Re-imagining the future of Roadside Assistance

 
 

- Good hands rescue network

 
 
 

The challenge

GHRN is a spin-off from a Multi-national Insurance company based out of Illinois. It is a crowd-sourced gig economy platform for individual rescuers to sign up and earn an additional part-time income by helping customers with roadside assistance. GHRN was founded in 2016 and faced problems with rescuer turn-over rates when the research project was initiated.

 

Process:

The team consisted of three other design students. We did a thorough research of the existing state of the system by conducting ethnographic rescuer & customer interviews, shadowing rescuers, observing chosen rescuer participants, and mapped experiences onto a service blueprint with the company’s backend processes.

After significant brainstorming and synthesis of the insights the team gained over the whole research phase, We concluded with design principles to guide interventions. We prototyped interventions into tangible features for the application, and We conducted Co-creation workshops with the rescuers and the client to validate the direction to take.

The project cycle was a 14-week long process from inception to end. At the end of which, We presented all research findings, the overall process, and prototypes to enhance the user experience. We recommended five strategic directions for the client to guide the future of GHRN.

The project was on a tight schedule as part of a class. Having a road map to guide our process was very helpful in the planning. We started with timelines that meant to be hard stops in-between stages of the process to keep us on track.

1. Road map (click to enlarge)

 

Primary Research

 
 
 
 

Validation with Client & Co-Creation with Rescuers

After analyzing our primary user research and generating insights, We discovered opportunity spaces for the client to prioritize and then invited rescuers to a co-creating session. We used their input to build and validate the next phase of prototypes.

 
 

The future experience (storyboard)

 

Final Deliverables

 

Recommendations

  • Create goal-driven experience for rescuers

    Rescuers would be more engaged if GHRN offers the option to define weekly / monthly goals and they could see their own evolution.

  • End-to-end experience through one channel

    GHRN could offer the same level of experience in the different channels, especially the ones the rescuers use the most.

  • Increase rescuers’ sense of ownership & belonging to GHRN

    Stickers for the trucks, T-shirt or vest for the rescuers and toolkit/flares are just some ideas to increase their relationship with GHRN brand.

  • Support rescuers with time & money management tools

    With reports and real-time information GHRN could give them tools for better self management.