Design Lyft for kids.

PM product design interview question: Design Lyft for Kids?

Lyft is mainly concentrated in the US market and this is very specific product so I would prefer to launch in the native market first and then later to other parts of the world. 

Main mission for Lyft is to improve user lives by improving mobility for them. Lyft for Kids is a very interesting user problem to solve as this would lead to higher monetisation opportunities for Lyft. Given that its something people would frequently use especially both working parents or single parents, it would lead to targeting newer market segment and better revenue for Lyft.

Three key user segments here:

• User- Kid
• Buyer- Parent
• Drivers

The key thing that is important for kid is reaching safely and comfortably from one place to another. The main consideration for parents to even consider this solution is its reliability in terms of safety at first and then the economics. Also parents would want to see if their kid reaches comfortably.

Given that most of the needs of the are common for parents and kid, I would focus on the parent as a user here.

The main goal for the user is reliability or safety so the key thing to measure the success for this would be to see how many rides were taken without any safety alarms, driver ratings per ride, ratings per ride

For Lyft improved monetisation can be measured by: rides per month, revenue per ride and profit per ride

Now to understand the special characteristic and the user needs of a parent in regards to the mobility of their kids, I will think through possibly what are the day to day activities where the mobility assistance is needed and in what context. For getting to schools, the kids have mostly school buses. The mobility assistance would be needed when the kids have finished their school and parents are at work and they need to go to may be after school activities. This is the time where parents would need the maximum help. I would categorise the need st. in the following buckets:

• Safety of their kid when using external service to drop off their kid
• Comfort of the ride for the kid to keep using the service
• Financial cost of the ride for the parent to afford it for longer term
• Driver selection criteria - good rating and friendliness of the driver
• Feeding a kid between sessions 
• Constant monitoring to see if their kid is safely picked up, on ride(where) and  dropped off
• Raising an alarm or taking corrective action if something wrong has happened

The primary concern for the parent to say yes to this service is the safety of the kid and next thing for this to be sustainable for a parent would be financials.

Keeping that in mind here are some of the solution ideas:

1. Pool rides vs Regular rides: Pool would be preferred by a parent from the financial standpoint and also from the safety standpoint if the kid can go with his/her friends in a ride. Also this would mean better revenue for Lyft
2. Pickup from common spot such as school or common decided area and drop off to common spot like all the kids going for some activity in one area. To begin with I would start with kids of age 8- 14 which are more independent and are more aware of their surroundings for common pickup and drop-off spot
3. Tie-ups with external companies such as Kumon so that all kids are destined for the same place and picked up from the same place. This would take of a lot of headache from the parents’ head that kids have safely been dropped and picked up.
4. Option of picking up the kid individually from every home other than a common spot, which would have additional cost
5. Alarm mechanism on parents phone which alerts even when the phone is on silent if the kid raises an alarm
6. The kid may have a phone in which case the parent can easily track where the kid is, whether it has been picked up, etc.  The kid may also not have phone, in which case integration with a geo tracking device such as GPS which has an alert button on it. Lyft can supply this as an add on.
7. More care in choosing the drivers: Stricter background checks, huge penalties, only very high ratings one to be chosen
8. Video monitoring option for the parent to see the video of their child by having cameras in the car
9. 3D picture of the parent showing the parent is with the child
10. Option to buy snacks and drinks, only parent would have the option to buy these or parents can buy credits and can transfer them to their credits to purchase snacks

I would choose these solutions to implement which cater to MVP, since this is a very special kind of a product and need to validate if this would be accepted or not. I would probably do some research before even starting to build the product, to understand what are the challenges, what are day to day activities where this service might be needed and would parents even consider buying something like this.

Time to market and achieving user metric as well as business metric specified above would be key criteria to pick the features. So I would design regular ride offered at a lower cost, having an alarm mechanism, also having cameras in the car for monitoring and to begin with the case where kids do have phones with them.

Metrics to measure success: Rides/week, Cost per ride, Ratings per ride, Rides with no alarms per week, NPS of kid and parent

First of all, let's clarify the scope of this question to make sure that I fully understand it. I have a few questions to start with.

• As I understand we are talking about a specific scope of Lyft's business - car sharing. When people can order the vehicle that takes a person from point A to point B. We are not focusing on car rental, public transit, scooters

• Let's define "kids"? Do you consider any specific age group of kids?

• We also need to identify the platform? Are we talking about mobile-only or also web-based platforms?

• I'm also curious if we are designing a new product or adding this to already existing Lyft?

Before picking a goal I would like to discuss the environment, this will help to narrow down to the specific goal.

When I'm thinking about the current goal and the mission of Lyft (simplify people's lives with the best transportation) I definitely see the match here.

We have to consider that there are different regulations and laws on the age when it's legally allowed to let kids drive without their parent’s supervision. Obviously, we can say that the car-sharing experience is like "nanny-on-the-wheels".

On the other hand, the older kids are, the more independence they may have in their transportation. They can use bicycles, electric skates, scooters, at the age of 16 can even get a driver’s license. 

Lastly, school busses also have a solid place in this market.

I suggest focusing on the existing Lyft mobile app with a traditional car-sharing option - getting from point A to B by car. For the purpose of the exercise - let's set an age range of 4-16 y.o.).

Goal: Design a new car-sharing feature in Lyft mobile app for kids (4-16 y.o.)

I think the main customer or user here is a parent or child’s legal guardian.

Let's also narrow it down to the kid's user group:

• 4-6 y.o - need special attention, supervision. (too young)

• 6-10 y.o - somehow independent yet still need certain attention and supervision. (good fit)

• 10-14 y.o - depends on a kid, but as a general rule, they do not need supervision or attention. (good fit)

• 14-16 y.o - independent kids, that may order a cab by themselves (okay fit)

We can combine 6-10 y.o and 10-14 y.o and say that this is the user group of kids we are focusing on with a parent as our customer. And kids between the age of 6-14 are more likely to be under parent supervision.

• Need to select a trusted driver.

• Kids safety. Are the kids safe with the stranger in the car?

• Identify the kid's location?

• Pass the kid safely from the cab to the responsible person, the driver would be required to escort the kid.

• Payment

Prioritization

I'm suggesting focusing on 4 basic pain points since they are essential: Kids' safety in the car, Kids' location, and payment.

Pain

Safety. Car should be equipped with a child seat or a booster

Solution

The parent chooses seat preference for the kid and based on this criteria, drivers know which type of seat should be used or it automatically finds the driver with the right seat. Also, there should be an option to place customer’s own booster or a child seat

Pain

Kids safety. Are the kids safe with the stranger in the car?

Solution #1

Kids drivers should have an additional device or a camera that tracks the whole ride and is streaming what's happening in the car via Lyft app to the parent

Slotion #2

Parents need to have an option to choose a potential driver from the "list of trusted drivers" , by his or hers app. ratings, and previously left customer comments.

Pain

Payment

Solution

Lyft Kids ride was ordered from the parent's mobile phone, that's why payment is being made from this device using existing payment methods.

Pain

Track my kid’s location?

Solution

Parents should be able to track the route and current location from the phone. 

1. The parent chooses seat preference for the kid and based on this criteria, drivers know which type of seat should be used or it automatically finds the driver with the right seat. Also, there should be an option to place the customer’s own booster or a child seat

2. Drivers should have an additional device or a camera that tracks the whole ride and is streaming what's happening in the car via the Lyft app to the parent

3. Lyft Kids ride was ordered from the parent's mobile phone, that's why payment is being made from this device using existing payment methods.

4. A parent should be able to track the route and current location from the phone

Primary: Number of completed rides Daily, weekly, monthly with this feature

Secondary

• number of orders with kids Daily, weekly, monthly

• Number of unsuccessful rides (no babysit camera, or child seat) Daily, weekly, monthly

• Rides rating with kids

• Canceled trips before arrival

• The ratio of request and drivers match

• Lack of drivers with baby seats or boosters

• Child monitor (camera). Drivers should have an additional device on the backseat aimed at the kid. For this feature, lack of good internet coverage may be an issue. For example, drive through a  tunnel there may have no coverage. Additional power for this device

• The unknown driver would be still an issue for the parents and for the kid's security. Fingers crossed that nothing will happen with the kid.

• Legal liability issues.  Legal liability concerns can arise and should be thoroughly scrutinized by authorized professionals before the app. Is launched.  

• Someone who has a relation to the kid or a guardian has to meet the kid on the final destination. We don't want the stranger to pick the kid, or kid being left at ithe unknown location having no idea where to go.

Assumptions:

Designing a new Lyft app that is specifically designed for kids. We want to allow kids to hail a Lyft ride and also convey vital safety information about kids to their parents. This is for US specifically. Kids can be in the age range 8-18.  Mobile app for a smart phone

Goal:  Allow kids to hail a Lyft ride and also convey vital safety information about kids to their parents.

Success: Adoption and retention of kids for ride-hailing

Key Stakeholders:

1.  Kids 

2. Parents

3. Drivers

For the purpose of this exercise, I want to focus on markets in urban areas, to begin with on the coasts, since such areas have a higher adoption rate of technology, parents are also more tech-savvy. Thus a new product like this is likely to have a greater adoption rate and we can learn faster before expanding to other markets.

Note for this exercise I Want to focus on the kid persona. Specifically kids in the age range 8-13. I believe after 13 kids are more mature and adult-like thus they can independently use.  Also, in the case of kids ridesharing, one of the key stakeholders that we also need to design for is the parent.

Key Problems of:

1. Kids - Dependent on parents, lack of access to apps, fear of an unknown driver, fear of not being able to contact their parent in case of dangerous circumstances.

2. Parents - Safety and Communication: Fear of their kids being picked up and dropped off correctly at the right location, not being able to see their car safely seater in the car, worry about an illness that they may pick up from other kids in the ride, fear of kids meeting other strangers in the car. Parents often have a busy life so they want their child to be picked up by friends or spouses at times.

From the above, we can see a lot of overlap b/w kids and parents’ problems. We will thus have to design Lyft for kids’ app and also add a feature in the adult version of parents’ app to make this kids version practical.

Table stakes requirements - Parents app should be linked to the kids app so parents are aware of their kid’s activities. Drivers that are deeply background verified and ratings above a certain threshold will only be allowed. 

Key Features:

1. Parents App/Adult App:

   1. Link their app to the child’s app (Table stakes)

      1. Parents invite the child via SMS or link their child’s phone number. 

      2. When the child installs their lyft kid app they also enter their parent’s number during the sign up process. the parent gets a notification passing SMS verification code for their child. The parents will give the code to the child and thus their accounts will get linked. Alternatively, a parent can scan a QR code prompt on the child’s sign up flow and link their accounts. 

   2. Child app communicator: (Tablestakes)

      1. Informs parents via push+in app about their child’s ride-hailing activity - like requests, cancellations, location. 

   3. Shared or no shared ride option

      1. Parents can set the option for whether their child can join a pool ride with another kid.

2. Child App:

   1. Onboarding - New user sign up linked with their parents. The child’s photo, their address, parents details and all will be uploaded.  (Table stakes)

   2. Key Functionalities - Key destinations and contacts synced like parents home, key friends name + photos + phone+address, emergency police numbers, Lyft helpline (table stakes)

   3. Ride Details: (Table stakes)

      1. Once ride is requested, the UI will be very simple and explain the ETA and path of the driver

      2. The child will be able to see the photo of the driver, car photo in large size, and call driver to coordinate pick up location in case it is hard is to find each other. 

   4. In-app games:

      1. A child can play in-app games while their ride is on and the game will save itself once the ride is over until the next time a child wants to play or there is another side. 

Apart from the features that are mentioned as tablestakes the in app games and pool/nopool option are some features for prioritization. Assuming similar amount of engineering effort for both, I will pick the parent’s option of pool/no pool. This is important since parents are the ones who will control the app downloads and app usage of lyft kids app.

Success metrics:

1. DAU, WAU for Lyft Kids

2. # of rides taken per week by a child

3. Average ride rating 

4. # of safety incidents 

5. Average driver rating per ride

6. Average revenue per child