Situation

In India, ride-sharing services accept cash payments in addition to credit and debit cards. I identified friction when cash payments are made once the ride is over. On talking with my friends, I realized that the problem is common and the impact of it is huge while it is left unattended.

Action

I started with a contextual inquiry to understand the problem and similar experiences of people. The insights from the research uncovered the core of the problem. After understanding the problem better, I ideated solutions using user flows and sketches. The insights from the user research revealed the implications for design. A usability test was performed with lo-fi prototypes. The results revealed a flaw in the initial solution. I reiterated the design based on the usability test insights. The final solution is a few extra steps added to the user flow of drivers.

Solution

Wallet comes into use when both stakeholders (drivers and riders) do not have sufficient change of money. Wallet is a feature that lets drivers send balance money in form of credits. The riders can use the accumulated credits for future rides or transfer them to their bank account.

Research

I conducted a contextual inquiry to identify the frustrations and causes of the problem. The study contained 17 participants out of which 10 were users who avail rider-sharing services and 7 were drivers of several ride-sharing companies.

Quantitative metrics of riders

1. 7/10 participants preferred card payments.
2. 4/10 participants felt it was hard to have the exact change of fare.
   
3. 3/10 participants felt that they've lost money because drivers don't give the right balance.

Journey Map

Based on the findings from user research, the journey map reveals that both the stakeholders experience friction during the payment phase of the journey. I also realized that the problems are interconnected, one causing the other.

Implications

From the insights gathered from user research, the implications are that the solution must,
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1. Enable drivers to have cash for daily needs and not worry about carrying change.
2. Allow riders to give any amount of fare to drivers without being anxious.
3. Provide a pleasant and frictionless experience to all the stakeholders.

Wallet

A wallet is a concept that enables drivers to return balance money in the form of credits. The credits in the wallet can be used as payments for future rides. Wallet establishes a hassle-free, frictionless post-ride experience for both riders and drivers. It eliminates the need for riders and drivers to always have the right amount of cash.

Wallet comes into play when the driver does not have the right amount of cash to pay the balance fare to the rider. The driver chooses to pay the balance fare to riders as credits in their wallet.

Lo-Fi Prototypes

Based on the implications from user research, I ideated solutions using lo-fi prototypes. The drivers will have the ability to send balance amount as credits to rider's wallet if they do not have the exact change of money.

Usability Test

Using lo-fi prototypes, I conducted a usability test. The study contained 5 participants of which 2 were users who avail rider-sharing services and 3 were drivers of several ride-sharing companies. The participants were included in the study to know their perspective towards Wallet.The response with drivers was highly positive. They felt wallet will save a lot of time for them and they don't have the pressure to always carry cash. The feelings of Riders were mutual as well. One participant expressed a concern that revealed a flaw in the solution.

Iteration

A participant worried that the credits would accumulate and become unusable. There are two reasons behind the concern.
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1. What if I don't avail the same service the credits become unusable?
2. I cannot use credits from wallet if a driver expect cash payments.
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A overall solution that addresses both the concern is enabling the ability to transfer credits to bank account.

Transfer credits

• Enable users to transfer credits to bank accounts. This will eliminate the fear of credits becoming unusable even when drivers don't accept prepaid payments such as credits from wallet or credit/debit cards.

Final designs
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Limits

• To have a fair tradeoff, drivers should be encouraged to accept prepaid rides, give cash balance and not become too dependent on Wallet.
  
  This can be achieved by setting a limit to Wallet. For instance, drivers can send balances as credits only upto ₹1000, after which they have to pay balances in cash upto ₹1000 to use Wallet again. This ensures drivers accept prepaid payments to avoid balance settlements in cash. It also removes pressure off riders' to always have exact cash and the concern of credit accumulation.

Reflections

Due to the lack of ATMs, cash payment problems have become common. I feel ride-sharing services are slowly switching to digital payments until I read Uber has planned to expand the cash payments. This solution could be implemented, tested, and iterated when the problem is on a smaller scale before expanding the cash payment feature in a larger scale.