groups to participate in.
Defining Audience
Our audience is cyclists of varying types who are looking to take part in the social side of cycling. They may be traveling and unfamiliar with rides where they are going, they may be intimidated by the idea of group rides and want to find one that fits their ability, or perhaps they are newly moved to an area looking for a ride to join.
To begin the process of creating the app, I drew on my extensive experience in various cycling communities to create three personas to help guide design decisions.
User A: “Cat 1” Charlie
Age: 24
Goal of Use: To find group rides as they travel around the country for racing
About: Charlie is a Category 1 cyclist traveling around the country in his van racing bikes at National Level events, trying to break his way into the pro ranks. He would love to find group rides that are “race simulation” in order to tune fitness in between these events.
Special Notes: Mobile app communication to other devices is especially important due to minimalist lifestyle.
User B: “Transplant” Terry
Age: 33
Goal of Use: Find new group rides in their area
About: Terry, an enthusiastic cyclist recently moved to a new city for work. She races occasionally as an amateur and isn’t afraid of bumping elbows in a “spirited” Saturday group ride.
Special Notes: Important for her to see the route ahead of time as well as see geolocations of people who’ve joined the ride so she can meet with it en route when running a bit late.
User C: “Masters” Mark
Age: 48
Goal of Use: Find a group ride that’s appropriate for them.
About: Mark is a lawyer who recently got into cycling. He is nervous as he is a type-A personality and doesn’t want to be smashed by the other riders.
Special Notes: Finding a ride for his skill level is appropriate so he doesn’t face too much of an ego-bruising.
Paper Prototype
I created sketches thinking of what content might be important to include for our users. I then turned this into a paper prototype exploring what user flows might be like, taking notes to aid in turning this into a digital prototype.
Brand Identity
The MyGroupRide logo is written out in the Montserrat Subrayada with no spaces and each word highlighted by one of the brands colors. The lines connecting the letterforms in this typeface are remincince of a road. It is paired with the icon of two riders, each a different color. This is symbolic of the group ride and the different sorts of cyclists that go on them.
Secondary Typeface for all other items is Montserrat, on which the logo’s typeface is based.
The brand colors three primary colors are inspired by the tricolor flags of European countries. Europe is cycling’s homeland and these give the connotative feel of a mythical cycling national team jersey.
Working Prototype
With a paper prototype and brand identity created, I then created a digital prototype using Adobe XD. I focused on getting all the parts needed to do meaningful user testing:
Home Screen
Finding a ride
Pushing the ride to your cycling computer
Connecting to your cycling computer
Friends Screens
User Testing
I received user testing from two sources, Micheal Smith and Christopher Beall. Micheal was a fresh face for the concept with lots of excellent input while Christopher fit perfectly one of the personas I had outlined in my design brief. Both tests discussed first impressions of the application and then went into a usability think-aloud. Micheal, having seen some of my earlier postings, acknowledged some familiarity and discussed his notions while for Christopher we conducted a meeting over Zoom without him having any prior knowledge of my developing this app.
Positive Feedback
Micheal said it had “Italian Sports Car” feel
Join button for rides clear in function
Home screen items in logical order
User sourced ride information is a plus
Color choices were liked
Constructive Criticism
Micheal voiced concern slick look might not appeal to all audiences.
The “Find A Ride Somewhere Else” button is too prominent, causing confusion.
“Find A Ride Near Me” should be the default.
Round/Square contrasts are a bit jarring.
Future Development
After user testing went back and made adjustments based on the feedback received. However, I do feel the UI could use further refinement as trends and technology have improved since the initial design was created in 2019. This design could be revisited as there are still no apps that perform this service for the cycling community, despite there being multiple social media apps for connecting athletes.
