Driving ideas

Our Role
Strategy
Product Design
Design Management

Platforms
iOS and Android

Deliverables
UI, UX

Turn on the ignition

Mojio is a Vancouver-based startup and the leading platform for connected cars. By using a hardware module connected to a cars’ onboard diagnostics (OBD) port, Mojio tracks diagnostic, behavioural and contextual data in any car. The platform collects data points to measure key driving behaviour indicators, analyze the health of a car and interpret the data for valuable insights. The Mojio platform is flexible and has been deployed by individual drivers, families, rental agencies and fleet owners.

The Brief

We joined the Mojio team early to help with strategy, user experience and app design. As partners in their startup journey, we adapted our approach and role along the way to ensure Mojio had the support they needed. Rather than working to a fixed fee, Mojio engaged us on a monthly basis to handle whatever they threw our way. From providing all design specifications and final assets, to supplying the HTML5 prototypes for testing and marketing purposes, our agile engagement model meant we could move flexibly between tasks and take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Ever Changing Moods

Do smart objects have moods? (…and do they listen to the Style Council?) With Mojio, we wanted users to be able see exactly what was happening with their car at a glance. Mojio works like a virtual mechanic, letting drivers know about car trouble, fuel level or battery voltage issues before hitting the road. Mojio also knows if your car is in motion or parked. It sends alerts if your car is being stolen, towed, bumped or if the device has been removed. All of these situations are keyed to the app’s colour, so a change in colour indicates a change in status. Other more detailed information is layered over the background.

Hands on the Wheel, Eyes on the Road

Pull over a sec… even though Mojio is a car app, we had to find a way for drivers to get info but not touch their phones while they are driving. Our solution? Drive Cover. This mode turns on when a car’s speed is non-zero. While most of Mojio’s features are best used when not in the car, some, like engine alerts and maps, are useful when drivers are on the go. Drive Cover, while it cannot lock the phone, foregrounds a screen that provides essential data to the driver, discouraging interaction. The phone interface is designed so changes can be sensed through peripheral vision using colour to indicate issues. In the future, this would be greatly enhanced through a voice command interface which would be key to unlocking more driving help when on the go.

Social Driving

Mojio’s geolocation feature can do more than help you remember where you parked your car. When shared with family or friends, Mojio helps you see when people are arriving. It can also help you keep track of your convoy and plan meetups along your route. For new drivers, parents can set speed limits to encourage safe driving or use geo-fenced areas and be notified when the car leaves a specified area.

Prototyping Mojio Motion<

As part of our scope, we also developed small speculative apps that took advantage of a specific functionality of the Mojio platform, allowing us to test drive different ideas. One of the prototypes, shown below, used the accelerometer to analyze and report on driving behavior like speeding, harsh braking and rapid accelerations. Then, a user’s driving tendencies could be measured against the community average. With an end goal of supporting safer driving, this prototype allows users to drive smarter by saving money on fuel and minimizing wear and tear. These small prototypes served as the basis for what is now the Mojio Motion application. Since our development of this prototype, similar functionality has been deployed by insurance companies and rental car fleets to monitor not just how far a vehicle has been driven, but how hard.

As planned, Codename worked with Mojio leading up to their successful Series A round, bridging the gap until they were able to hire an internal product management and user experience team.