Téo Taxi from a UX perspective: looking under the hood of an app-based electric taxi service
Téo Taxi, based in Montreal, Canada, is one of North America’s first all-electric taxi companies. Starting out with 50 vehicles in 2015, the company has grown rapidly, and currently runs a fleet of over 130 vehicles driven by 400 salaried drivers — a first in an industry that traditionally relies on self-employed workers. From the start, Téo Taxi was in a class of its own. Not only did our snazzy green-and-white cars look different, we also offered Montrealers a completely new taxi experience: a quiet ride, impeccable customer service, and a simple and secure ordering and payment process via our mobile app.
Behind Téo Taxi was a vision to create an environmentally and socially responsible solution for Montreal’s taxi industry. Our all-electric cars save thousands of tons of carbon emissions every year (over 2,160 tons since 2015). In contrast to the industry norm, Téo drivers work regular hours for regular pay, with benefits. Free from the financial concerns that usually come with the job, our drivers can focus on delivering excellent customer service. Our core values are distilled into our brand, which we personified with the name Téo — an acronym for “transport écologique optimisé” (optimized eco-friendly transportation). Téo is also the person you can count on for punctual, courteous and friendly service.
The technology behind the brand
When we came up with the idea for Téo Taxi, we knew we’d have to design a top-notch user experience for both customers and drivers, along with an efficient operations management system. Owning an electric vehicle means planning ahead according to charging times and stations. You can’t just hit the road like you would with a regular car. So imagine the logistics behind managing an all-electric fleet that runs 24/7 with over 400 drivers working 8-hour shifts. Planning is everything.
The technology behind Téo Taxi is much like an iceberg. The tip is the intuitive app interface that allows users to order a taxi in a few simple steps. Hidden from view, several layers of hardware and software are in constant communication, with complex algorithms permitting split-second decisions to ensure the most efficient service possible.
I. The hidden layers
Real-time monitoring
We designed a monitoring and dispatch system that gives us real-time readings of our vehicles’ location and levels of battery charge. When a vehicle is due to be recharged, we direct it to the closest charging station where the driver can pick up another fully-charged car. In the company lingo, this is called a swap.
Why is charging such a big deal?
Basically because managing the range of all the vehicles in our fleet is an enormous operational challenge that must not, in any way, affect the user experience. When users enter their pick-up and drop-off addresses in the app, the system automatically dispatches a vehicle that will get them to their destination — with sufficient range to reach the nearest charging station or to pick up another customer in the immediate vicinity.
II. What the customer sees
A personalized welcome
From the very start, Téo has been all about customer service. Our drivers open the door for customers and welcome them aboard. Once in the vehicle, customers also see a personalized greeting displayed on an entertainment tablet affixed to the back of the front passenger seat.
Over the past two years, we have updated our app to make it just as welcoming as our drivers.
An easy-to-use mobile app
The Téo mobile app is used for two-thirds of all Téo taxi requests, so it goes without saying that we are interested in what our customers have to say about the experience. Over the course of this year, we’ve used customer feedback from focus groups, surveys and user tests to completely redesign the taxi ordering process. These were the main points that needed correcting:
- Confusion regarding the required steps to order a taxi
- Inaccurate wait times for each service offered
- Complicated ordering process: too many steps before confirmation
- Lack of contrast among visual elements
- No option to call the driver
We responded to these legitimate issues by releasing an all-new version of the app that offers a much more user-friendly and simplified ordering process.
The culture behind the UX design
Agile development and teamwork
We spend a lot of time exploring different user experiences by adding features to the app or creating new web-based ordering interfaces. We’ve found using a design board to be a practical and effective way to navigate the myriad possibilities in an agile development culture.
This board allows us to list UX items, update them via a validation process with experts, and rapidly submit them for feedback. The director of product design can therefore easily help product owners prioritize functionalities essential to the life of each product.
How does the process work?
It starts with a weekly meeting with product owners and decision makers to validate business objectives. These weekly meetings are supported by a bi-monthly review of current projects and the active participation of designers in each grooming session for the development teams, helping to define their short-term focus.
Key milestones such as design check and dev review allow individuals to come together and share their work with peers and experts. The goal is to avoid working in silos and to promote collaboration. These are just some of the benefits:
- No room for big egos: the project belongs to the team, not to any individual.
- Review of UX with experts (developers, data analysts, decision makers) in order to promote collaboration and a sharing of ideas, and to highlight opportunities.
- Guerrilla user testing twice a month to rapidly validate an intention before developing anything.
- Active participation in the grooming of agile teams to determine product owners’ future priorities.
- Enhanced motivation and teamwork.
There’s clearly also the fun part of a designer’s job:
seeing how our intentions match actual customer experiences (user testing column in the board) by carrying out UX surveys, holding focus groups, and completing A/B tests.
Summing up . . .
In addition to constantly interacting with users, the design team regularly communicates with experts in each of the company’s teams. Not only does this help clarify creative opportunities; it also helps maintain a design culture within the organization. At Téo, each operational decision has an impact on the development of our product, which in turn has an impact on the mobile app user experience and vice versa. Inter-team collaboration is essential, because each one learns from the other.
We’re only human, after all!
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A special thanks to Vanessa, Fayçal, David, Jean and Sophie for their precious collaboration
