wheelShare
Product Manager, UI/UX Lead
For my Product Fundamentals class (CEE250), I worked as a product manager for Stanford Transportation. Our group’s main task was to increase the department’s revenue.
Team 4 Product Managers 3 Software Engineers 1 Product Designer
Duration 10 weeks (Jan - Mar 2024)
Project Context
What is the problem with Stanford Transportation?
COVID budget cuts have strained Stanford Transportation's finances, leading to service reductions and limiting growth. As a result, they have struggled to meet campus needs and annual goals. Stanford Transportation wants to increase revenue.
Final Solution
What is wheelShare?
wheelsShare is a two-sided market where permit holders pay a subscription fee ($5/month) to lend out their cars and renters pay daily or hourly fees. The subscription fees and a portion of the renting fees will go to the Stanford Transportation Department, thus increasing their revenue.
For our CEE250 class project, we were tasked with creating a product for a group of Stanford staff. In our initial brainstorm, we thought about staff that we encountered on a daily basis, such as the bike shop workers.
We conducted our interview by first asking about their day, their profession, and ultimately we began to ask about the “bugs” they encountered at work. This approach of asking general to specific questions allowed us to build a rapport with the staff and receive stories that would otherwise not be shared.
However, after talking to the bike shop workers and owners, we realized that they were accustomed to their working rhythm and were not in search for change. This is what pivoted us to learning more about the Stanford Transportation Department.
The Stanford Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for managing and facilitating transportation services and infrastructure for the Stanford campus community. The department’s primary objective is to provide efficient, safe, and sustainable transportation options for the entire campus community.
3
Safety
Maintain a safe environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists on campus roads and pathways.
6
Compliance
Ensure compliance with local regulations and university policies related to transportation and parking.
The DOT has 6 main objectives:
1
Accessibility
Ensure transportation services are readily available and accessible
to all members of the campus community.
4
Sustainability
Promote environmentally friendly transportation options and reduce the carbon footprint associated with commuting.
2
Efficiency
Minimize commuting times and reduce congestion through effective transportation planning and management.
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Affordability
Secure appropriate funding to make large-scale initiatives sustainable for the department.
Problem space
Interviews
Problem space
Target customer
By identifying and implementing strategies to increase the revenue from the sale of parking permits, the department can unlock valuable opportunities for financial growth and sustainability.
TAM
SAM
TM
Total $ spent on parking
Total $ spent on permit parking solutions in the US
Total $ spent on parking permits on college campus parking in the US
$121 B
$12.9 B
4,000 schools * 20,000 spots/ school * $400/year = $4.5 B
Problem space
Economic value
There we 3 main design constraints we adhered to.
Budget Limitations: Solutions must be revenue-generating, cost-effective, and financially sustainable in the short and long term
Regulatory Constraints: All transportation services and infrastructure from the Stanford Transportation Department must adhere to jurisdiction of the County of Santa Clara and City of Palo Alto. Any solution we come up with must also adhere to these jurisdictions.
Transportation Experience: Any revenue-generation solution should either maintain or enhance the transportation/parking experience of the campus population.
Solution space
Design constraints
Given our problem statement and design constraints, we came up with the 3 “How Might We” (HMW) statements:
HMW increase enforcement of parking so people are forced to buy parking permits?
HMW incentivize non-permit holders to purchase permits?
HMW generate additional revenue from existing parking permit holders?
We initially explored the first two HMW statements, but both of them led us to suboptimal solutions. When exploring the first HMW, we learned that the Stanford Transportation Department already has substantial infrastructure for parking enforcement. When exploring the second HMW, we learned that price is the biggest hurdle for non-permit holders and solutions in this space would be more policy-oriented rather than product-oriented.
We thus focused on the third HMW statement. This statement made the most sense to tackle because it leverages an existing set of parking permit holders. We used the Crazy 8’s method to rapid fire potential solutions, creating the FigJam below.
Solution space
Divergence & HMW Statements
We voted on the set of ideas listed above and took the top 3 ideas (votes marked by heart stamps above). To evaluate these top three ideas, we collected feedback from parking permit holders (supply) and students without cars (demand).
1
App where permit holders lend out their cars. Permit holders pay subscription fee of $5/month to gain access to this app.
Based on user feedback, Solutions 2 and 3 have low supply because permit holders, busy Stanford students, are unwilling to spend time on tasks like grocery shopping or airport drop-offs. Additionally, Solution 2 has low demand, as most students eat at dining halls.
In contrast, Solution 1 has high supply and demand. Permit holders, like M. Perez (junior), rarely use their cars and are willing to lend them with minimal effort. The demand is high because many students without cars want to go off-campus.
2
App where permit holders pick up groceries for others (e.g. InstaCart). Only permit holders can deliver through monthly subscription fee.
3
App where permit holders provide carpool rides to airports/SF. Only permit holders can give rides through monthly subscription fee.
Solution space
Convergence
Given the higher demand and supply for the first solution, we decided on our final solution: an app where parking permit holders lend out their cars to members of the campus community who do not own cars.
The design for wheelShare is inspired off of current two-sided market platforms such as AirBnB. There is a standard login page where both owners and renters can enter in their Stanford email address. To address concerns about safety from user interviews, we will include two-factor authentication. Only renters who have Stanford parking permits are allowed to join this service and only Stanford-affiliated individuals can rent cars. This allows for maximum transparency in who owns the car and provides renters with full information about the car rental process.
The browsing page for cars lists the cost of the car/hour and car/day, the model of the car, and star ratings. There is also a map feature which displays the cars closest to them and their price (hourly/daily). Renters to easily find a car both close to them and within their budget.
Solution space
The final solution, wheelShare
wheelShare is a platform built for integration with transportation departments (e.g., Stanford Transportation) and for use by permitted commuters. Transportation departments will integrate the platform with their permit system for verification, subsidize initial few months of registration fees for renters to aid in user acquisition, and cover part/all of insurance costs. To make a clear distinction, the paying customers are transportation departments and the end users are permit holders who rent out their idle cars on wheelShare or community members looking for cars to borrow.
Solution space
Economics
This was my first exposure to what life as a PM would look like. Although not mentioned above, our team went through several rounds of Crazy 8’s and HMW’s before reaching our final set of solutions. We pivoted many times, interviewed many rounds, and grew stronger in the process. My teammates, Mike Zhang, Rishi Agarwal, and Arjun Jain were the best people to work with. Even though this was just a class project, we could all see wheelShare turning into something real and useful to Transportation departments across the country.
Taking on the role of Design Lead also challenged me in ways I did not expect. I drew up wireframes, Lo-Fi to Hi-Fi, and took charge of the creative direction. I loved searching online for inspiration and twisting it to better serve wheelShare’s purpose.
Overall, this was a challenging but exciting project that allowed me to see the potential impact I can make in the world!
Dinner with our mentor, Alina Luk!
Refection