Creating the world’s first scooter-based sustainability enterprise from the ground up.
Timeline
Oct - Dec 2022
Platform
Mobile App
Role
UI Designer
Front End Developer
Toolkit
Figma
React Native
View the Project
Scootly is a startup founded upon a simple idea: what if the environmental benefits of a personal scooter could be combined with the convenience of a rideshare application?
Created in Fall 2022, Scootly’s mobile app assists people in renting their personal scooters out to others in the Los Angeles area. It’s the first app of its kind to promote the more widespread use of a more flexible and eco-friendly transportation option.
I collaborated with 1 fellow "dev-signer" (Jenny) and 4 developers (John, Dwight, Aparna, Madhavi) to bring this project to life.
The 6 of us were were brought together by a UCLA course: CS 35L, Software Construction Laboratory. Thanks to these guys and their creativity, drive, and entrepreneurship, what was originally supposed to just a group project became something much greater!
Los Angeles is just one example of a prevailing pattern in the US: poor walkability and urban planning. And like many other American cities, LA's public transportation system leaves much to be wanted. This leaves many with no choice but to contribute to an epidemic over-reliance on cars, a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
People looking to get around using micromobility vehicles, especially cash-strapped college students, face a dilemma: is it better to purchase your own scooter? Or continously pay for rentals? Neither option feels ideal: buying and tending to your own personal scooter seems too much of a hassle; consistently paying for short-term rentals through a company like Bird is way too costly.
How might we encourage LA residents to make the most out of scooters as a transportation option?
As the threat of climate change looms ever nearer and LA becomes defined increasingly by its notorious traffic, it seems almost natural to kill two birds with one stone. We sought to reframe people's perceptions of scooters by positioning them as a viable, easy-to-access form of transportation.
The complications that come with owning a personal scooter are what hold many back from investing in one. With this in mind, we wanted to make the idea of owning your own scooter more appealing and worthwhile, but at the same time provide a solution to those who want to ride scooters, but aren't able to buy their own.
Making an app about scooter renting wasn't an instant decision. Before anything else, we began by brainstorming solutions to various problems that people in LA face in their day-to-day lives. We came up with plenty of ideas, from a music-based dating app to an event scheduling tool, before finally deciding on Scootly.
Next, we documented the outline for what would eventually become Scootly. This entailed indentifying the aspects of scooter-riding that people currently find to be the most lacking, and coming up with features that would best remedy them. Keep reading to see what we cooked up!
Before opening up Figma, we came up with 4 principles which would act as our anchor throughout the design process.
Do our part in preventing climate change by hosting only eco-friendly micromobility vehicles.
Treat Scootly users as members of a growing cultural phenomena, not just names on a screen.
Respect that people have places to be by making the experience as simple and quick as possible.
Make Scootly as bold and street-smart as its users. Use an urban aesthetic that instantly engages.
Our first order of business was to create low-fidelity mockups of our intended features. Since we had to create a functional MVP in just two months, it was imperative that we crank these out as quickly as possible so we could have a foundation to start coding off of.
The next step was to finalize our app's overall "look" (getting our devs' opinions, too) and apply them to our early mockups. We also made sure to create multiple variants of the most crucial features to ensure we were proceeding with the best possible option.
Users are first greeted with alog in/sign up portal that accounts for all types of users. It's designed to allow for full profile customization through just a simple two-part form, allowing users to get up and running as soon as possible.
To encourage discovery, people can search and filter for the exact ride they need, based on parameters like proximity, price, availability, and more. We included all the information necessary for a renter to get where they need to be, and nothing more.
We didn't forget about scooter owners, either! Making some side cash with your vehicle is as easy as a few taps of a screen. Just complete a quick form, and you'll be able to rent out your vehicle, manage bookings, and message renters.
Scootly users can make secure transactions and stay connected using its in-app messaging platform. New messages are displayed with a special notification badge so that people never miss a beat.
I created a UI style guide to ensure that components were not only implemented consistently across the app, but also reflected the 4 pillars of our design philosophy that we laid out in the beginning.
John, my roommate and soon-to-be-groupmate, once asked our professor if a commercially viable product had ever come out of his class. The answer was no, and from then on, we and the rest of our project team were determined to make CS 35L history.
As of Fall 2023, we are still working hard at getting our app published on the iOS App Store! The last steps that stand in the way of our official launch are squishing a few minor bugs and adding a couple of features that Apple requires.
Scootly was originally created as the capstone project for a computer science course known for its difficulty. My group recieved a rare perfect score, while others were marked down for a simple reason: they neglected their UX.
Seeing this helped me realize that design has an implicit effect on all things in life. My love for this field grew even stronger after seeing how its applications are so universal, they reached even to a technical CS class!
Creating a fully functional app within the span of an academic term is an ambitious goal, to say the least. Through Scootly, I learned how to adjust the scope of a project (and consequently, its designs) in response to time and development constraints.
In addition, I gained a deeper understanding of the product cycle by continually ensuring that we were working toward a reasonable goal and staying on track to provide a quality delivery.
Shoutout to my team, The Sproungers, and our TA, Ayushi, for the best group project experience I could've asked for!