Disrupting the urban transportation
Electric scooters are taking over the world.
I visited Paris before Christmas.
The city was charming, inspiring and dirty as always.
Nothing extraordinary seemed to have changed since I last lived years ago.
However, there was one minor change. The electric scooters.
They were everywhere.
There was an obvious scooter war going on.
The sidewalk competition by the piles of electric scooters branded by different companies.
I knew Lime from Google Venture. So I decided to rent one.
I downloaded the app and took a ride. I couldn’t have had more fun.
Besides all the entertainment, taking millions of dollars invested in the companies and cities filled with electric scooters.
The first and most important fact is that innovation is about the service, not the product.
FOR BEGINNERS
How does the fun ride work?
First observations, it is easy to use, accessible and feasible for short distances.
There are very simple steps. It works almost like UBER.
A few clicks and ready to go.
1- Download the Lime app.
2- Find a scooter. (They are not locked!)
3- Scan the QR Code to unlock the scooter.
4- Enjoy the ride.
5- Park the scooter. (Anywhere but people’s way)
6- End the ride by sending a photo of the parked scooter.
It is beneficial to use electric scooters for short distances.
That makes it cheaper than public transport, faster than walking, effortless than renting a bike. Just use it and drop it.
It costs $1 to unlock and $0.15/minute to ride.
I want to give a heads up.
The benefits only come if it is used for short distances.
It is budget friendly. It saves time.
People put no effort at all to rent it and give it back. It is simple: just use and drop it. No trouble of finding a bike or a car to rent, searching a convenient renting point, return on time etc.)
Lastly, Bird is stressing the environmental aspect of the company.
More scooters fewer cars.
The playground for disruption
#1 — Micro-mobility.
The electric scooters? Not a revolutionary idea.
But how did these scooter start-ups raised millions of dollars from investors?
Execution is always the key.
The electric scooters serve the relief for the right moment of the consumer journey. Like Google’s micro-moments, the scooter companies try to build the service on a pain of the urban transportation journey.
To grasp the micro mobility moments and turn it a seamless experience.
Thus, the service targets the people who want to do these two below.
1- The short distant ride to a target destination.
2- The short distant ride to public transport.
Lime successfully highlights the pain point in urban mobility.
The company calls it the micro-mobility. The first and last mile of connectivity.
“The “last-mile” or “first and last-mile” connection describes the beginning or end of an individual trip made primarily by public transportation.”
Key Takeaway
Problem: The first and last mile of the urban commute is complex.
Solution: Travel short distances in an effective way.
The future of simplicity
#2 — Simplifying the complex user problems.
Scooter companies want people’s attention.
They pile up the scooters on the streets in order to gain the throne on the mobile phone screen.
How can these fun electric scooters secure their place in the future of services like Uber, Spotify and Airbnb?
Obviously, by simplifying the complexity.
We are in the era of the “future of everything”.
When people envision the future, they think of an easy life.
Of the top of my head:
The future of TV — Apple TV
The future of home — Google Home
The future of transportation — SpaceX rockets?
The future of logistics — Drones
The future of retail — Amazon Go
The future of writing something — Moleskine
The future of money — Blockchain currency
The future of humans — AI-powered cyber robots
These service innovations change the way people experience the world. They make life easier. Less click, more gain.
The technology empowers people while design gets more and more human-centered and problem-oriented.
Key Take Away
Less is more. Simple is good. Rest is technology and innovation which people really don’t care. People only want simple solutions.
An eco-system of products and services
#3 — Amazon of things
The war is not only in the micro mobility sphere. It is a clash between tech service companies like Uber and Google to gain a whole ground of transportation culture.
These giants already provide crucial services in people’s daily lives.
Uber wants to be associated with the whole experience of transportation.
They invested millions in Bird. It is in Uber app.
Lime is Google’s venture. It is a strategic move for a company which is in every sphere of our life. People can find Lime scooters are already integrated into Google maps.
Key Take Away
Understand customers’ needs and pain points.
Launch innovative products and services.
Be an ecosystem innovative solutions.
Digital or physical? Experience is the answer.
#4 — This is a war without a champion.
The digital isn’t winning over. It is leaking into physical space.
Amazon’s attempt to bring an innovative breath to retail with Amazon Go is a sign. In Amazon Go, you can shop with your phone. No cashiers, no waiting lines. As this online retailer’s giant leap into physical space proves the fact that people are looking for seamless service experiences regardless of the medium.
You also have Instagrammable experiences starting to pop up all over the place. New York already became a hub for Instagrammable museums. Everything in physical space is designed around the need for Instagram likes.
A real-world problem solved with the mobile-first approach
When I needed to take a scooter to the metro station.
I took out my phone. I scanned the QR code.
I rode it until the final destination and I finally left it after taking a photo taking.
That’s all.
It was a seamless digital experience in the physical world with interaction to physical product solving a real-world problem.
Key Take Away
The backbone of service innovation is solving real problems. It doesn't have to something online. Contrary, it is a whole experience.
The people are living in a real world with smart devices.
Give people the solution to their problem in a seamless experience.
Rental Economy
#5 — Experience over ownership
Innovative business models ignited the rental mindset and triggered the experience-based lifestyle over the status-quo of ownership.
Some of the business models are based upon the subscription.
Subscribe and access.
First, a piece of the free and useful bite of the content. Then upgrade to premium for all content. Medium’s business model is a great example.
People don’t own stuff as much as they do. Especially millennials.
Thanks to the platform-based service pioneers. Netflix, Uber and the electric scooter companies work the same way.
It is a click and rent model.
It is cost-efficient. For instance when renting out a desk in a co-working space with network possibilities, why one would buy an office?
Easy to use.
Key Take Away
Renting is efficient. It empowers a minimalist way of living.
It gives total control to the people when to use the product or service.
Give people the solution to their problem in a seamless experience.
Community and Culture
#6 —Imagine Barcelona Football Club without fans and the city itself.
Messi is a great football player. Most probably, best of all times.
Even though Messi is the innovation of the club, he is part of a whole Barcelona culture.
The fans who cheer up to his amazing goals are who really matter. The community is the rocket fuel of any company, organization, cult.
Think of Mac users, Netflix and chillers, espresso lovers, Friends fans, Yoga people.
These are tribes of cultures.
Some of these companies tweak a general culture with an edgy claim and innovation to create their playground.
Computer>Apple
Coffee >Starbucks
Movie>Netflix
Music>Spotify
Key Take Away
The success for electric scooters is dependant on the culture.
To become a mainstream thing, you need supporters in the culture pitch.
