A good opportunity for collaboration between Scooter companies and Urban city planners is to come up with a safety campaign with solutions to install helmet lockers at designated points throughout cities. Another problem we noticed was riding at dusk was hard to see, but thankfully Bird installed a light on the scooter for added safety at nighttime. This is a problem because safety is imperative and many riders we spoke to stated that carrying a helmet with them in the event that they might jump on a Bird is an unrealistic expectation. To ride the Bird, first, you need a helmet, although hardly any of the riders we saw were wearing one. Due to our work schedule, the only time my colleague and I had time to ride was at dusk… but once we got on, it was so much fun that it was hard to stop riding! Some initial impressions: Safety On a recent trip to LA, I had the opportunity to try out a Bird for myself. Many people we observed riding were in groups, and we even saw a few couples sharing - although this proposes new public safety problems and is against the law.
Beyond the mobile platform, the immersive experience riding a Bird evokes a childlike nostalgia and is just flat-out fun! The experience is specific to individuals but can be done with friends or co-workers and adds a social opportunity to engage with others. The Bird mobile app experience allows for greater human connectivity in the app through the “give a ride get a ride sharing feature.” To give a ride, simply go into the hamburger menu tap the give-a-ride/get-a-ride button that appears towards the bottom to send a ride to a friend. From there, Bird sends you the equipment via mail to charge the scooters. To sign up, you simply go into the mobile app and enter your contact information, I-9 tax form, direct deposit, address. Just like it states on the app, you can earn up to $100.00 per night while you sleep. The Bird company incentivizes chargers to participate through the mobile app, offering $5 USD per battery on up to 20 Birds per night. To become a charger, simply sign up via Bird’s mobile app and agree to gather up and charge Bird Scooters in their homes/offices or at a designated charging area. The chargers then distribute the scooters back into the streets at designated points. Human Collaborationīird is designed for one person however, the recharging process of the Bird scooter battery requires collaboration between nice local people and the folks at Bird. cities no longer need to rely on a car because they can simply jump on a Bird: Arlington (VA), Atlanta (GA), Austin (TX), Baltimore (MD), Charlotte (NC), Dallas (TX), Indianapolis (IN), Los Angeles (CA), Memphis (TN), Milwaukee (WI), Oakland (CA), Scottsdale (AZ), San Diego (SD), San Jose (SJ), Tempe (AZ).
Uber to Bird and no need for a crowded subway or traffic-induced-coma of a car ride.
#Ca designs zero limits scooter download#
Purchase a helmet or order a free helmet from Bird, download the free app, scan the barcode on a Bird and away you go. One of the most significant burdens lifted by Bird is reduced reliance on unreliable and overcrowded public transportation systems in places like America that have outdated public transportation infrastructure. For our experience journey illustrated below, Bird was what we bumped into first on the streets.
For example, electric scooter designers have enhanced human connectivity to the natural environment by reducing travel speed to the minimum requirement while optimizing the riders’ experience to the outdoors and emitting zero greenhouse gas emissions.Īlternative scooter companies like Lime, Skip, Spin and Goat are all competing in the same space with Bird and operate from a similar platform and design. The electric scooter is an example of convivial design principles with such self-imposed limits. Design limitations can reduce complexity, consider regenerative design opportunities and specify the opportunity to expend the minimum energy required to achieve the desired output over the lifetime of the product. Convivial design is an essential framework for driving sustainable design in a new regenerative economy where humans are in the loop, products are optimized for maximum utility, and eco-effectiveness influences design outcomes.Ĭonvivial design principles are eco-effective because of self-imposed limits which place a high value on protecting the natural environment. At the Spark Agency, we define the concept of conviviality as a set of principles for designing based upon self-sufficiency, human collaboration, and connectivity.