T3 Go - Request a safe ride

MY ROLE

UX design, visual design, Researcher

CLIENT

T3 Chuxing

key contributions

Strategy, Research,
Prototyping

the team

White Luo - Design Lead
Iris Zhou - User Experience Designer
Amber - User Experience Designer
Yiqi Sun - User Experience Designer
Wenjie - User Experience Designer
Jingru Zhao - User Experience Designer

DURATION

4 Weeks

Overview
Our deliverables have been launched since 2019, serving over 4.8 million T3 users.
View in App Store
the context
T3 Go is a tech giant-backed ride-hailing service in China, striving to provide a safer ride experience for T3's riders.

I started this consulting project when T3 first launched its MVP product in July 2019, and was seeking to attract new users, especially millennials. Mentored by a senior UX designer, I worked with 5 other UX designers to redesign its mobile app and reported directly to T3’s CMO.
Our goal
Our goal is to provide a safer ride experience by combining T3's cutting-edge Internet of Things technology and manufacturing know-how.
Discovery
When ride-hailing companies claim safety as their single most important priority, riders are never convinced.
Learning about the background
With tens of millions of trips made per day, ride-sharing has become conventional in China. But in the wake of increasing sexual harassments and deadly incidents, safety remains the top issue riders grapple with.

Over the past 4 years, riders have seen...
While in the case of T3, safety seems to be what it’s built for. It operates its own fleet of vehicles with high-quality drivers hired and managed by the platform, meanwhile all trips are tracked and monitored by its VDR (vehicle, driver, road) safety technology, allowing T3 to detect potential risks in advance and remotely interfere with the vehicle in an emergency. But, the question of how to integrate its hardware advantage with the app is yet to be answered.
The needs
For riders, safety is always something cannot be overemphasized.

For T3, safety is what they need to build its competitive edge and show its genuine care about rider safety.
Reframe our challenge
What T3's target users say
So what does safety really mean to riders?
We spoke with 13 riders and 1 driver within the age group of T3’s target user (between 25-35 years old), and found that riders’ safety concerns mainly stem from driver-related issues.
After synthesizing our desktop research and user interviews, we had a better understanding of how riders define safety and what makes them feel safe or unsafe.
Meet the users
To stay focused and get right to the point, we divided riders into two user groups, the daily commuter and the late-night rider.
Exploring design opportunities
Journey map
To empathize with riders and explore design opportunities at different stages, we created a journey map, which also helped us better understand riders’ pain points and prioritize ideas.
Crafting
Mapping out how features can be realized on key pages
Wireframes put us in a good mindset for prioritizing elements and thinking about what content is most relevant, allowing us to fix issues early on.
Design and iterations
1. Introduce the safety feature and how riders can make the best of it
Most safety issues and concerns occurred en route, while T3’s in-car safety features, empowered by its VDR technology, are designed to minimize those potential risks and uncertainties. Its own fleet of cars are equipped with SOS buttons to allow riders to report threats and get help. Its face recognition system verifies drivers every 60 seconds to ensure they match the car and drive safe. And it monitors trips in real-time to protect riders on their way.
But for riders, especially first-time riders, might still be new to the in-car safety features and don’t know how they’ll be protected. Providing them the knowledge of using those features becomes necessary.
So how should the in-car safety features appear so that riders can easily get the key information?
We came up with 2 possible solutions, each of which introduces the in-car safety features right after registration.
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Version 1: After registration, the coachmark will guide riders to tap on the safety center icon, and then they will be directed to the introduction of in-car safety features. Riders will have some time to read the content before they can skip.
Version 1: Safety features introduction with a coachmark
Version 2: Instead of a coachmark making riders open the instruction modal, we had a fun animation popping up to engage and cue users to check out the introduction, acting as a little voice to lead and aid riders in their journey.
Version 2: Safety features introduction with a pop-up animation

Even though both versions can quickly grab rider’s attention, after usability testing with 8 riders, however, we found that Version 2 works more effectively than Version 1. For riders, a standardized guide to safety features(Version 1) might be too dry to process. While a delightful animation(Version 2) provides them a more engaging and less stressful experience, enticing them to go through further details on the next page.

On top of that, Version 1 may cause misunderstandings of the safety center. Its introduction is only accessible if riders are tapping on the safety center icon for the first time. Since then, they will always be directed to the safety center page, which is a hub for all kinds of safety features, including emergency contacts, emergency assistance, trip insurance and things alike. Linking the safety center hub to some specific safety features may lead to confusions.

But Version 2 is not perfect, either. For riders who skipped the introduction, or riders who need to check the introduction again, there’s no way to do that. Therefore, we added a gateway in the safety center so that riders can easily access the information whenever they want.
Version 2.1: Banner to access in-car features introduction in Safety Center
Meanwhile, we had a meeting to discuss the two versions with other stakeholders. We agreed that Version 2 fits in better not only because it’s engaging to users, but also can be integrated with T3’s promotional programs to attract new users. As a new player in the ride-hailing industry, T3 launched many promotions like “Get 25% off”. With promotions blended in Version 2, users are more likely to finish reading the safety features introduction and use those offers to book a ride. Based on that, we made some improvements and came up with the final version.
Final version: Introduction at first glance
Final version: Permanent introduction access
However
We understand that knowing about the safety features ≠ experiencing a safe ride for users
2. Inform riders that their trips are protected
Our research shows that being well-informed about the trip makes riders feel safer. However, knowing about the safety features is just one part of it. Being well-informed also means they are aware of the fact that the safety features are in service and protecting them on every trip.

Keeping that in mind, we first present the “safety features are in service” message in the notification banner. But there’re many different notifications rotating in the banner. This important message that needs rider attention can be easily ignored and confused with others. According to our usability test, most riders didn’t notice this message. Even if they were aware of it, it was hard to tell whether this was another safety feature introduction, or an indication of safety feature status for a specific trip.
Exploration: notification banner
Keeping that in mind, we first present the “safety features are in service” message in the notification banner. But there’re many different notifications rotating in the banner. This important message that needs rider attention can be easily ignored and confused with others. According to our usability test, most riders didn’t notice this message. Even if they were aware of it, it was hard to tell whether this was another safety feature introduction, or an indication of safety feature status for a specific trip.
Iteration: status check after requesting a ride
3. Alert riders in unusual situations
Currently, riders of major ride-hailing platforms have to make enormous efforts to ensure their safety en route, including, but not limiting to, sharing trip status with others and constantly checking the map and the driver.
How can riders get rid of these heavy workloads and stay safe at the same time?
Given T3‘s ability to detect potential risks beforehand and remotely interfere with the vehicle in an emergency, if riders can be informed before something really happened, they will have a sense of being taken care of and are more likely to ride with confidence.

We created two versions of in-app alerts that allow riders to give real-time feedback. Taking the off-course as an example, T3 will notify riders that they’re going far off the track and ask if emergency assistance should be activated. Riders would then tell T3 what to do by choosing activate or cancel. Receiving alerts prior to emergencies makes riders better prepared and their feedback helps T3 avoid unnecessary intervention that may interrupt their experience.
Version 1
Pros:
· catch rider’s attention immediately
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Cos:
· riders cannot see the map to help them make this important decision
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· riders have to take actions immediately and they’re more likely to make a mistake
Version 2
Pros:
· riders can see the map
· riders have enough time to decide on the next steps.
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Cos:
· easy to be ignored by riders
Our usability test shows that riders need to see the map when confirming the situation, and they need some time to evaluate the situation before making decisions. So we made another iteration with a modal popping up first, making sure riders won’t ignore it, and then ask them to take actions with the map as a reference. They also have enough time to respond accurately regarding the situation. If they do think something is wrong, they can activate assistance to protect themselves right away.
Final iteration: be alerted and confirm with map view
Pros:
· captures rider’s attention immediately
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· riders can see the map to evaluate the situation
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· riders have enough time to decide on what actions to take
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HI-FI Design
01 Greeted with safety features
02 Informed about the trip
03 Protected en route
Outcome
Design impact
At the time of this project, T3 had just launched its first MVP product and was on the track of attracting new users with its safety edge. Since 2020, most of our design solutions including those mentioned above, have been shipped and well received, serving its now over 4.8 million users. With a rating of 4.9 out of 5 in Apple's App Store, we are happy to see that users respond positively about their riding experience with T3.

Thank you for reading !

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