urConvey is an eco-friendly platform that makes it easier to carpool with friends and family. Part of the Mozilla Open Lab Startup program and Envision Accelerator.
Role: Product Manager and Lead Designer
Team: 2 Founders, 1 Technical Project Manager, 4 Developers
Timeline: Summer 2020
Overview
How might we make carpooling easier and safer among friends and family?
urConvey started as an idea to automate the ridesharing process while highlighting carpooling's importance to the environment.
The app would offer a simple interface for both drivers and passengers and encourage users to continously choose carpooling over individual driving.
The goal for the summer was simple: make an MVP.
Users
After research, we indentified two main user groups: drivers and passengers.
As a Driver, I want to quickly set up a carpool trip, so that everyone can be ready on time
and I can save money while seeing friends.
As a passenger, I want to see details about the trip so that I can decide whether to accept or decline.
Features
Taking into account each user groups' needs, we landed on 4 main features for the MVP.
1. Create a Trip
Drivers set up the trip in the app and invite their friends as passengers.
2. Accept a Trip
Passengers are notified about trips and can view details before accepting.
3. Edit a Trip
Drivers can allow or prevent passgengers from editing trip details.
4. Add Friends
Users can sync their contacts to add friends within the app.
Outcome
At the end of the summer, we had a working MVP with all 4 features and Google Maps API integration. Because
of the short timeline, our team relied on the lean startup methodology to ensure the deadlines could be met.
Moving forward, next steps for urConvey will involve comprehensive user testing and research for iteration on V2.
Personally, working on urConvey helped me understand the meaning of a lean startup: work smarter not harder.
There were times I would dream up cool new features, but our 4 main features kept me grounded and focused on the the goal.
Handling both product strategy and design, I also got to work closely with developers to ensure a smooth handoff between design and development.
Communication and documentation is key here, and all design decisions should be clearly explained.
