Waze Case Study
Improving functionality and safety of one of the most widely used GPS apps.
PASSION PROJECTCASE STUDYUX
CASE STUDY
Waze Safety Case Study
"Usability, Simplicity, Retention"".
Project Details
Goal: Improving functionality and safety of one of the most
widely used GPS apps.
Project dates: Since I started using the app back in 2020
(technically 2017, but I signed into Facebook and it didn’t
save my progress from before). But started this case study
June 9th, 2023.
Role: Principle UX designer and user/fan of Waze
Project Type: Passion Project (since working as a first responder, I’ve gained a much more prepared outlook towards anything
I do. Specifically staying prepared for emergency scenarios and uncontrollable events, these additional functionalities were born out of that preparedness.
WOOMENOW PROJECT OVERVIEW
Project Summary
The Challenge:
WAZE’s mission is to” help people create local driving communities that work together to improve the quality of everyone's daily driving”. However, after personal use for many years and numerous off-handed comments regarding features available, some of the safety features could use some improvements. Making the daily drive safer and more intuitive for users would only add to Waze’s mission.
The goal of this redesign was to add additional functionality to this revolutionary crowdsourced application. Over my many years of using the product myself, I’ve been recording ideas myself and others have brought up as valid improvements to the current application. In doing so, I discovered a gap in which the application could include more safety features for emergency situations. So I finally decided to do something about this growing list and do my own case study of the safety features available in the app.
While digging a bit deeper into this, it appeared that many others have also been looking into utilizing Waze for emergency response and how the crowdsourcing aspect of it could actually improve response times to roadside emergencies. My friend hadn’t even noticed the help request options in the report area until I pointed it out a week ago while taking screenshots.
User Needs:
Need the ability to report road emergencies (might not be a 911 call but a non-emergency line for the city)
Need crash detection built in from a smartphone
App functions cannot interfere with due process for first responders
Reporting hazards/road conditions can be quite difficult when you’re driving alone. Need a simplified method to more quickly (in one tap) make a report
Business Requirements:
Improvement in response times to roadside emergencies and situations.
Increase in use of non-emergency number for reporting roadside emergencies to local non-emergency lines
Pain Points:
Help options are strewn throughout the app, not organized in one specific area
Only option available is to report an accident and contact emergency services from app. Trying to look up and search for a local non-emergency number takes time and may be ineffective)
Report options while used by waze user, take too may clicks to make a report. (Can’t avoid people using the app as a solo driver, need to make it work for them too)
Potential Business Outcomes:
Annual revenue estimated at $37.7M annually, with the addition of these safety functions, could be provided grants or revenue from working with specific cities to get their departments included in this program. Already working with cities to implement into emergency response teams, the future looks promising for this concept.
(1) EMS1, Staff. “First Responders Use WAZE App to Alert Drivers of Emergency Vehicles.” Ems1.Com, 2 July 2018, www.ems1.com/communications-dispatch/articles/first-responders-use-waze-app-to-alert-drivers-of-emergency-vehicles-5PTB0sxi226O0uFy/.
PULSE Software utilizes Waze to see Wazer reported crash alerts (created by The Genesis Group.
(2) Rivero, Enrique. “Waze Users’ Accident Reports Could Cut Emergency Response Time in Half.” Newsroom.Ucla.Edu, UCLA, 24 June 2019, newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/waze-accident-reports-emergency-response.
(3) Moore, Dave. “How North Texas Dispatchers Tapped WAZE Data to Speed 9-1-1 Response Times.” Dallasinnovates.Com, 9 Sept. 2020, dallasinnovates.com/how-north-texas-dispatchers-tapped-waze-data-to-speed-9-1-1-response-times/.
Waze has even been put to the test in local fire departments for emergency scenarios, such as with the Charlotte Fire Department and the Piedmont Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. They're "utilizing the Waze app to notify drivers when a fire truck or ambulance is coming so they have more time to get out of the way" (1). Even a recent study completed by UCLA and UC Irvine researchers found that crash-related reports from Waze users came an average of two minutes and 41 seconds earlier than reports received by California Highway Patrol emergency personnel (2). In fact, Waze has even rolled out more than 3000 partners in projects similar to this around the world using their Waze for Cities program.
100+ cities and safety departments using Safety Cloud (powered by Waze)
30+ seconds of advance hazard warning
Stay tuned for updated progress images...
These images will be updated shortly, please bear with the construction in the mean time. Thanks!
Target Users
Drivers in emergency scenarios
Need the ability to report road emergencies (might not be a 911 call but a non-emergency line for the city)
Need crash detection built in from a smartphone
First responders responding to an accident report
App functions cannot interfere with due process for first responders
Drivers reacting to an accident report
Reporting hazards/road conditions can be quite difficult when you’re driving alone. Need a simplified method to more quickly (in one tap) make a report
Solution (Coming Soon)
This section is undergoing final touches and will be released shortly. Thank you for your patience!
WAZE CASE STUDY FINDINGS
Results
The original concept included referencing “CMFallDetectionManager” from Apple to detect if the user has been in a car accident, but the most recent iPhone released has this included as an automated function. No need to include it in the app (but there might be a potential to connect the Waze app to the built-in function directly.
Designs have been built out, but research is underway to test if this would be a beneficial feature to more people. I have prepped user testing sessions with a couple of testers and an A/B test for testing concepts with online users to gauge overall first impressions.
Having completed this Case Study (with the exception of the research) I was able to gain a better perspective of the “business decisions” of larger corporations. When trying to go through these safety feature updates, I found myself having difficulty determining why a larger business such as Waze would put any effort toward improving the safety features of Waze more than the current capabilities. What would they gain from this improvement? It would take quite a bit of time to test and come to certain conclusions about how to best move forward, and it could get costly to research and design these new features. The costs outweigh the outcomes, so strategically the business probably wouldn’t consider this project. However, this is my case study, so we gladly welcome the challenge.