Week 4: Assignment 2 Critique on oBike
I've never used oBike or any bike-sharing service so this presentation opened my eyes to how this type of market works and how oBike caters to its consumers. There are three specific points made by the presenters that really stuck out to me: UI clutter, student discounts, and their original idea to build lockers.
1. UI Clutter. The team very clearly identified some instances where the focus of the app is compromised by views less important then those of the core functionality.
The first example is of promotions taking up half of the screen real estate. While the core of the app has incredibly simple UI and UX the promotions feel like clutter and interrupt the normal user flow. This interruption feels like an advertisement and makes me think less of the apps quality. Additionally, an app like this should be creating a habit out of opening the app, finding and selecting a bike, and unlocking it. It is of the upmost importance that this habit is not interrupted so it is engrained into the user.
The second example given is of too many bikes in one area preventing proper use of the app. This is an obvious flaw in the app and could have a simple solution of simply grouping together the icons if bikes are within one area of the map.
2. Student Discounts. It seems that college campuses should be a high priority for bike platforms such as oBike. These students will be educated individuals that will likely move to larger cities for work and still have a need for the service. Becoming the de facto bike service for students has potential to create lifetime customers and what better way to acquire those students then with a discount while in school.
3. Lockers. The group presented an idea about creating physical lockers where users could access bike accessories and leave belongings -- especially in areas where it is common to do roundabout trips like pulau ubin. I believe that this could provide new business potential for tourist-heavy locations and could be added to the app simply by adding different icons for lockers. I believe that even if this idea would not succeed, it has low enough cost to be tested quickly in a couple of locations to determine potential.
Original thoughts. I'm not familiar with oBike's competition in other countries but it seems they have a successful niche market in Singapore and that they should work to replicate this success in other South East Asian cities that don't yet have biking services. Providing additional uses such as the lockers could quickly distinguish them as a more convenient bike option for those that will need a place to store belongings and rent out accessories.
1. UI Clutter. The team very clearly identified some instances where the focus of the app is compromised by views less important then those of the core functionality.
The first example is of promotions taking up half of the screen real estate. While the core of the app has incredibly simple UI and UX the promotions feel like clutter and interrupt the normal user flow. This interruption feels like an advertisement and makes me think less of the apps quality. Additionally, an app like this should be creating a habit out of opening the app, finding and selecting a bike, and unlocking it. It is of the upmost importance that this habit is not interrupted so it is engrained into the user.
The second example given is of too many bikes in one area preventing proper use of the app. This is an obvious flaw in the app and could have a simple solution of simply grouping together the icons if bikes are within one area of the map.
2. Student Discounts. It seems that college campuses should be a high priority for bike platforms such as oBike. These students will be educated individuals that will likely move to larger cities for work and still have a need for the service. Becoming the de facto bike service for students has potential to create lifetime customers and what better way to acquire those students then with a discount while in school.
3. Lockers. The group presented an idea about creating physical lockers where users could access bike accessories and leave belongings -- especially in areas where it is common to do roundabout trips like pulau ubin. I believe that this could provide new business potential for tourist-heavy locations and could be added to the app simply by adding different icons for lockers. I believe that even if this idea would not succeed, it has low enough cost to be tested quickly in a couple of locations to determine potential.
Original thoughts. I'm not familiar with oBike's competition in other countries but it seems they have a successful niche market in Singapore and that they should work to replicate this success in other South East Asian cities that don't yet have biking services. Providing additional uses such as the lockers could quickly distinguish them as a more convenient bike option for those that will need a place to store belongings and rent out accessories.
Hey Marty,
ReplyDeleteIt's a great point that the app should focus on creating a habit around using it.
From my experience with using oBike, there have been a few times where I gave up while waiting for the app to load. For a service that has low transaction sizes, it's crucial to minimise the steps required to use it.
oBike's use might increase with a feature like Amazon's 1-click purchasing. Perhaps presenting the QR code reader on launch, allowing users to immediately rent a bike without even tapping the screen.
Hi! That is a great suggestion, I was wondering could they actually implement something you suggested with NFC technology?
DeleteThat's definitely possible but not all phones supported reading NFC tags. For example, old IPhones don't support that
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ReplyDeleteHey Marty, totally agree with your point regarding the UI clutter. The huge banner mainly advertises oBike's events / promotions, which is a bit unnecessary considering how the user is always in the app (and intending to use the service) when they view the oBike ads. A better way for the ads to reach the user might be through phone notifications instead.
ReplyDeleteHi marty, I agree with you that the locker thing is a good and low-cost idea to try out. Currently the bike-sharing competition is getting more and more intense and it is important for the app to stand out from the others. obike did that by student discount, which is really a smart move. However from my personal experience, I think one important fact of bike-sharing which users care the most is actually the bike itself. The condition of the bike, the quantity and distribution of bikes all make great importance on users' decision. Therefore for this kind of app, I feel that the UX comes more from the bike instead of the app, but still, the app needs to be decent.
ReplyDeleteI think the locker is a bad idea, they should just focus on a single motive, which is bike sharing. They should focus more on improving their UX .
ReplyDeleteHi Marty,
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that the locker idea is quite infeasible. In most areas, I do not think they have the necessary permissions to utilise the areas for installing lockers, and to approach the relevant authorities to rent the places for such usage would be quite the sunk cost as well (aside from the physical lockers themselves). Thus I think even for testing purposes it would be quite difficult for oBike to manage the effort, time and costs.
Also, I do agree on the point on student discounts but I feel that it may not be something that can consistently carry over to working life. It does require the working adults to live near their workplace, and is also quite country-specific in that it would probably work in small countries like Singapore, but in the United States or elsewhere, it could be much more difficult.