In my personal life, I'm deeply passionate about driving classic sports cars, and being involved in the social scene surrounding them. It's been a frustrating experience on the planning and navigational side of things.
Most rally planners revert to printing out paper routes, either requiring a navigator, or a very distracted driver. There are some existing solutions, but they have deficiencies that make them less than ideal for this purpose, and thus rarely get implemented in regular use. My experience in this activity obviously makes me a very likely User of this product, and I will have some perspectives of my own, so this will be a great opportunity to show how much more can be added to the perspective of a single designer by the UX process.
Before beginning to design, I sought to first learn what I could from existing sources of information, as well as directly from potential users of the product. This will ensure that our resources are being used to their maximum.
I then outlined our Research Goals, Methodologies, Participants, Timeline, Assumptions, and the questions we sought to answer.
My Research Goals were as follows:
- Learn about current trends in the navigational app space
- Understand gaps in current offerings/solutions
- Understand current user demographics, habits, needs, and motivations
My initial Research Questions were:
- Who are the players in the current marketplace, direct/indirect?
- What are the priorities/needs of my intended User?
- Where are there gaps in the current offerings that can be capitalized upon?
- Do Users want to connect socially with a navigational app?
- How do Users currently meet this need?
Once I understood what the goals were for my research, I moved forward with collecting the primary and secondary research that would be needed to answer them.
Secondary Research: Market Research
Prior to generating my own data via User Interviews, I sought to learn what I could about the current navigational and social solutions aimed at automotive enthusiasts, and see what information existed about my potential User base.
Travel Trends:
It was a particularly interesting time to be searching for current travel statistics and individuals thoughts on travel, given that it was the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were some definite surprises to be found, and it would be worth revisiting some of these thoughts down the road to better understand if behaviors and feelings will return to "normal", or if some of these changes will prove to be longer lasting.
- 27% of those who said they would be flying less stated they would be flying less because they would be traveling by car more
- 58% say that they plan to continue taking more road trips post COVID
- 73% responded that road tripping is more fun than flying
- In the first two weeks of August 2020, there was a 37.6% increase in road trips that ranged between 100-500 miles
- 41% said with the increase in their road trips, they are traveling more than ever
- 26% said they would travel significantly less by plane after the pandemic, 17% said somewhat less, 43% said it would remain the same, and 14% said they would fly more than before
Mobile Navigation Trends:
- Google has a considerable lead in mobile navigation. They have 6.2x the usage as Waze, and 6.7x as much as Apple Maps
- ⅔ of smartphone owners under 50 will use navigation at least once a month
- 14% of smartphone owners say that they have never used another navigation app outside of their preferred app
- 87% of Users use their navigation app primarily for driving
Auto Enthusiast Demographics:
- 66% of auto enthusiasts are male
- 35-44 is the largest age grouping according to one study, another states that the largest group of auto enthusiasts are Millennials, and that they are the most likely to identify as an automotive enthusiast
- They have a net worth 50% higher than the national average
- The 25-34 age range is most likely to modify their car, at 34%
- Enthusiasts take on average 5 domestic trips per year. Twice the national average
- 79% of young enthusiasts say that their vehicles help them stay closer to friends
- One in four 16-24 year old drivers belong to a car-related group on social media
Secondary Research: Competitive Analysis
I sought to learn what I could about the current navigational and social solutions aimed at automotive enthusiasts. I want to understand what the main competitors offered in terms of functionality, both positive and negative. I performed this initial research on some key direct and indirect competitors, and continued to benchmark against them throughout the design process.
Direct Competitors
Strengths
- You can import .GPX routes
- You can record a drive to share or use again
- You can download drives for offline use
- Partnership with Butler Maps for routes
- Share your location with friends and family for safety
- Works with Apple Carplay
- There is a desktop app to create routes
Weaknesses
- You can import .GPX routes
- You can record a drive to share or use again
- You can download drives for offline use
- Not able to custom tune routes, only via waypoint
- Doesn’t work well out of cell service
- Cant play music and use navigation at the same time
- Reviews state features don’t all work as planned
- Cant play music and use navigation at the same time
- Everyone in the group has to be a paid member $10/month to use the features
Strengths
- Make Custom Routes in App without waypoints
- Public or private event creation
- You can download drives for offline use
- Hagerty offers routes via drive packs
- Users can share routes
- Turn by turn Navigation will function when offline
- Ability to create events
Weaknesses
- Distance is limited even in paid versions of the app (300 miles)
- Number of participants limited even in paid versions of the app (15 Member Level) (50Pro)
- Number of participants limited even in paid versions of the app (15 Member Level) (50Pro)
- Can’t tell if paid routes are worth paying for, and they are expensive
- Can’t import/export routes
- Sharing isn’t straightforward
Strengths
- Can Import routes
- Has a companion Web App
- Shared and rated routes by members
- Will log route, speed, elevation for drives
- Large community of Users
- Automated curvy road suggestions
- Excellent User Guides and User Forum
- Maps function offline
- Easy sharing: Friend doesn’t have to have the app to view
- Track stats by vehicle
Weaknesses
- No Apple CarPlay
- Access to premium features is paid: $22.49per year or $80 once
- Offline Maps are extra
- Reviews state there can be a few bugs in the navigation
- Doesn’t recalculate well when going off course
- No traffic avoidance in navigation
Strengths
- Owned and promoted by Porsche
- Apple CarPlay support
- Offers sharing for group drives
- Users can share routes
- Free
Weaknesses
- Cannot Import routes
- Only events listed were in Europe
- Limited ability to change routes, have to enter names/addresses for waypoints
- Can’t read the names of roads when there is a route on them
Strengths
- Attractive, minimalist, UI
- Able to communicate details to participants before the drive/event
- Able to share route with QR code in person
- Able to see friends on map during drive
- Group Chat feature during drive
- Push notifications to participants during meet/drive
Weaknesses
- Not able to custom tune routes, only via waypoint
- Doesn’t work well out of cell service
- Cant play music and use navigation at the same time
- Reviews state features don’t all work as planned
- Everyone in the group has to be a paid member $10/month to use the features
- UPDATE: App has shut down
Other Competitors
Strengths
- Social media for Car Enthusiasts
- Allows you to show yourself on a map to connect with other enthusiasts
- View events and drives in your area
- Instagram like photo feed - Auto specific
- Able to “follow” individuals and clubs
- Has very basic navigation
- Ability to share roads, photo locations on a map
Weaknesses
- The only community is in California at the moment
- The basic navigation isn’t robust enough for real group use
- Promising idea, but hasn’t yet taken off. Social media with no Users is difficult to value
Strengths
- Able to plan long trips. 150 scheduled stops included
- Collaborative trip planning possible
- Curated, in depth points of interest along the routes
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Many vetted pre planned routes available
Weaknesses
- Not catered to driving enthusiasts
- No way to state preference for winding roads
- Can’t import routes
- Subscription required: $6.99/Month or$29.99/year
- If you want to share turn by turn directionswith a group they all have to be members
- I experienced difficulty with turn by turn directions in testing when out of cell range
Provisional Personas
Based on the studies that were referenced during the market research, two potential Users appeared:
One a bit older and with more financial resources than time. He most likely has a family, and uses his hobby both as an opportunity to bond with them, as well as for the occasional escape with his like minded friends.
The other uses their car as a way to connect and stay close to friends and to display his individuality. He didn't grow up learning about the automotive hobby, but with all of the resources available online, he's learned a lot. Many of his "car friends" are virtual rather living nearby.
I put together two provisional personas based on these personalities. These are the most likely users for our service, and will be used to narrow down subjects for the next step: User Interviews
Goals:
- Discover new road trip adventures
- Get some time away from family
- To enjoy scenic views
- To enjoy travel freedom
- To bond with family
- Have fun with their enthusiast car
Pains:
- It doesn’t feel safe to travel to populated areas
- Don’t have lots of time to plan
- Most apps don’t show the best roads, just fastest
- Getting time away is limited. Have to make it count
Goals:
- Stay close to friends
- Express their individuality through their car
- Connect with other enthusiasts
- Learn more about their hobby
- Have adventures with like minded people
Pains:
- It’s difficult to share routes with friends
- It’s not easy to find other people near me with my interests
- It’s hard to have fun with my car near home without attracting negative attention
Primary Research: User Interviews
It's important to learn directly from users of our product to understand their perspectives, pain points, and propensities in order to make better design decisions for their needs. I recruited a group of Driving Enthusiasts and asked a series of open ended questions to better understand how they are currently planning and sharing their drives, what their preferences are when it comes to driving solo vs in a social group, what stumbling blocks are in the way with the current solutions, and what (if anything) is preventing them from participating in the hobby as much as they'd like.
The statistics for the test participants are as follows:
-5 interviews were conducted
-5 male
-Ages ranged between 38-47
-5 married
-2 self employed
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