Report | 2019

Ushering In New Mobility With User-Centered Design

By Allison CrowLynn DanielsEdward J. Klock-McCook
Download the report below

Three core new-mobility technologies—autonomy, shared ride platforms, and electric powertrains—offer the promise of cheaper, cleaner, safer mobility for everyone, and are advancing by the minute. Still pundits and technologists foresee many years passing before new mobility is a real and common solution for consumers. So why aren’t we all using smartphone apps to summon electric, driverless chauffeur services to whisk us around?

The problem is twofold:

(1) the technologies are not yet perfect (and even well-tested technologies are not yet available for public use), and

(2) perhaps more important, new mobility services do not yet deliver a complete mobility package.

This report describes a path to usher in new mobility that reduces personal-vehicle ownership faster and at scale by:

1. introducing the application of design thinking to the design of both the physical vehicle and the service offerings

2. showing how mass customization can unlock the new mobility market potential

3. illustrating early applications of design in the industry