How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?

Clarify Scope

- Tourism in big cities (NY, Tokio, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam.)

- I would be building an easy to use mobile app as tourist carry with them a cell phone.

Goal: Build an app that will enable Bikes stores sellers to rent bikes to tourism. 

Users:

Bike stores owners: sellers, only repair.

Tourists - 

Local tourist - day tourist - they are from they same country or even city

Global tourists - They come from another country. 

- Solo tourist/ Group tourist

Asumptions

- Bike sellers have a place to store the bikes.

1. Platform; To start with I will start with a mobile app as  n interface for bike stores to publish their services and for turist to sign in and rent one of their bikes.

2. For start I will be addressing small group of tourist max of 4. As today we have special rentals for groups which the price is convinient for bigger groups but not for small groups. 

Use cases

Bike owner

Renter

From the present scope I will only take P1.

Benefits

- Be the go to platform for bike rental all over the world where any bike business can sign in and offer a rental services (simillarly to Uber for example).

Competitors for this field could be turist apps such as viator and get your gide wherre they promote business who offer activities for turist. 

Key metrics:

Average number of rental transactions per week. per shop. 

Counter metrics:

- Number of rentals cancel

- Number of bike which need repair on the return phase.

- Frequency of use 

- The number of renters which use it more than once in diferernt locations. 

Here is how I would answer this Product Design question-

Clarifications to ASK-
WHAT- types of bicycles are being rented? (Man-powered/ Hybrid/ Electric)
WHO- are we? (Aggregators/ End-to-end Service Providers)
WHERE- are we providing this service? (Intra-City/ Inter City)
WHOM- are we catering to? (Local Tourists/ Guides/ Visiting Tourists/ Travel Agencies)

CLARIFICATION from Interviewer- " We are looking to build this app for Intra-City commute primarily for Visiting Tourists renting man-powered bicycles as an end to end service provider"

USER PERSONAS

1. Sightseers- Tourists exploring the city’s landmarks, attractions, and scenic routes.
2. Commuters- Tourists using bicycles for daily transportation (e.g., to work, markets, or hotels).
3. Fitness Enthusiasts- Tourists renting bicycles for exercise, morning rides, or leisure fitness activities.
4. Adventure Seekers- Thrill-seekers renting bikes for off-road trails or challenging terrains nearby.

Since, Visiting Tourist primarily engage in sightseeing and commuting from one place to another we will focus on (1) & (2) personas to come up with an MVP

USER Needs-

1. Check for rentals nearby and their pricing 
2. Check availability of desired bicycle
3. Check Pick-up and Drop criterias
4. Check working condition of bicycles
5. Payment method for rental
6. Language-friendly experience
7. Recommendations on places, eateries, local trivia etc
8. GPS enabled route provider to destination
9. Distress Support incase of malfunction or techinal issues in bicycle

1. Unique ID document of user- For Security of Asset (Pasport/Drivers License/ Aadhar Card)
2. GPS Tracking of bicycles- To manage bicycle availability
3. Payment Confirmation
4. User Feedback

• Clarifying Questions

  • For this question can I assume US based for simplicity?

  • Would this application be within Meta’s ecosystem? Can I assume yes?

  • For bicycles, are they e-bikes or normal bikes? Trying to determine if we need charging stations which can be costly

  • Do we have a market already in mind from a strategic standpoint? I know in certain markets such as NYC there are high barriers to entry.

  • Do we have any target tourist demographics such as age range or travel habits? 

  • Have we thought about featuring local tourist attraction integrations?

  • Let me take a second to prepare a plan for tackling this bicycle renting app for tourists.

• Introduce Roadmap/Plan

  • For my roadmap, I want to start off first with a product overview diving into how it connects to Meta’s ecosystem, the competitive landscape, and overall product description. Then I want to dive into a user breakdown with prioritization and feature brainstorm covering the user flow. Then upon determining which users to prioritize we can dive into metrics and goals for the product. Then we can finish off with a launch plan and recap. How does this approach sound?

• Product Overview (product description, what problem does it solve, how it connects to Meta’s ecosystem, competitive landscape) 

  • We want to design a bicycle renting app for tourists likely starting on IOS devices first. For tourists, particularly those below the age of 25, likely will have difficulty renting a traditional motor vehicle and will need a way of getting around. My instinct says we go after this demographic but in a few moments we can have a breakdown and segmentation for users. The problem we are solving here is helping tourists get around when visiting a new place so we will want a city with strong infrastructure including bike lanes to provide the best user experience. 

  • In terms of the connection to Meta’s ecosystem, this bike rental app will be a new vertical for the company but has potential for synergy particularly with Facebook and Instagram where we have a robust user base. We can also design the application with a connection element to directly connect with Meta’s mission of bringing people closer together through communities. Potential social or community features could differentiate the app, for example, allowing users to connect with other tourists or create group rides.

  • Competitive landscape wise you have large players such as Bird and Lime that provide E-Bike, Standard Bike, and E-Scooter options across different US regions. Then you have local bikes unique to each city such as Capital Metro Bikes in Washington DC which provide E-Bikes and Standard Bikes.

  • How does this overview sound?

• User Breakdown and Prioritization, feature brainstorm (user flow, segment users based on demographics) 

  • Let me take a moment to brainstorm users for this product. Our goal is to target tourists for this product so we would want to target frequent travelers. I segmented users in 2 different ways first being frequency of travel and the next being income.

  • For frequency of travel we have 

    • Infrequent Travelers (1X-3X a year likely visiting family)

    • Semi-frequent Travelers (4X-8X a year likely a couple trips a year)

    • Frequent Travelers  (8X+ a year)

    • Business Travelers (20X+ a year, consultants, salespeople)

  • For income breakdown

    • Lower Income (<50K a year)

    • Middle Class (>50K-180K)

    • Upper Class (180K-500K)

    • Wealthy (500K+)

  • Starting with frequency of travelers, I think we can immediately rule out Infrequent since they would likely only bring us revenue a couple of times per year. Business travelers would also be unlikely to use the service since they can simply expense cab ribes, things of that nature. Looking at the other groups there is definitely potential for semi frequent and frequent since they travel more often. 

  • For income breakdown, we can rule out lower income since they would not have sufficient capital to travel frequently. We can also rule out wealthy since they would be unlikely to be renting bikes.

  • For our prioritization, I would like to focus on middle-upper class frequent travelers who are traveling over 8X a year. I believe at the beginning as we are looking to grow this product, this group would provide us with the greatest revenue potential. How does this prioritization sound?

• Metrics and Goals (success metrics for the product, prioritizing north star metric, feature ideation) 

  • Before diving into features, I want to establish our metrics and goals. Since this is a new product likely housed within Meta’s ecosystem, we would want to focus on the goals of user growth and adoption. We want to get this product out there and get users familiar with it. Would you agree with this logic?

  • I will take a moment to brainstorm some metrics. 

  • User Growth / Adoption

    • # of DAUs, MAUs

    • # of rides taken 

    • # of inactive users

    • # of new users

  • Usage

    • Time spent on rides

    • # of rides taken in a month, week

    • # of returning users

    • Time windows rides are most popular

  • For our north star, I would want to focus on # of rides taken as this will provide us with the insight into how our application is growing within this new market. I would also want to consider looking at other growth and usage metrics to better understand how this product is being used by our user base. How do you feel with this north star?

  • Awesome, now I will take a moment to think through features

    • User Painpoints

      • Need to get around quickly 

      • Need a place to park bikes

      • Need a seamless user experience 

    • App Features

      • Integrating with Apple Pay enabling fast payments, not following loading wallet model especially since this is an early stage product, we don’t want to alienate users and prevent them from returning 

      • Integrating with Instagram or Facebook could call the application instaride or instabike perhaps, targeting the middle-upper class frequent travelers 

      • Easy to use, simple process for locking and unlocking bikes likely with QR code or other method

      • Potential integration with local bike company so we can utilize their racks and reduce our high upfront investment cost

      • Pay per use model starting out, since it makes most sense targeting the tourist market. 

      • These are some of the features I brainstormed. What do you think?

• Launch Plan

  • I know we are coming up on time so let’s go through a quick launch plan. 

    • #1 Determine test market, needs to be a high tourist travel destination such as NYC or SF.

    • #2 Develop MVP utilizing user feedback and any data we can leverage at Meta

    • #3 Determine partnerships with local bikes or with other applications

• Recap: To recap I was tasked with designing an app for renting bikes. We started off with going through assumptions determining the application will be US Based and only available on IOS starting out. We talked about the competitive landscape with big players such as Bird and local players such as DC metro bikes. We then dove into user prioritization with income and frequency of travel as segmentation prioritizing middle-upper income frequent travelers as they provide the best opportunity. Then we dove into Metrics and Goals determining # of rides taken as our north star given that this is an early stage product. We then looked at various user pain points and identified features such as a simple QR code unlock process then finished off with a high level launch plan.

My structure to solve PM interview design exercises:

• Identifying the Goal/Objective

• Understanding the Users

• Establishing the gaps in the current process

• Solving the gaps/pain points

• Defining the Success Criteria

• Summarizing the exercise

• Identifying the Goal/Objective:

Problem Statement Elements: ‘Design’ + ‘Bicycle renting’ + ‘App’ + ‘tourists’.

Bicycle Renting: A pedal-operated two-wheeler bike that can be rented for a specific duration. Assume → YES.

App: Is it Android/iOS? based? Assume → Up to you! Are there any Technological limitations/constraints → Assume → No!

(We’ll go with no tech limitation and Android/iOS app)

Tourists: I guess, we plan to launch this service at tourist destinations like Goa, and Manali, making it a short-medium distance travel option. But there is no restriction per se, on who these tourists are (Domestic/International)? Assume→ YES to both.

Demographic restriction? Assume → Up to you! (We’ll go with India — Top 10 tourist destinations, with supporting infrastructure like internet availability, above average tourist footfall)

Could the users be localites too? Assume-> Yes | But let’s focus on tourists only.

Who are we: Small/Medium/Large scale company? And what’s our core expertise? I’m asking to clarify why we are doing this. Assume a startup run by entrepreneurs with no experience to test the waters with an idea.

Here’s our Goal:

Wheely! is a bike rental solution for tourists exploring their favorite destinations. By catering to health-conscious and environmentally-minded travelers, we aim to bridge the gap in short-to-medium-distance transportation. Our initial goal is to conduct a thorough market experiment to assess demand, optimize our service, and establish a foundation for future growth.

User Segment — Travelers:

• Solo
• Group of friends
• Family/Couples
• Locals Residents (Excluded, as this group does not represent our TG).

For this exercise, I want to focus on the ‘Group of friends’ user persona, as I believe this segment:

• Represents a major portion of travelers.
• Would be receptive to lower-cost alternatives.
• Would be receptive to a healthy/environment-friendly theme.
• Will see the fun side of groups traveling on bikes and creating memories.

I am excluding the Family/Couple segment because I believe they are comparatively more used to convenience (travel by car, Chauffer services, public transport).

I am excluding solo travelers as I believe they represent a comparatively smaller portion of our target market.

(Available modes of travel: Cars, Cabs, Public transport, Bikes, Rented Scooters, Walking.)

• Available options are either expensive or don’t work in crowded areas. Driving a vehicle also requires a local license.
• Available rental options often require the vehicle to be dropped at the same place.
• Tourists often run into language barriers while conversing with local vendors/drivers.
• It’s a pain to find trustworthy rental vehicle vendors. Also, the rental bike marketplace is unorganized, and comparing prices upfront is practically impossible.
• Walking is exhausting and takes a lot of time.
• Exploring local tourist attractions is time taking.

I believe bike rental is an amazing opportunity to solve some of the pain points mentioned above.

Bike discovery: Enable users to find the bike pickup and Drop stations through the App (Maps integration). The app will also help navigate users to these stations.

Renting: Upon discovery, the user shall be able to unlock the bike and start the trip. For this, the user needs to identify the selected bike through the App. This requires QR code scanning to connect the bike and the App.

Authentication: Once the bike is recognized, the user needs to Authenticate themselves. This needs Signup/Login. Signup further needs the user to complete their KYC.

KYC — Ask for an Identity document and a Selfie. (External integration with identity verification vendors like Experian). Enable Foreign nationals to complete KYC with a ‘Passport’.

Payment: Once authenticated, the user will be shown payment options (integration with Payment Gateway). Amount will be calculated on the basis of the duration of the rental, and security deposit.

Trip: After successful payment, the bike will be unlocked, and the trip will start. One trip = one active session per user.

Location Sharing: The rider will have the option to share their location from within the app with friends/family.

Explore: List nearby tourist destinations, restaurants, and local attractions, and help users get there. (Maps integration)

Translate: Voice-based translation capability.

Localization: The app interface will be available in 10 global languages.

Drop-Off: This feature will appear for active trips, and list nearby drop-off points. Once the bike is connected to a lock installed at the drop-off station, the rider can press ‘End Trip’ and the trip will finish. Any remaining balance will be collected/reimbursed through the app (Payment module).

Help: This feature will appear for active/closed trips, allowing the user to connect to customer support or Emergency respondents.

Batch order: This feature will allow one user to start up to 3 simultaneous trips so that a group of customers can be catered to. The user will still need to complete the KYC process for all the users. We want to limit the number of parallel trips to mitigate fraud risk.

Bike Accessories:

• Preinstalled phone stand (To help with navigation)
• GPS
• Helmet (for rider’s safety)

Version 1 (Limited launch — to test the basic features):

• Discovery (High & High)
• Renting (High & High)
• Authentication (High & High)
• Payment (High & High)
• Trip (High & High)
• Drop-Off (High & High)

(Despite being high-effort features, they are absolutely required to meet the minimum requirements.)

• Help (High & Low)

(High Impact due to Safety and Grievances)

Version 2:

• Location Sharing (Medium & Medium)
• Localization (Medium & Medium)
• Explore (Medium & Medium)

(These features will definitely make the app more useful, but can wait till the basic features are executed and tested.)

Version 3:

• Batch Order (Medium & High)
• Translate (Low & Medium)

My approach for this would be to define how this is different from solving the core problem with existing solutions, focus on a persona to understand the user, map the user journey to understand the necessary requirements, come up with solutions, and prioritize the features. I am assuming this solution to be based in India

Why would any tourist rent a bicycle?
This provides an affordable medium for commuting and control over the route. It allows you to increase your radius of exploration around a single spot. It is also easy to ride and does not require a license. 

Let us understand the user now: 
Tourists are of multiple kinds solo travelers, families, friend groups, and adventure travelers. 
Out of these personas, it is safe to assume solo travelers would be the nearest persona to the ideal customer profile as they prefer cheaper alternatives and also tend to come out of their comfort zone and explore more. 

PainPoints/Needs for solo travelers:

Wants the bicycle to be discoverable
Wants an idea of the cost of the trip
Want to know their current location
Concerned about safety
Wants help in route planning
May get tired on the way
Needs to know more about the route as elevated routes may be tiresome
If they are foreigner, they need to pay through international cards

Basic User Journey and EdgeCases: 

- User decides to go out and Log in
- User finds bicycles around them
- User enters the desired destination
- User gets a price estimate and decides to go ahead
- User reaches the nearest bicycle
- User unlocks the bicycle and Starts riding
- User parks it and visits places

Edge cases: 
The cycle has some repairs: 
- User finds an Issue with the repair
- User calls for a mechanic
- User takes a replacement cycle/ Alternative commute

Unexpected incident (accident, unsafe environment, Stolen Cycle)
- User Clicks SOS Button
- User receives quick help from the rescue team.

The user is tired/ Cannot return the cycle to the original location: 
- User Parks the bicycle in a safe place
- User picks an alternate commute 

This case also covers where users keep exploring only one way of the route and then want to return quickly to their stay. 

Solution:
This would be an app that uses Google Maps or any other map provider's API with our customized UI built based on the features. Here are some features based on the above discussion and their priority based on satisfying the core needs of users. 

Conclusion:

his solution focuses on essential user needs, providing features that enhance user convenience, safety, and enjoyment. Building an app with the P0 features will establish a solid foundation, with P1 and P2 features enhancing the experience. This phased approach also supports scalability, allowing future expansion for additional personas like family and group tourists.

Problem Statement: Build a bicycle-renting app for tourists 

About:

Bike share is a modern transportation method that permits people to travel using publicly accessible bicycles. It involves a set of purpose-built, robust, and long-lasting bikes that are secured into a network of docking stations spread throughout the service zone. 

-The bikes can be unlocked from any station and returned to any other station in the system, making bike share a great option for short, one-way journeys.

Users:

- Tourists - Users who search, view and rent a bike

1. International tourists: Users from a different country

2. Domestic tourists: Users from a different state or city

-The company that is renting the bikes.

Assumptions:

1. For renting a bike, the users would need to authenticate certain personal details like phone number as well as a valid ID proof 

2. There would be various plans for bike renting, like a single ride, daily, monthly, and yearly rides along with their corresponding pricing.

3. There's only one bike renting company and tourists here mean international tourists

4. Bikes here mean bicycles that do not require a driving license for riding

Use Cases:

 Seller(Company renting the bike)

Use Cases

Priority

Consumer(Tourist)

#for the present scope I will only consider P1 

Potential Solutions:

Success Metrics:

Key Metrics

• Number of Active Users
• Conversion Rate
• Booking Frequency and retention rate
• Average revenue generated per booking and Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
• Operational Efficiency

Clarifying Questions

·     Since you mentioned this as an app, is this for an iOS or Android device or both

·     Are we a startup or an existing company trying to enter/explore this market.

·     Are we building this for a specific country/city.

Interviewer - For now we would concentrate only on Android devices. We are a startup building this product from scratch and you can choose the country/city of your choice for this app.

Additional Questions based on the above information

·        Any constraints with time

·        Since this is a startup, are we well-funded and backed by a good Engg team.

·        The initial goal is user acquisition/engagement

Interviewer – There are no constraints with time and funding and we do have a knowledgeable Engg team to deliver this app. Yes, the initial goal is user acquisition

To sum it up, we are a startup entering the bicycle rental business by introducing an app for tourists to explore the city. No constraints with time and funding.

In the initial phase, we would be building this app for India as this market is pretty new in India and currently, there is no major player in the market. The few players in this market as tied to specific cities like Bangalore.

Further within India, we would like to initially concentrate on a specific state – Rajasthan as it enjoys many footfalls and international tourists during the peak season. Rajasthan is more culturally diverse and there are quite a good number of tourist spots.

User Segments

Tourists (National and International)

    o   Types of Tourists

          Solo Traveler

          Group Traveler – Couples, Friends

          Tourists with Family (includes kids, old parents)

    o   Budget

          Tight budget

          Decent budget

          High budget

Bicycle providers

    o   Small/local bike shops

    o   Dealers

    o   Manufacturers

    o   Individual bicycle owners

Additional Questions
Are we deciding to own a fleet of bicycles or use services from local shops and use their bicycles for our rental app or are Individual bicycle owners

Interviewer – Fleet of bicycles

Considering we would have our fleet, we can ignore the bicycle providers at this moment and concentrate on Solo and Group Travelers as our user segment. Within this segment, we would like to go with Tourists on Tight and decent budgets, since the ones with a high budget may not need this and would rather opt for the existing bike/car rental services.

User Focus

·        Solo and Group Travelers (National and International) on a tight as well a decent budget

User Pain points with existing transportation

·        Language Barrier

·        Navigation within the city

·        The fare for auto services is not structured which sometimes leads to tourist exploitation.

·        Limited knowledge of bus timings, frequency, and routes, and the buses are too crowded.

Brainstorm on the ideas

·   User experience

     o   Language barrier (Hind / English / German / Spanish / French)

     o   Availability of bicycles – In-Use, Available

     o   Bicycle pick-up and drop points

     o   User verification

     o   Reminders for the availability of bikes if already in use

     o   Reminders of when rental time ends

     o   Increase the rental time

     o   Support in case of breakdown, incidents, thefts

     o   Reviews

     o   GPS navigation attached to bicycle

     o   Video recordings while riding the bicycle

·   Rider Safety

    o   Accessories like Helmet

·   Payment methods

·   Charges

·   Information on places to visit

    o   History / Background of the place

    o   What to do in the specific cities

   o   Restaurants, Places to eat

Feature priority

In the first iteration we would focus more on the user experience, the goal is to enable users to browse and select the bicycles of their choice, pick the bicycles, complete the ride without any hiccups, and drop the bicycles at the destination. The user should be able to find the pickup and drop location without any hassles. 

In the first iteration, we can have the pick-up, and drop locations at a specific convenient place and some central places within the pickup-and-drop location in case of breakdown or incidents, so we do not have to come up with various hubs within the city. These can be included in the next iteration.

Success Metrics

1.      # of users completed the onboarding process

2.      # of onboarded users who completed their first ride

3.      # of dropouts due to unavailability of bicycles

4.      Bicycles that were searched for and booked

5.      Bicycle breakdown, thefts

Clarifying Questions: 

1. Who wants to build the app, a start-up or a big company in the riding space like Uber? Big company 
2. Do they want to target a particular location for POC? Bangalore
3. What's the business model, asset-lite marketplace model or the company will own theinventory? Inventory owned by the company

• Tourists 
  • 20-30 years: Solo travelers and/or travel with friends groups
  • 30-40 years: Couples, families with children
  • 40+ years (Out of scope for POC) 
    • Health constraints. EV bicycle might be a better alternative for them
• Travel Agents 
  • Agencies who book rental bikes on behlaf of tourists and package services they provide 
• Delivery boys (Out of scope for POC)
  • EV powered bicycles might be a better alternative 
• Business travelers (Out of scope for POC)
  • Not safe in a city like Bangalore where there are no cycling lanes and too much dust 

1. Discovery: 
   1. How can I find out about the bike rental costs (deposists, refundable amounts etc). Is there an incentive to booking in advance or doing group bookings
   2. If group bookings are cheaper can I make my group on the app itself
   3. How can I know about the drop off and pick up points closest to where I stay in the city with ease 
2. Pick up & drop experience: 
   1. What are the different ID proofs or documents that I must submit in order to pick up the bike?  Can I do these in advance so that I can save time while picking up mybike
   2. What kind of gear comes with the bike helmet, kids carrier etc and do I have to pay extra
   3. How can I pay for the trip and end it easily? Accepted payments methods
3. Safety and riding experience: 
   1. How can I navigate myself across the town with ease?
   2. How can I report when there is an incident like flat tyre or accident or theft etc 

How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?

Some clarifications to start with (will/can ask more clarification questions as we proceed further)

1/ Is this is a bicycle renting marketplace -> I have can my bicycle available for rent and some tourist can rent it or is this  an app for bicycle shop owners to rent their bikes or is this an app for renting bicycle from different places in a city with my inventory? 

2/ Which country or city

Lets say this is a marketplace for various tourists to rent a bike from any bike shop. 

 Ok thank you

Lets say this is for a bike friendly city -> Seattle, Vancouver, SF, Rome, Delhi, Paris, London, and so on

Structure ->

1/ Define the goal of this app

2/ List different user personas

3/ Identify one user persona that aligns with the goal

4/ List their journey/day in life

5/ List potential solutions

6/ Prioritize solutions

7/ Define user experience

8/ Define metrics

9/ Launch plan

1/ Goal -> Grow rental revenue per user

2/ Users

Rentees

• Solo travelers

• Family travelers

• Couples travelers

• Office travelers -> team building events

Renters

• Bike shops/vendors

3/ Potential user persona

• Couples and Family travelers 

  • I am choosing these 2 types of travelers because there are a lot of frequent travelers than the other categories

  • Renting at a time they rent more than 1 bike

  • And more than 1 day

4/ Journey

• Plan a trip

  • This is mainly based on where travelers want to visit. There are many apps for this already such as trip advisor

• Identify places they want to visit

  • Again apps available for this already

• Know which places are better to explore with bikes

  • Based on reviews from customers, but we can have a app which helps them identify if the places they are visiting are bike friendly and what can be explored with the bikes -> Opp

• Know where to get bikes

  • Need to know where to get the bikes and how much they would cost

• Know the route for the bike rides

  • Need help with bike riding routes using GPS or maps

• Rent for a portion of the day, whole day, and multiple days

  • Be able to rent based on their need

• Get help when in need with the bike

  • Have a capability to reach to renter when bike breaks down or get insurance or find other bike shops close by incase they need air or tuning or rent add ons like helmets, knee pads and so on

• Get different styles of bikes based on the experience -> single rider bike, double rider bikes, bikes with kids’ cart, mountain bikes

  • Different types of bikes based on number of riders, types of riders (adults, kids, couples)

• Need help with communication when not a native speaker

  • Localized experience

Renter journey

• List their store on the app

• Display bike inventory they have

• Add the rental price

• Manage available inventory

• Support rentees with any help in needed

5/ solution

Rentee

Rentee

6/ Metrics

• Apps downloaded

• Bikes explored

• Bikes rented per day

• Drop off in renting journey

• Bike shops available on the portal

• Bike shops able to help with rental

• Bike shops with bad reviews

• Bike shops with good reviews

Launch plan - 

1/ Target 1 or 2 cities

2/ Partner with bike shops in that cities

3/ Partner with other travel related cities so show the app (e.g. trip advisor, viator and eo on)

4/ Offer discount for the first time renters

Summary - 

We will launch an app with bike stores registered in a few cities. Travelers can search for bikes available to rent in a city by day(s) and time frame. They can choose to keep the bike through the rental period and bring it back to the store. Localized experience from get go.

Question: How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?

Clarifying Questions:

1. Who is the renter? Are these specific companies that rent bicycles ? -- Yes

2. What is the goal of this app? I am assuming it's to increase sales/rent outs because it also contributes to revenue. -- correct.

3. Is this company new to this business or do they have a specific process already to rent out bicycles. -- at present there's no app. Person should visit store and collect bicycle.

Goal - To increase the number of rentouts of bicycles. We have a store which rents bicycles and people can come collect bicycles and then return to the store.

Assumptions - 

1. Geographical Scope - India 

2. Anyone with a valid govt Id can rent out a bicycle.

3. At present renting isn't available online. Users must visit the store, view available ones and collect.

User Personas   

1. Stores that rent cycles

2. People who take bicycles for few hours within a day - intercity and can return them

3. People who rent for more than a few days mostly tourists

4. Different country citizens without indial id

5. Kids - parents are customers

6. People who need a bicycle to travel to another place but cannot return back to the same store.

7. Regular users - People who want to rent on a daily basis for few hours - ex. commute to work/clg

For the purpose of this question I will be targeting 2, 3 and 6. Since the question is targeted at tourists and these user personas form a larger customer segment of tourists.

Current user journey 

1. Sellers/Renting stores - Will have physical stores where user should visit to see if bicycles are available and collect for rent.

2. Bicycle renters/customers

1. Check for stores that rent

2. Visit stores to see if bicycles are available and if they suit them

3. Provide I'd/ formalities to rent

4. Choose a bicycle

5. Collect

6. Return.

Pain points for buyers 

1. Unsure of available stores - P1

2. Manually visit store - time consuming and hectic - P1

3. Unsure of available bicycles and costs - P1

4. Return back to the same store. P2

5. Carry Id and advance payments P2

Assign priority to pain points . For the purpose of this interview, I will focus on P1 pain points. 

Solutions:

1. Unsure of available stores 

   1. All bicycle renting stores are listed in the app along with details - location, timings, contact num . We can get this info from Google. Users can search by location also. 

   2. We can have a chatbot in the app where the user enters all his requirements - cycle type, distance from his place, dates to collect, costs etc. Chatbot will provide a list of matching stores to user. 

   3. User can Leave a query on all the requirements he has and it will be sent out to all sellers. Interested sellers can contact customers. 

2. Manually visit store - time consuming and hectic

   1. Stores can provide delivery at pickup options from users home/specific point. Users can view which stores provide this option in our app. 

   2. Stores can have pickup and drop points at multiple places with OTP locks to cycles. App will provide this otp and available cycles at different pick up points time to time. 

3. Unsure of available bicycles and costs

   1. Costs per hour / pricing policy will be displayed in the app. 

   2. Available cycles can be seen bw solution option provided above in 1.

   3. Provide users the ability to block their required cycles. Can include a base fare that's non refundable.

Trade Offs 

1. Every store might have a different policy to rent cycles. This should be clearly articulated in the app.

2. Users can block cycles and may cancel booking later. 

Metrics

1. North Star - total No of bicycles rented 

2. No of tourists booking bicycles via app 

3. No of registered users and MAU

4. No of users using each feature in app.

5. No of bicycle sellers/renters registering in app.

Please share feedback :) 

Clarification: Is this a national or international application?

Are we talking about renting regular pedal-reliant bikes or eBikes and would those riders need a driver’s license?

Define our users by tourist types:

Customer Needs

Teenager 

• Needs a way to get from A-B in an unfamiliar city with some guidance along the way. 

• Navigation assistance in native tongue. Recommendations for restaurants/trails/things to do in Native language.

• Easy place to pick up/drop off and pay for the bike.

• GPS and navigation.

• For urban areas, I would suggest e-bikes. But you may also include a fleet or mountain climbing bikes available in specific locations. For this traveler, perhaps eBikes in the city and traditional bikes in suburban/rural/beach locations. Think about a family renting a house at the lake where the teenager may get a little cabin fever and want to go for a ride. Or the family as a unit may want to go for a traditional bike ride along nearby trails.

21-30 

• Also needs navigation and recommendation in Native language. They are likely traveling with friends and may want more independence and coordination options (-- let’s meet up for dinner after hiking thru paris per example.)

• This age group may also be traveiling with a boyfriend/girlfriend.

• Easy place to pick up, drop off and pay for the bike.

• Added security features (p/up drop/off locations well lit.)

• More likely to be traveling in urban areas, seeking things to do and see in the city (resturants/shopping/entertainment/culture/bars/dancing/traditional sight seeing).

• Adventure/recreational tourists are all well within this age group but typically put more thought and preparation into these sort of trips. Often they have their own gear. But I can see the need for impromptu day trips for this group allowing them to stay fit while on vacation and seeing some beautiful scenery outside of the traditional tourist spots.

Family

• Many of the same requirements as the above group, but may want more gps functionality allowing them to feel more secure if their children go off on their own.

• Niche market for the family vacation are bike rentals near campsites, accessible to rivers, beaches.

•  Regular bikes may also be a nice alternative for this traveler. They are just likely to travel to a rural area as they are to the city. 

• Think weeklong Arbnb accommodations near a beach.

• Long-term bike renters may be a good niche market for the family-unit touristing.

• Transparent and clear pricing is also important for this group

Prioritization

I would prioritize features that offer the greatest benefit and are not currently available in the marketplace. Google maps has some of the features but it focuses on commuting logistics and not leisure.

• The user downloads the app. Upon start, t.

• It directs the user to the nearest avilable bike location.

• The app clearly displays the cost and terms of the purchas.

• User may scan via Samsung/iPhone/ or major credit car w/entering CC#.

• App is immediately synched with that user at that location via GPS.

• Initial VoE “Can I recommend a restaurant, museum, or would you like to take it from here?”

• Engagement Options

• User Swipes Left to end further engagment with the app.

  • Security features and Google maps integration continues continues in behind screen, only alerts users for security alerts, accidents, inclamate weather or when their ride is about to expire.the back e to stop app engagement with the exception of google map integrations and security alerts accidents, weather alerts, etc.

• User Swipes right and a host of functionality is enabled. Recommendations on fun things to do within biking distance around them (1-5 miles in the city).

• With some ML, the app becomes more intuitive, learning more about the type of things they like to do when they travel. (Are they more likely to want to ride to a nearby bar for live music or a trail or the ocean?)

• It can also cross-reference with geographic details of that location, what are the must-sees in New York City? Who has the best pizza in Chicago?

•  When rented together, the bikes can be paired while in use. This allows the user to know the estimated locations of others within their traveling group while engagement with the app, if this feature is turned on.

• Rental pick up locations are all well lit. All eBikes are equipped with proper protective gear.

• Trip details are saved and if the user wants can be viewed, shared or downloaded allowing the user to see on a map where they traveled and what they saw while on vacation

Understanding the problem

First off, let’s make sure I understand the situation. I’m going to assume this is going to be a mobile application. Is it okay to focus on the United States?

Do we have a specific goal or target in mind? Do we have the luxury of focusing on engagement or do we need to start showing the ability to monetize? Let’s focus on monetizability.

User Personas

Now that we understand the situation better let’s go ahead and list out a few user personas of the people who would be interested in our using our app:

1. Family Vacationers: Larger group of people, 3+. Will probably have children with them, aged anywhere from babies to adults.  Larger focus on the leisure side. Not as price sensitive.
2. Solo Traveler: Adventurous, probably on the younger side. May be traveling on a budget. Always on the go. Bike is more so strictly a mode of transportation.
3. Fitness Fanatics: Younger to middle aged, trying to get some exercise in as well as enjoy the experience. Will likely go on a longer ride more intense ride.

With monetization as our goal let’s focus on the family vacationers user segment. They are not as price sensitive as the other user segments and they have more members in their group so instead of selling a service to one person we have the opportunity to sell it to a group.  

Pain Points / Needs

Now that we’ve chosen a user segment let’s identify some of their needs or pain points:

1. Need a larger variety of bicycle models and sizes. Kids cannot ride adult sized bikes, perhaps if they have young children a little bonnet attachment might be necessary. 
2. Need to know where the safe roads are available. Little kids aren’t always the best at handling a bike or paying attention to traffic, so choosing roads that are safe with large bike paths or sidewalks is essential.
3. Need to know where to go. They are in a foreign place they need to know where all the cool spots worth visiting are
4. Little kids get tired when biking and may not be able to keep up with adults

Solutions

Now that we have a good handle on some of the problems or pain points family vacationers might have let’s brainstorm some solutions:

1. We could have an e-bike option for children that automatically ensures each cycle of the pedals generates X amount of power. It could automatically adjust based upon how much force is being generated by the child pedaling and the rate at which they are pedaling. 
2. Have a safe route option inside of our app for novice bike riders or children that highlights the safest most bike friendly route towards a destination
3. Sell a connector piece that we connect the handlebars of a second bike to the seat of another bike effectively turning it into a tandem. This would help children or tired bikers get a boost from someone else and have the person in front control the steering.
4. Create a route recommendation engine, users could enter their interests and how long they want to bike for then we could recommend an optimal route that would navigate them to different destinations

Prioritization

We’ve brainstormed several different solutions but probably don’t have the bandwidth to build them all so let’s go ahead and compare the features to see if we can prioritize just one. Normally we would try to do this with some data or supporting evidence backing up our grades but for the sake of this interview we will be a little subjective here:

Monetizability, User Satisfaction, Ease of Implementation

1. B, B, B
2. C, B, B
3. C, C, C
4. A, A, B

So based upon the above prioritization matrix and considering the fact that we want to focus on monetization, I am going to suggest we go ahead with suggestion #4 the recommendation engine.

Feature Pros / Cons

It offers a great monetization opportunity in the form of serving sponsored destination recommendations. For example, if the users puts down art as an interest of theirs and attends a private museum that we recommended on their route we would get a kick back from the museum. Additionally, we could display a variety of contextually and highly targeted ads within the app. For example, if we saw that you had been bicycling for an hour straight on a hot day we could display a notification for $2 off a boba tea at a tea shop that is nearby.

One of the potential downsides to this app idea is that tourists who are looking to rent bicycles may already have an agenda in place. Maybe we could circumvent this issue by trying to focus on getting users at the top of the funnel. For example, we could advertise the personalized self-guided bike tour as an experience in of itself instead of our app just being a mode of transportation to different places of interest.

Summary

In summary, in hopes of increasing monetization amongst the Family Vacationers user segment we are going to offer a personalized self-guided bike tour experience through our app. Users will fill out several key interests and how far they wish to travel and we will provide them a route with several different places worth stopping at along the way. We will be able to monetize this in two ways, one by recommending destinations we have a profit sharing agreement with and two by serving contextual and highly targeted ads.

Problem: The problem we're trying to solve here is to help tourists commute easily when they are visiting a new city. If I were a tourist, I would want to find transport options that are

• Flexible
• Easy to find
• Cost effective
• Shouldn't worry about parking
• Easy to navigate through the city

Users: There would be 2 types of users for the app:

1. People who put the bicycles for rent
2. People who rent the bicycles

These can be further divided into the following:

1. People who rent out the bicycles:
   1. Company(s)
   2. Individuals looking to rent out their bicycles when not in use (Like an AirBnB)
2. People who rent the bicycles:
   1. Tourists
   2. City dwellers
   3. Commuters

For the purpose of this design, I would focus on the tourists since we are trying to solve a problem for them and for people who rent out the bicycle I would want to focus on individuals looking to rent out their bicycles when not in use.

When I travel to new cities, it is the people living in that city that make me feel at home and included. In this case if I were travelling to a city and realized that people of that city are renting out bikes for tourists, I would automatically feel included and a part of their community and lives.

Types of Tourists:

International and Local and each cab ne divided into the following category

1. Lonely travelers
2. Couples
3. Travelling with friends
4. Travelling with family
   1. With kids (age less than age 5)
   2. With kids (age between age 5-16)
   3. With elders (age greater than 60)

For the purpose of this problem I would want to focus on the lonely international travelers because

1. they are travelling alone which means they are most likely adventurous and like to explore new things/places alone
2. They probably would not want to sign up for a guided city tour
3. They travel to understand the culture and community of a place

Solution:

• I would start with an app that is available in both iOS and Android and that is probably light weight since tourists may not have good internet options
• The app should support multiple languages
  • I would research a little more and figure out the top 2-3 languages that travelling tourists use. I'm sure it's Spanish, Chinese and English pending research.
• The app should have an inbuilt navigation system or connect to Google Maps/Waze/Apple Maps to provide directions to tourists (whichever makes sense based on resources and other cost constraints)
• The app should show the nearest available bikes based on users location
• The app should show nearest drop off locations based on users location
• The app should show a description of the person that's renting the bike and his recommendations of places to visit and things to do

Prioritization:

I would prioritize my features based on business value, reach, impact, confidence and ease. Did not go into more details for the sake of time.

I would test the app in a couple of major cities around the world where tourists travel to the most. I'm guessing these are NY, Paris and London.

Metrics:

Since this is a new app, I would focus on customer acquisition and activation. Once the product attains a product market fit and the app has a good user base, I will focus on engagement and retention metrics when the product is in the growth stage.

To drill down the metrics further,

User Acquisition:

• Number of users who download the app
• Ratio of Number of click on adds vs. Number of users who download the app

User Activation:

• Number of users who book a bike ride in the app
• Ratio of Time when users downloading the app vs. Time when users book a ride

In summary, I will design a bike app for International tourists who are travelling alone. The app will be light weight, available on both iOS and Android devices and will support 3 of the most spoken languages by tourists worldwide. I will focus on metrics pertaining to User Acquisition and User Activation until a product market fit is achieved after which I will focus on user retention and engagement.

Clarifications:

1. Why do we have to build the application? To promote cycling and reduce traffic
2. Who wants to build this application? Entrepreneuer / bicycle manufacturer / govt agency / non-profit Entrepreneuer
3. For which market are we building this product? not specified

• To promote cycling among people for short distances
• To reduce traffic

• Not be owned by the users of the app. Will be owned by the business
• Have logistical constraints such as pick-up, drop-off and ensure safety of the user and the bicycle as well

1. User is made aware of the product(Bicycle Rental)
2. User shows intent to use the product
   1. User is educated about the product (value prop, how to use)
   2. User is onboarded/sign up
3. User finds and rents a bicycle
4. User drops off the rented bicycle
5. User pays the rent

1. Logistics / Supply Chain
   1. Where can a user rent and drop-off  a bicycle after use
   2. How can a user find a bicycle
   3. How will we ensure the safety of the rider and the bicycle
   4. What rules and regulations do we need to comply with
2. Tech
   1. Which user should be allowed to rent a bicycle
   2. How can the user find a bicycle
   3. How can the bicycle be assigned to a user for rent/usage
   4. How can the user end a rental
   5. How will we collect payment from the user for deposits and rent

1. Finding a bicycle to rent + Finding the drop-off spot
   1. Impact - All users and every transaction
   2. Priority - P0(MVP)
   3. Justification - Imperative to enabling the digital path of discovery
   4. Solution - We can use Google Maps APIs to recreate the locate and rent/drop-off experience on the app. 
2. Renting a bicycle and uniquely assigning it to a user + Ending a rental
   1. Impact - All users and every transaction
   2. Priority - P0(MVP)
   3. Justification - Since bicycles would be owned by the business, keeping an accurate track of each unit is imperative to ensure that the bicycle is picked and dropped off at designated locations.
   4. Solution - Enable a bluetooth based connection between the bicycle and the app so that the rent initiation and drop-off can be accurately timestamped and geo-tagged. This will ensure that the bicycles get picked from and dropped off at designated locations.
3. User validation/KYC
   1. Impact - All users, one time
   2. Priority - P0(MVP)
   3. Justification - We need to safeguard the inventory and ensure that we are responsibly extending service to the users.
   4. Solution - Ask the user to upload a valid ID and take a selfie in the sign-up flow. Charge a deposit fee at the time of renting a bicycle.
4. Payments
   1. Impact - All users and every transaction
   2. Priority - P0(MVP)
   3. Solution - Support the most commonly used payment instruments based on the area/region of launch. It can be wallets/CC/direct bank integration.

1. Pick up and drop off spots(answering #1 and #2)
   1. Should be within a 5 km radius of tourist hotspots
   2. Should be easily accessible or close to public transport hubs and hotel hubs/areas
2. Safety of the user(answering #3 and #4)
   1. Provide helmets for rent
   2. Bicycles should have a light and appropriate reflectors
   3. Minimum age of user to be determined before allowing the user to rent

1. Bicycle and accesories inventory - major upfront investment. Bicycle rentals are unheard of in the regions where we want to operate/launch hence, we can not act as an aggregator.
2. IoT device to enable tagging and locking bicycle - one time investment of development which only scales with business volume.
3. App - Maps API and server costs will be pay-as-you-go which can be evaluated at scale. For initial stages, the same can be utilised to get proof of concept and product-market fit.

Start with one city/area with which the business teams are familiar and solve initial problems around online and offline flow. Inventory investment should not be high for the initial stages and only scaled based on user response.

Metrics:

1. Sign ups 
2. Sign up drop offs
3. User base - new/returning
4. Activity - session volume of new and returning users
5. Booking funnel (absolute count)
   1. Discover pick-up spot
   2. Reach pick-up spot
   3. Initiate booking flow
   4. Rent and unlock bicycle
   5. Drop-off bicycle
6. Revenue
7. Booking duration

Clarify that it is a mobile app and you will try this out as an MVP at a specific location, say San Francisco, and the type of bike - Manual or Electric.   

Target customer personas

• Single / Solo travelers
• Group travelers (more than 1)
• Family (with infant kids) - Bucket seats
• Family with Kids (older) 

• Be able to rent the bikes in advance
• Multi language support 
• Explore local site seeing location
• Explore local restaurant
• Meet other travelers
• Know more about the place (History, fun facts etc) throughout the journey

1. Ability to rent bikes in advance - Basic Need of the app
2. Integration with Google Apps that highlights local site seeing options & local restaurants (Engagement + Monitization opportunity)
3. Small snippets of info about the local place (history, fun facts) throughout the journey  (Engagement)

Step 1: Clarifying Questions

• Are we focusing on a particular location? - London Only
• Is the idea to get people to rent cycles from shops/ Santander docking stations or is it like lime bikes that have no docking stations and users can leave the cycles in a safe spot?
• If the idea is to rent from shops, would we like to offer Price comparisons? - N/A
• Do we want to have an option to unlock and pay from the app ? - Yes

Step 2: Goal

The goal is to design a bicycle renting app for tourists visiting London that can help them find a bike available for hire as well well pay and unlock using the app.

Step 3: Users

• First-time visitors
• Repeated visitors

We are going to focus on first-time visitors

Step 4: User needs

• Have the ability to search for a cycle near to them; pay and unlock instantly
• Since they are not aware of areas, cycles have a GPS to help them navigate
• User prefer to leave the cycle close to the location they want to explore, rather than docking them 500m away and then walking
• Have a small storage space as users generally carry a small bag with water, sunglasses, nutribars as they are out most of the day
• Virtual guide as users might be keen to know the history of other important and interesting facts about the location

Step 5: Solutions

• Locate what's close to me: all cycles have a GPS that lets users search for the ones closest to them
• Instant start and end: users enter their card details and unlock the cycle instantly by scanning a unique barcode on the cycle, they will be charged at the end of the journey when they re-scan the barcode and upload a picture of the cycle being parked at the safe location (such as the corner of the pavement) to end their journey
• Bag space: cycles have a small basket in front that lets users store their bags
• Help me learn!: cycles have a port where users insert headphones; the cycles have inbuilt GPS that can anticipate the location and tell users the history about the place

Step 6: Evaluation

Solution No.Freq of UsageImpact on UserImpact on BusinessDev. time

Based on the above priorities, we can decide that 1 & 2 are quick wins, 3&4 are good to have. Having said that, option 4 is an add on service and can help generate

Step 7:Metrics

Locate what's close to me:

• No. of users get on the app to locate a cycle per week
• No. of users proceed to hire a bike vs no. of dropouts

Instant start and end:

• No. of users hire a bike per week
• Avg. revenue generated per cycle/ per journey

How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?

Clarity

When you say tourists do you mean international or national - could be both

is it only for tourists or anyone can rent it? - could be either, assuming you want to optimise for tourists here

Is the physical design/logistic of the bike renting app part of the scope - no, just design the app, assume physical condition as deem apt

Any specific country in mind - lets assume london for starters

Is this a native app or web app - as you feel apt

who are the customers?

The renters of the bike can be broken down into following cohorts:

Locals

Tourists , as mentioned in the problem we want to focus on this cohort 

Single individuals - I would focus on single individuals since anecdotally speaking this cohort is the one I've seen renting bikes most often

Families

Large groups 

Personsas are as follow:

Single male tourist

Mark, a 33 year old French native is visiting london and wants to see all the sights around london

He speaks fluent french, is uncomfortable with English , likes exercising and being out in the son, is conscious about his carbon foot print has plenty of disposal income

He is an expert rider, likes to have a rugged bike to go around town that he doesnt need to worry about 

Uses iphone X 

Single female tourist

Sukhmani is a 26 year old Indian female visiting london for the first time, she is a on a budget hence doesn't want to spend a lot of money 

She is an amateur rider and want a bike that isn't too heavy and has storage space.

She is worried for her safety and uses whatsapp to share live location with her friends.

User journey

Need trigger: tourists may realise that they need a bike much before they travel or after they land, they will be using this bike usually for travelling around town locally 

User action: Such users may search for bike rental on search engines first before they go looking for an app, a minority may search on play store.

Users may want to search by bike preference and then figure out pick up location or they may want to search by location and pick the bike available.

purchase: Once the user has figured out the bike he/she wants, they may be hesistant to pay the full amount upfront since they may not be sure of their logistics

post purchase:  I would want to know the different places I can drop off the bike at/it may be far for me so I may consider pick up

Needs/gaps

What are the primary metric/secondary metrics for this

Since this app is new we need to validate if it's solving the problem for the users so we may want to track % of users installing the app who try to book a bike (not necessarily successfully) this will give us a sense of usability/utility of the app.

This tells me 1) if users find the UX intuitive 2) is the value prop clear to the user ie is he/she able to identify which bike they want 

risk here is that this ignores the actual booking funnel, so as a defensive metric i'd want to look at % transaction rate as well 

health metrics

ARPU - P0

Average days booked  - P0

% of bikes succesfully returned within time- P0

% of each feature used ( this will tell us if we've over built the MVP) - P1

Time spent in the app - here we dont want this numnber to be high since it means users are strugglign with understanding the steps - P0

Sessions to transaction ratio - P0

Aha moments - P0

Summarising 

Clarification :

The bike rental app is for renting through docks or through bike rental shops (Assuming it is bike rental shops)

Global or US (Global given US public transport is well developed and in many developing countries bicycles/bikes/car rentals are the only way to get around) 

Goal :

User adoption (Get people to use the app to rent bikes)

User Groups:

Short-term renters: For a day

Long-term renters: For duration of travel (1 week - 1 month)

Family/Groups : Need multiple bicycles for a short duration

We will pick the long-term renters as they have more invested in finding the right bike and the revenue will be higher. 

User Needs:

1. Discovery:  Finding a bike close by, FInding the right kind of bike/renter

2. Making sure they are not overpaying 

3. Effortless booking and payment (Includes situations where someone might want to extend rental)

4. What to do in emergencies (Accident, damage, loss, stolen)

5. Delivery/Pick-up of bike is a hassle

6. Loss of key

Solutions:

Based on th above, the solutions to prioritise: 

1. Discovery: Map based listing, repoutation and review of bike shops

2. Calendar booking, online payment

3. Emergency: Insurance, Find my bike, report theft

Metrics :

1. CTR (Click through rate) on bike shops

2. Average #Reviews and Ratings 

3. Bounce rate (Leave without booking) vs Conversion rate (Booking made)

4. #insurances bought/#total rentals (%)

5. Revenue through insurance (Commission)

6. CTR : find my bike

7. #thefts reported /# on total rentals (%)

Comprehend the situation

To make sure I understand the case, we are building a mobile app that enables tourists to find bike renting shops and rent a bike through the app? Also, we are focussing on revenue generation, which means more bookings and monetization opportunities through the app.

Identify user personas

Budget traveler: A college-going early 20's Rob taking a semester break to travel in South America with his savings from the multiple part-time jobs he juggled in the past semesters.

Family vacation traveler: A high earning middle-aged adult John who has a habit of taking seasonal vacations in summer and winter along with his family.

Business traveler: Jeff, a management consultant, who visits multiple clients in various countries on short-term assignments and looks to explore the place whenever he gets time between his busy schedule.

I want to analyze the customer segments based on three factors - Interest, Available Time, Willingness to spend. Below table summarizes my analysis.

Since we are focussing on revenue, we need customers who have high willingness to spend. We also need someone with interest and time to engage in the activity of bike riding. Hence, I would like to focus on Family vacation traveler users.
 

List down the needs 

1. Wants to have a majority of his time spent leisurely with family rather than worrying about logistics and planning a day
2. Safety and security are the highest priorities. Concerned about helmets, speed limits, crossings, etc
3. Looks for other information such as rest areas, restaurants, places of interest
4. Wants to park the bike and quickly hop on and hop off at locations as per day plan
5. Likes to stop frequently and take family pictures

Cut through prioritization

I will focus on points 1, 2, and 4 because of 2 reasons. First, our chosen customer is ready to spend only when his must-haves are met. In this case, his must-haves are safety and taking time out of planning so that he can have more family time. Second, closely integrated with planning a travel day is taking the hassle out of thinking about bike parking. Our target is to provide seamless renting and riding bike experience without adding any additional friction. Also, the technologies required to facilitate this experience, which I will be discussing in the solution part, are readily available at low cost or even for free.

List the solutions

I want to clarify that it is ok to use any latest technology that is available today?

Integrate with google maps/trips public API: The idea here is to keep the user engaged with the app all the way from check-in to return while identifying opportunities to monetize along the way.

Sensor-enabled: This IoT device mounted on a bike is similar to locking and unlocking the front door of your house through mobile apps. This provides flexibility to leave the bike at many places and have it securely locked. It can also be used to analyze data from other bikes and provide timely notifications to the user about the weather, traffic, etc

Evaluate the solutions 

With our business goal of revenue generation in mind, implementation costs become a deciding factor. We want to build a solution that does not add any ongoing costs per usage. The sensor-enabled solution requires constant monitoring and analysis of data as well as incurs a substantial fixed cost in the form of building the IoT device. Although we can try with a limited number of bikes focussing on one area, the development costs involved won't reduce significantly. I believe that puts us at huge risk as we are losing strategic flexibility by investing a lot upfront.

On the other hand, a mobile app integrated with Google maps API is "build once and operate forever" mechanism. We can have the user hold on to the app through the entire journey. Monetizing opportunities include commissions from bike shops that list on our app and serving location-based advertisements such as restaurants. Costs include google maps usage fee, which can be packed in the booking fee. We are essentially bringing in all bike rental shops under one umbrella while at the same time forcing them to be competitive by providing safe, secure, and convenient experience for the user as monitored by customer ratings. We also take the pain of trip planning by leveraging Google trips that suggest day plans based on user's preferences.

Summary

To put it all together, we build a mobile app leveraging Google maps API that shows nearby bike rentals, provides online check-in, and acts as a guide suggesting places to visit while serving location-based advertisements.