UX and Product Design, Brand, Product StRategy

Designing London’s first premium bike subscription

Leading design and strategy hands on at Buzzbike, I designing solutions that turned first-time riders into committed cycle enthusiasts who braved the London weather and made the cycle startup a success right out of the gates.

The challenge

Buzzbike had set out with an ambitious vision: making London greener and less congested by getting more people on bikes. About to launch the city’s first premium cycle subscription, Buzzbike knew in order to be successful, it needed to convert casual commuters into dedicated cycle enthusiasts. But how do you motivate first-time cyclists to keep riding despite rain and poor cycle infrastructure?

My approach

Working directly with the founders, I led the strategy, research, and design for all Buzzbike products, including a connected app, website, applications, and a rider management platform.

My approach

To design for motivation, I initially considered tracking and rewarding progress through common metrics like calorie burn and CO2 savings. However, putting this to the test with novice cyclists highlighted just how irrelevant these measures were. Calorie burn seemed insignificant given how energy efficient relaxed cycling is, and CO2 savings felt abstract and hard to grasp.

It became obvious that the most compelling incentive for two wheels was to compare it against the alternative: using public transport. Interestingly, in London, cycling tends to be faster than taking bus or tube. However, we stayed away from it to avoid encouraging unsafe riding.

Instead, I recognised that showing how much cycling saved in comparison to public transport fares blew participants’ minds. Using Transport for London’s API we were able to calculate the exact savings for each ride and provided users with the cumulative savings over time. Pairing this with an elaborate rewards programme that encouraged repeat behaviours (cycling streaks, riding in the rain, booking bike service, etc.) and Buzzbike was off to a great start.

To convince and support people who are new to cycling in London, transparency, clarity, and help was key.

This permeated every part of the experience, down to human, legible, and simplified T&Cs.

The outcome

+2,400%

6x more

from user to advocate

+2,400% oversubscribed: the launch of Buzzbike saw over 5,000 applications for the first 200 bikes.

Buzzbikers reported extreme high satisfaction and, most importantly, stayed in the saddle cycling. Even during the wet winter months they were six times more active than typical London cyclists.

And the money they saved by taking the bike more than justified the monthly subscription costs, turning them into the most dedicated and vocal brand advocates.