Overview
GrabChat is the communication tool between passengers and drivers. Over time, plain text messaging alone is not enough to serve emerging use-cases. We built a richer GrabChat experience to solve customer painpoints and enhance the overall pickup experience.
Role
Solo Designer
I delivered E2E UX flows, UI specs, micro-interactions and prototypes for usability testing.
Team
1 designer, 1 product manager, 1 content writer, 3 engineers
Timeline
Feb-Mar 2018
100% rollout in June 2018
Launch
iOS, Android
8 countries across Southeast Asia
background
75% of Cancellations Happen Due to a Bad Pickup Experience
As the communication tool between drivers & pax*, GrabChat is one of the key touchpoints of the overall pickup experience. I analysed the related problems below.
*I refer to passengers as 'pax'
1. Failure to meet at exact pickup spot
GPS location isn’t always exact, so drivers could end up at a different pickup spot than where the pax is actually waiting at. This leads to a longer waiting time and more often than not, a cancellation by either party.
2. Number masking is expensive
As a privacy feature, phone numbers are displayed as random digits whenever a call occurs, even when it is not picked up. The operational cost of number masking is too high.
3. It’s true, Millennials hate phone calls...
Interestingly, there is a significant % of cancellations by either party after the driver has called, but a millennial pax failed to pick up.
4. Plain text is simply not enough
Drivers struggle with reading texts, especially when the texts are not concise.
Additionally, a significant % of bookings without the usage of GrabChat happen when the pax is older (50+), which suggests that older pax struggle with texting.
5. Language barriers
Grab operates across 8 countries speaking different languages, and has a significant % of users who are tourists. Cancellation rates are evidently high when drivers & pax can't communicate.
The Design
↓ cancellation rate
↓ cost of number masking
↑nps
Templates
3 preset templates of most commonly sent messages according to user data.
Up to 3 customisable templates - passengers can inform drivers of their usual pickup spot with just a few taps.
Images
Passengers can let drivers know where exactly they are by sending images, reducing miscommunication and improving overall pickup experience.
Voice Messages
Accessibility for older passengers who struggle with texting.
Receiving and sending voice messages make it much easier for drivers; this design also influenced Grab’s driver app.
Translated Messages
Foreign languages will now be automatically translated to passengers' phones' default language, bridging any language gaps.
New UI Library
A few months prior, the transport flow went through a redesign; I took this opportunity to give GrabChat a fresh look that matched the new transport UI.
Micro-Interactions to Delight
Being able to work closely with the developers to design the micro-interactions was personally the most fun part of this project ;)
