Pathway

Mobile App

Help International Students Get Drivers' Licenses In the US

Product Overview

Pathway is a mobile app that helps international students who wish to get a driver’s license in the US to find driving tutors at lower rates, borrow cars for the road tests, consult experienced drivers on driving related topics, and connect with peers in similar situations.

The Problem

When international students arrive in the United States and start their lives on this vast land, many of them soon realize that having a car is basically a necessity. In order to drive, they will first need to get a US driver’s license. However, they are often frustrated and don’t know where to start because they are limited by options and don’t have access to information.

Therefore, they need an affordable and efficient way to learn driving and pass the driving tests because it is difficult to find a satisfying driving instructor and get a car for the road test.

Conversation Mining

To begin my user research, I started with group chat observations and delved into conversations around driving tests and getting a driver's license among Chinese international students. I followed up with some members who were active in the discussion and asked them more questions in the private chat.

"I have asked a driving tutor before. But I feel like 70 dollars an hour is too expensive. Does anyone know tutors who will charge at a more reasonable rate?" - Momoko

"This is insane. You know what? If you are willing to pay extra 30 dollars, with the money you can take a pilot training lesson." - Jerminator

Pain Points

Prefer to learn from driving tutors from their home countries

Don’t know where to find private tutors and it's hard to compare rates

The International center doesn’t provide comprehensive information

It is quite difficult to borrow a car for the road tests

Competitor Analysis

Through online research and following up with target users from the group chats, I conducted a competitor analysis on the platforms that international students currently use when they need to find a driving tutor or driving tests related information.

The key insight extracted from the competitor analysis is that there is no existing system that fulfills all the fundamental needs of my targeting user groups. Therefore, creating a "one-stop shop" product can greatly improve their experiences.

Persona

Persona 2
International students who have already obtained drivers' licenses their in home countries

Persona 1
International students who can’t drive and need extra help on learning driving

Persona 3
International students who just obtained their US driver's license and don't know what to do next

User Story Mapping

According to the 3 personas I created earlier, I put together user story maps to visualize the user journey. The biggest challenge for users of persona 2 occurs in the very beginning of their journey: they don't know where to find qualified tutors.

Storyboard Sketches for Ideation

I started with sketching 8 solutions, both digital and non-digital, to tackle the problems that my targeting user groups encounter. For my final solution, I combined some of the features from these solutions to make a “one-stop shop” application.

1. Instructional Blogs

3. Group Chat

5. Special Packages at Driving Schools

7. Car Finder Website

2. Driving Tutor Finder

4. Free Mentorship Program

6. AI-Powered Driving Instructor

8. Tutor Finding Forum

Initial Prototyping

I utilized paper prototyping to conduct usability tests through the method of Wizard of Oz over zoom meetings. Besides collecting feedback from users, I also presented my paper prototype to three peers during our weekly peer critique sessions.

Feedbacks from Usability Test & Peer Critique

1

Keep onboarding short. Move personal information to later parts after the account is created.

2

Replace the milestone roadmap on the homepage with a task reminder panel.

3

Remove the following, follower feature. Users expect to find solutions, not socialize.

High Level Sitemap

In response to the feedbacks I gathered from my users and peers, I made changes to my initial prototype. I categorized the main functions into two groups: key features and helpers. The helpers can be utilized to guide users to achieve their goals more promptly.

Final Prototype

Find just the right tutors you want

Start by finding a tutor through keywords search as well as utilizing the Refine Your Search feature.

Compare their ratings and hourly rate to find your favorite tutors.

Get to know more about the tutors

Simply bookmark your favorite tutors by clicking on the heart icon.

View their profile pages with more information such as student reviews and quick facts tags.

Get access to useful information on how to get a driver's license

Simply bookmark your favorite tutors by clicking on the heart icon.
View their profile pages with more information such as student reviews and quick facts tags.

Find a car for your road tests

Find a car through the car finding feature “Cars” from the home page, or simply post a thread in the Everything about Car sub-forum to reach out to car owners.

Keep track of your activities on Pathway

Use the Reminder Panel to manage time and arrange future tasks together with Planner. With My Favorites, users will be able to bookmark tutors, cars, threads from the forum, and resources.

Lingering Thoughts on Next Steps

1

User Type Switch.

After students got their drivers' licenses and gained experiences, how do they switch to become a tutor?

2

Scheduling classes with a tutor.

How scheduling should be approached will need feedback from both students and tutors.

3

Sharing milestones on social media.

Sharing achievements on external platforms can be something to consider for marketing strategy.

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