DropCar
2012
Electric-car co-leasing for city commuters. A service-design project developed at CIID in partnership with Volvo.
Electric-car co-leasing for the city commuter. A service-design project at CIID.
The Brief
In partnership with Volvo, we were asked to design a service and experience prototype around cars.
The Problem
As more people move to cities, housing becomes denser and more expensive. Many workers live in the suburbs and commute long distances, and Copenhagen is no exception. This contributes to congestion and pollution. Meanwhile, their cars sit idle during working hours, taking up space.
Design Question
How could we reduce city traffic and pollution by making better use of cars while they sit idle?
The Service Solution
The DropCar concept offered people living outside Copenhagen an affordable car lease in exchange for sharing the car with public services during working hours. Commuters would leave it in a free DropCar space at the train station and take the train into the city. Public services could then use the car during the day. Sharing the fleet would reduce the number of cars needed, and with it the demand for production and maintenance.
Our mission
- Promote the switch to electric cars and Park & Ride.
- Encourage cooperation between people and local government.
- Offer a connected service for rural areas.
- Reduce the number of cars on our little planet by making better use of them.
Benefits to the user
DropCar would make it cheaper and easier for the municipality to do its work, so it made sense for participants to receive benefits.
- No huge initial investment to own a car.
- No need to worry about insurance and maintenance.
- No extra fuel costs.
- Reduce the number of cars on our little planet by making better use of them.
Experience Prototyping
We refined the concept through several rounds of experience prototyping, testing different touchpoints of the service.
Our first experiment simulated the experience of sharing a vehicle during working hours. We prototyped the welcome pack and signup process, using bicycles instead of cars.
Next, we simulated the whole service with a rental car. We picked up a worker, let him drive to work, and then took the car to a public servant to use during the day. We also sent push notifications to both parties to test the communication.
Date: 2012
Project by: Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz & Manas Karambelkar.
My Work: service design, prototyping, testing