Interface Design | Departments

oBike is a bicycle-sharing platform that aims to offer a convenient, on demand mode of transportation. However, its mobile app — the only medium to use oBike’s service — fails to achieve the objectives.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Among 25 users we have surveyed, more than half were facing issues using the app, regardless whether they are new to the app or not. On average, a new user takes more than three minutes to reserve a bike using the app.

The biggest problems they were having were misunderstanding of iconography, and difficulties finding what they need due to misplacing of function and unconventional design.

SOLUTIONS

Instead of minimal fixes, we decided to revamp the whole user experience by repositioning everything into their ‘rightful’ places, restructuring the flow of actions, hiding away or omitting unnecessary functions, and scaling up essential buttons. Besides, we also used a better set of icons and more call-to-action language.

UNLOCKING

It’s now easier to find the torch button to unlock the bike using QR scanning when it’s dark. Switching to and back from manual entry mode is also more fluid than before.

SETTINGS

Better use of icons and language to eliminate misunderstanding. More linear menu structuring for easier access.

EN ROUTE MODE

Broader map view with integrated navigation mode and real-time cost calculation. Instantly access trip assistant or end the trip manually when facing technical problems.

TEAM MEMBERS

August Nguyen
Sin Shiu Heng
Stella Ang
Tan Jia Yue

We Bridge Language Barriers

When people immigrate into the United States, they have difficulties communicating and understanding, which prevents them from assimilating to the new country. Ladon is a solution to provide them with passionate translators who strive to bridge not only language barriers but also cultural gaps.

The project has won the Social Venture Challenge in CGI University 2016 and First prize in Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Lab by UC Berkeley. Ladon’s service has been launched in California and San Francisco in five languages.

WELCOME TO LADON

In order to compete with other services already existing, Ladon positioned themselves in a unique place — between personal machine translation like Google Translate and traditional translation companies. Ladon is a modern on-demand service, and still remains the core of having human touch which make them reliable and relatable.

DESIGN LANGUAGE

The key factor to Ladon’s success is the ability to spot a gap, and how to fill that gap with design.

As Ladon’s clients come from different backgrounds: from elderly people, social workers to organisations and businesses, the design language was made a flexible combination of flat design — which focuses on content — and depth — which enhances legibility. It looks friendly yet professional at the same time.

Ladon’s fundamental philosophy of being friendly, caring and human-run is translated into a warm and bright shade of blue — the colour of hope and peace — that we call “Ladon Blue” and a system of cartoon characters as the guides for our web pages.

LADON APP

The mobile application is an even more sophisticated representation of the design language. It has to combine the distinctive Ladon visual with the operating system’s assets, and at the same time, looks refreshing and action-nudging. This results in a series of elements — shapes, patterns, colours and animations — that can transmit information, and at a deeper level, the brand’s friendliness and human-feeling.

The available language assistants are grouped into a pseudo-3D shade that let users know how many assistants are available, as well as their call settings at a glance, and expanded upon users’ interaction to reveal detailed information about an assistant’s background, passion and history.

EXPERIENCE RESEARCH

In order to expand the business, Ladon has spread its service to organisations and businesses. Interviews and observation tests were conducted to discover the pain points during non-English speaking consumer-to-business transactions, and test them against a portal/marketplace wireframe, where we bridge the language barriers between consumers and businesses.

One year after its pilot study, Ladon has expanded its service to more than 190 registered clients across the U.S., and recruited a network of more than 100 empowered immigrants as language assistant.