01 overview
My Role
Founder, CEO/CMO, business owner, product developer, UI/UX designer, service designer, researcher, fundraiser, storyteller
Team
Toney Wu (co-founder/COO), Allen Yang (CTO), Kathy Chang (founder/CEO/CMO)
Timeframe
October 2015 - September 2016 (11 months)
Tools
Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, Excel, Power Point
Software Platform
Mobile app for iOS
Hardware
Locks, sensors, mesh wireless network
Challenge
I founded this startup while I was working abroad in Shanghai, China. Parking in urban areas has always been a challenge and Shanghai has many mixed-use areas that allowed a special opportunity to create a shared economy of existing parking infrastructure by creating a fast, easy and seamless parking experience for everyone.
Delivery
Working prototype with software iOS app, software API integration with existing parking structure management/build management systems, bluetooth and sensor integration with physical parking locks and gates.
Outcome
Successfully implemented a working prototype proof-of-concept in Shanghai's Crystal Galleria shopping center in Jing'an District.
02 process
I started down this startup journey by finding key partners who would be valuable local assets to bring the idea to life using hardware, software and relationships I had established by working in the commercial building's sector in Shanghai, China. I brought on Toney and Allen to help with the software implementation and establishing manufacturing and sourcing operations. Toney owned a travel suitcase company and he was able to help source our suppliers for the hardware. Allen was a software back-end developer who was able to help us connect our platform to the API of existing parking structures and building management systems.
As for me, I was wearing every possible "hat" there was in a startup world, including being the product development manager of the whole process and coming up with solutions, testing them, running them by investors, fundraising, pitching to investors, fund managers, building property managers, building owners, developers, local community, grassroots interviews with users, and the list goes on. I didn't know it at the time but I was following the Double-Diamond Design Thinking process in an organic way. I had no MBA or previous business experience so everything was a learning curve, but I loved every second of it because it was my passion and I was creating a solution to solve problems that would impact a lot of people.
You will not find a traditional case study in the following sections, but instead you will be taken on a story journey as one of our potential investors to be able to understand the problem, opportunities, business model, and our process and design solutions.
03 research
Market Gap
SWOT Analysis
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
Lack search functionalities
Lack reservation capability
Inaccurate data
No real-time data
No Shanghai-specific data
04 synthesize
Value to the Community (Persona 2)
Value to the Building Owners (Persona 3)
User Interview - User Wants/Needs (Persona 1)
Opportunity for Shared Economy
Problem Statement
05 ideate
Filling Market Gap
Business Model Proposition
Proposed User Flow
Added-Service: Valet Parking
Process for Valet Parking
06 prototype
After over 6 months of research, design, development, manufacturing, testing, tweaking, fundraising and pitching to potential buildings and investors, we finally got the building owners of Shanghai's newest luxury shopping center Crystal Galleria to let us implement a working prototype/proof-of-concept. It allowed for the reservation and sharing of dedicated office tower portion of the parking. We used our manufacturer's 3rd party bluetooth lock operating app along with integration into the WeChat Mini Program platform to share and receive operating permission between property managers and the drivers who have booked the parking spaces.
Our plans after this prototype was to pivot and allow for valet parking service to be booked and reserved ahead of time, using a mobile app.
Proof-of-Concept Prototype
Crystal Galleria Proof-of-Concept
Valet Parking UI/UX Designs
Had we gotten more funding, our next layer of service after this prototype was to pivot and allow for valet parking service to be booked and reserved ahead of time, using a mobile app.
07 next steps
Key Takeaways
China is a special place with special rules and censorship, including data privacy and transparency. Being a private company, we did not have access to the government's parking data so we had hit a wall by the end of the prototype.
The revenue coming in from renting out parking spaces in commercial office building was not enough to convince the building owners/developers the effort and risk of allowing parking sharing to be accessed by the public, therefore the decision makers couldn't sign-off due to the huge difference in revenue and risk involved.
This is a model that DOES work and would work anywhere with mixed-use commercial/retail/ residential developments. It also DOES reduce carbon emissions of cars while circling the block trying to find parking, and it DOES save time/energy for the people looking for parking. If given the opportunity, I would do this again at another city, in another country, another urban setting.
Open to opportunities to work together to bring this concept back out into the world, especially in America where we are still mainly car-centric.