The aim of this project is to do research on a hypothetical scenario in which BIRD, an e-scooter firm with headquarters in Santa Monica, launches its scooters in major Indian cities. I chose Bengaluru, Karnataka, as the project's location. This project examines the brand, the competitive market, and the ergonomics of E-scooters in order to comprehend the Indian market and determine the ideal business methods for BIRD to employ there.
BIRD
micro-mobility
Chapter 1
About the brand
BIRD
Bird is a micro-mobility company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded in September 2017 Bird operates shared electric scooters in over 100 cities in Europe, the Middle East, and North America with 10 million rides in its first year of operation.
How the BIRD scooters work
The user installs the Bird app, on which are displayed all the scooters available (tracked by GPS) nearby. Before starting a trip, the user supplies payment information. The user then scans the QR code on the scooter, then the trip of the user begins.
To end the trip, the user must take a photo of the parked scooter to end the ride. The price of the trip is immediately withdrawn from the user’s credit card. If any problems were encountered with the trip (like a malfunctioning vehicle) the user can report it through the app.
Chapter 2
Studying the Bengaluru market
1. Difference between Bird One and competitor brand scooter - Yulu Miracle
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Comfortable solo seat
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Unisex design
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Capable to go up-to 25 km/hr
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Heavier than Bird One
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Bigger tires
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Universal mobile holder
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Covers more parking space
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No seat
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A little higher for Indian market
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Capable to go up-to 29 km/hr
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Very light in weight
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Small tires
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No mobile holder
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Covers less parking space
2. Road condition in Bengaluru
Most roads in the city have become unfit for travel: they are either untarred or filled with potholes and dust. While the recent incessant rains impacted the roads, their reckless has caused much of the damage and repeated digging. The traffic police have warned of accidents and traffic congestion.
3. Ergnomics
How tall should my scooter handlebars be?
Method 1: a bit below belly button
Method 2: most comfortable elbow angle
Method 3: based on your height
What height should my scooter handlebars be?
Your scooter handlebar height should be 1-2 in / 2-5 cm below your belly button when you stand on the deck, and the angle between your forearm and upper arm is between 100 ° and 120 °.
What happens if the handlebars are too low?
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You will have very poor control over your scooter. It will hinder your steering ability.
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Less freedom of movement.
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Not have good access to the acceleration and brake buttons or levers.
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If your scooter handlebars are too low, you will probably slouch to reach them which can cause back pain or other postural problems
What happens if the handlebars are too high?
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Your arms will be in a very tense
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That will tire your muscles sooner. You will probably feel aches and pains pretty often.
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The awkward angles of your elbows will reduce your flexibility.
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Less freedom of movement and less coordination.
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The combination of muscle fatigue and strange posture will have a powerful negative effect.
Height of Bird 1
46.80 in 3’10”
Average height in California
Men Average Height - Up to 5 ft10 in, 70 inch Women Average Height - Up to 5 ft 4 in, 64inch
Average height in India
Men Average Height - 5 ft 5 in, 65 inch Women Average Height - 5 ft 0 in, 60 inch
Chapter 3
Analysis
Light in weight
You get better performance as your scooter has to lug around less weight.
Fun to ride
Bird one scooters have a “cool” factor; they make grown-ups feel like kids again.
Dimensions
The dimensions of the Bird One scooters are not suitable for the Indian market.
Comparison with Yulu
Yulu’s size is according to the Indian market, BIRD has to make some changes according to it.
Compact
They are compact in size so they don’t cover huge space for parking
Sustainable
They are powered by electricity and therefore have zero direct carbon emissions
Not meant for unpaved roads
Many roads in Bengaluru have potholes and some are under-construction for the metro.
Safety
Some safety attachments should be added to the scooter design to avoid accidents.
Chapter 4
Personas
Balaji is a 40 year old principle engineer in a company. He is married and has 2 kids. He is an organized person. He wants to get a promotion to make his living conditions better. He has to look after the work of the employees and make sure that everyone is doing a good job. He is also a very fun-loving person who likes adventure and excitement.
Akash is software engineer, a data junkie, and for the past couple of years has been very interested tracking his health and performance. He wants to buy a home, settle down. He lives far away from his workplace. He has to travel everyday for one hour to reach to his place and sometimes he gets stuck in the traffic
Sonam is fashion design student studying in NIFT Bengaluru. She is in 4th semester. She lives in 1bhk flat with her friend. She seeks to translate her passion for design into everything she works on. She likes to work with different kinds of materials and create unique pieces. So she travels a lot for sourcing different materials.
Akash Kahlon
Age - 29
Sonam Jha
Age - 21
Balaji
Age - 40
After performing primary and secondary research, analysing the data, I came up with 3 personas for which I will try to solve the problems of BIRD One E-scooter.
Chapter 5
Problems and Solutions
Different people travel to various places through various ways. Find out the gaps in Bird One which can cause inconvenience to the Indian market. Find solution for them so that they can commute peaceful.
Problem 1: The height of the handle is very high for Indian market, so it will be very difficult to ride and balance on the scooter.
Solution
Clamp
They can put a clamp mechanism in the neck of the scooter. By opening the clamp, one can adjust the height of the handles.
In the bottom right image, you one can see the change in height by using the clamp. This way, people of different heights can travel on Bird One with less fatigue.
Problem 2: According to some reviews on the internet, accidents on the Bird scooters resulted in serious head injuries.
Solution
They can attach the helmet on the scooter. And just like the seatbelt mechanism in some cars, the scooter will not start if the person has not wore the helmet. After reaching the destination, the person cannot end his/ her ride without putting the helmet back in it’s place.
Problem 3: When riding scooter on the footpath, a clash between the pedestrian and scooter can happen.
Solution
They can attach a passive infrared (PIR) motion sensor inside the scooter. It works in such a way that when the sensor senses an obstacle 1.5 feet away, it stops. And when there are a lot of people, then the speed cannot go above a certain limit for the safety of the pedestrians and the rider.
Problem 4: The scooters are not suitable for long distance and unpaved roads.
Solution
BIRD can collaborate with the Manyata Business park and the Bird. One parking stations can be made at multiple areas in the park. Tech parks will be a very good option for Bird to launch their scooters because it will be of a great help to people working there. As it is also safe to ride in the parks, the person does not have to deal with traffic and chances of accidents are also very low.
