Nimbus
Easy booking & exploration on trips to the outdoors • Autonomous & electric future of the RV industry
Wanderlust & RVing
2019 saw a huge increase in road trips & van life through social media streams, with just Instagram having 58m hashtags from travellers. This brought to life a newer market of roadtrippers & campers; millennials. With the excitement also came the sharing of experiences that could have been better.
Seeing these pre-existing problems, me and my team found this to be a market with an exciting space for re-designs and innovations. There is a large section of people who know the taste of road tripping and desire to do it more often but are unable to for a range of reasons; cost, time constraints, planning, etc.
The opportunity here lies in a platform that enables users to book a personalized trip to have a seamless entry to the outdoors.
Seeing these pre-existing problems, me and my team found this to be a market with an exciting space for re-designs and innovations. There is a large section of people who know the taste of road tripping and desire to do it more often but are unable to for a range of reasons; cost, time constraints, planning, etc.
The opportunity here lies in a platform that enables users to book a personalized trip to have a seamless entry to the outdoors.
- Timeline: 20 Week Capstone Project
- My Role: Interaction design for in-vehicle interface, UX research
- Tools: Figma, Miro, Illustrator, After Effects
- Awards 🏆
C2A- Creative Communication Award for UX Design
San Francisco Design Week: Honorable Mention
Objectives
Business Goal
Building a service to generate revenue through user acquisition and retention for trip booking and rentals.
User Goal
Informed individuals can make quick personalized trips and reach the outdoors relaxed and secure.
Project Goal
Create MVP prototypes of the Nimbus service to showcase product usage and key features of personalization and sustainability.
Market Overview
Millennials are the fastest growing segment of adopters of the RV lifestyle and camping.
-Tom Dempsey, CEO of Sylvan Sport
-Tom Dempsey, CEO of Sylvan Sport
Camping is going to see a huge jump in popularity this year, with 2021 and beyond, being even bigger.
-Kevin Long, CEO of The Dyrt (top-ranked camping app in Apple Store and Google Play)
-Kevin Long, CEO of The Dyrt (top-ranked camping app in Apple Store and Google Play)
Investors have been noticing a trend in camping and it is only likely to increase with the confinements brought about by COVID-19. After the pandemic, camping and RVing will see a big increase as a demand for it is being observed already after being locked down at homes.
What is missing?
Looking at similar services such as, Hipcamp for booking land for camping, Outdoorsy for renting RVs and Reserve America lead to discovering new opportunity areas.
Here is what is missing in the market, currently:
Here is what is missing in the market, currently:
Value of Nimbus
Nimbus is an end-to-end service for trip experience to the outdoors. It is meeting the unmet need of having a single platform to a) Book the itinerary b) Book RV/vehicle c) Assistance with regard to journey/location.
How does Nimbus work?
In-pod screen
Begin trip with safety first
A trip specific pin attained after booking is used to unlock your journey.
Get a glimpse during on-boarding
Learn the array of features within Nimbus to unlock a personalized and exciting trip to the outdoors.
Visualization of pre-existing data
Location specific information
Leaving no room for unrealistic hopes and setting the expectations right for each trip.
Designing the experience
Laying out the information architecture
Wireframing
After creating the ideal path, I began playing with the layout and wireframing. In the process, I designed for the main functionality of viewing vehicle info and environment data available for all screens.
Version 1: Usertesting features
I created this version 1 of the in-RV screens to get some initial feedback on the flow of on-boarding and enroute screens.
Feedback:
Feedback:
- Simplifying the leave no trace policy: The top buttons are not required as the pop up already has information on that.
- Enabling users to actively choose to clean up their own spots: The pop up should happen after indicating some sort of scan of the environment. Currently it looks like there was no process underway.
- Less is more: In the home screen, initially the idea was to allow users to change the temperature and seat controls all at once from the bottom of the screen. However, these features are collapsible under the Nimbus icon of the menu. Giving only the key options in a few taps would reduce workload on the user.
Version 1 of in-RV screens
In-RV screen prototype
Know your locations enroute and the final destination well. Then explore safely and with a relaxed mind :)
CLICK THROUGH In-RV Screen
Direct users on RV CONTROLS AND FEATURES
- Enter trip specific pin to unlock and learn RV features
- View itinerary and confirm. Edit stops if needed
- View RV status and begin trip
Users informed on location details; plan trip better
- Like a location you see? Mark it for the next trip
- Upon arrival, see overview of location data, eg., sunset hour, flora & fauna (which all affect exploration planning).
- View maps and "Popular Activities" and "Good To Know"s
- Sustainable feature: "Leave No Trace Policy" at the end of trip
Wrapping it up
This project was shown to several stakeholders involved in our primary research as well as new ones and it was very well received. People could see it being used for its personalized and modern manner of booking & recreational vehicles.
The product and service development during COVID-19 was a rewarding experience and converting the real-world physical experience as a team into virtual was something that enticed me to lean towards the 'work from home' culture. While I love meeting my team and new people physically, I have found a way for me to be as productive while working virtually only.
The product and service development during COVID-19 was a rewarding experience and converting the real-world physical experience as a team into virtual was something that enticed me to lean towards the 'work from home' culture. While I love meeting my team and new people physically, I have found a way for me to be as productive while working virtually only.
Down the road
Due to the project having several different products involved, the time allowed for an adequate amount of interface developments. I would like to further highlight the features that are unique to Nimbus, such as :
- Create the interactions for marking new locations enroute in the in-RV screen.
- Context-based information pop-ups to allow learning about new places easier.
- Environment scanning of remaining trash/debris.
My takeaways
- Divide and conquer : Everyone on the team had varying skill sets, some more inclined to the service design aspect, another more into the motion media. Learning each other's strong points to know when one leads aspects of the design was a warm experience.
- Context-based information pop-ups to allow learning about new places easier.
- Environment scanning of remaining trash/debris.
🌻
Other work:-
Copyright 2021 – All Rights Reserved to Paloma Ningthoujam
