Big Questions:
1. As a rideshare driver, I converse directly with hundreds of people every week. Can impact-driven design nudge these conversations toward positive outcomes such as voting for improved workplace rights for drivers?
2. Rides are inherently centered around questions of place. For example, "Where are you, where are you going, and where are you from?" Can a map focused on the Indigenous peoples of this land and Indigenous place names associated with these places stimulate dialogue related to the importance of Indigenous worldviews and Indigenous-led causes?
3. Uber and Lyft have been systematically lowering pay in recent years, such as by eliminating the majority of weekend and peak time bonuses. Can an improved rideshare experience, and asking explicitly for tips, encourage higher tipping behavior and offset these reductions in pay?
In Summary:
Many educators were drawn to the Indigenous place names and left the ride better equipped to engage with their students and others. Tourists and people who recently moved engaged with the tour option the most. Since this overlapped with the build-up to the November 5th election, and the Massachusetts Question 3 was on the subject of rideshare drivers' rights, many people were looking for voices they could trust on the subject. Tipping did increase significantly as a relatively larger portion of income, however gross totals for tipping was only marginally higher.
Background:
I've been a driver since September 2019, in periods of high intensity sprints, followed by periods of non-activity. This is the 4th different custom seat back graphic I've created and used, with the 1st being to promote my business selling art photo prints on Etsy that saw limited success. The 2nd was promoting my sweet potato-based frozen dessert to customers for ordering delivery or to come to farmer's market pop-ups, which was moderately successful. The 3rd was for directlt selling units of this dessert to customers, vending out of a cooler in my car, which was very successful, selling out nearly every day on weekend rideshare shifts in the winter of 2021.
Problem:
Many riders are unsure about what it's okay to talk about with their driver, and driving for hours can get monotonous without stimulating conversations. In a world with so many problems (and so many solutions), there must be a way to use this time with riders to nudge the needle towards a better world.
Alternative Solutions:
Quit driving and use the time for something else.
Vocally ask riders about certain topics.
Allow riders to organically bring up topics with no facilitation.
Implementation:
I used my Boston Public Library color print benefit to print a couple sheets of my design, backed by several sheets of old card stock I had, cut while stacked to be aligned, trimmed to the shape I wanted, and threaded with the velcro straps. Added this to my car in late August, after my account was reinstated following a period when I couldn't drive due to needing to pay for services to meet the TNC inspection requirements.
Results:
Conversation estimates are estimates but accurate in the relative proportion based on the number of conversations including a topic or multiple topics.
Seatback Card EffectivenessAnother note thant these data are mostly from daytime conversations, this card is not lit at night so at night time, riders wouldn't see it easily unless I mentioned it in relation to whatever conversation came up naturally.
Card-Driven Conversation Topics
12% “Yes on 3” for a Drivers’ Union
8% Tour Guide and Local Reccs.
5% New York Jets Slander
4% Native Map Discussion
2% Travel, Language, and Accents
1% The Circumference of Earth
1% Dialogue about Politics
1% Listening to Riders Venting
~ 1 in 4 engaged with the card verbally. Tips totaled 8.9% of gross payouts, up 14%* from 7.1% for equivalent 2023 work.
*Confounding the effect of this, tips are also a larger % due to much lower bonus payouts.
Driver Season Recap (Aug 26 - Dec 4, 2024)
494 Rides (6.8% of 7,279 Career Rides)
Another note thant these data are mostly from daytime conversations, this card is not lit at night so at night time, riders wouldn't see it easily unless I mentioned it in relation to whatever conversation came up naturally.
Visualization:
