Assignment 7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
Ride-booking services prevention
- Opportunity:
- Using ride-booking services has become an essential part of Americans' daily life. This service does not only create a convenient and faster way to get to our destinations, but also creates an unsafe environment for women and men who use or work for this private service. These ride-booking services have shown that not only women but also men suffer from sexual assault, robbery, and even abduction during the rides. Therefore, I believe that an app that uses a facial and plate recognition software could prevent crimes.
- The who: Americans who constantly use ride-sharing services
- The what: They are victims of sexual assault, robbery, and abduction
- The why: Safety challenges related to poor background checks and safety standards for drivers and users.
- Testing the who: Not only Americans have this need, but every person in the world who uses or works for these Ride-booking services. Women and men are both under risk to being assaulted or harassed while using this service. Nevertheless, I think that the majority of people who have this need are women who are either drivers or users.
- Testing the what: It cannot be denied that ride-booking services have been helpful and convenient for many people. However, riding with a stranger could be reason enough to be prevented of the risks. This prevention could help both drivers and users to not become a victim of different crimes.
- Testing the why: Unscrupulous drivers and users are taking advantage of these services and I cannot think of way to describe their crimes but by saying that each of them are motivated by their own "justified" reason. Women and men are under risk by trying to use a "helpful" service; therefore, I think that it is crucial to find a different way to prevent these crimes.
- Interview #1:
- This interview was conducted with a Peruvian student who was an user for one of the biggest ride-booking services. She was disgusted by the amount of crimes that are being committed through these ride-booking services in Peru and the world. Moreover, this student said that to avoid being assaulted she just avoids using these services. She believes that the companies offering these services need to create a better system to avoid drivers with criminal records and mental illnesses. This student also mentioned that her parents do not let her use these services anymore and they rather pick her up due to the large amounts of crimes committed against women in these services. This interviewee believes that women suffer this problem more than any other gender. However, she acknowledges that men are not spared by these crimes.
- Interview #2:
- This interview was conducted with a male college student. He believes that people are not more exposed to crimes when they use these ride-booking services. The interviewee stated that these services might be safer than the news show because news use an amplification to have higher audience rates. Moreover, he thinks that drivers or users who commit crimes in this platform are taking advantage of these ride-booking services. However, that does not mean that the ride-booking services are doing a poor job at creating a safety environment for users. He said that he feels safer using these services because he knows that drivers go through background checks and their personal information is compromised.
- Interview #3:
- This interviewee is a female student who is a currently user of one of the biggest ride-booking services. She thinks that ride-booking services are just as insecure as any informal taxi business. Moreover, she explained that there could definitely exist more measures to make these ride-booking services safer but that it would come with a price. She stated that although there is a risk until certain extent, she uses this service because of how convenient and cheap it is. She said that there are some security measures one can take as a driver or a user. For instance, she mentioned sharing your live location with someone else or sharing details of the car and the driver.
- Interview #4:
- This interviewee is a young male in college. He specified that he has never suffered any assault while using these ride-booking services but that he does not believe they are completely safe. He thinks that although the drivers go through background checks, you never know with who you are driving. Moreover, he believes that the companies who offer these services should make sure that the drivers go through psychological examinations before they are able to work for these services. He said that once he read about a driver being robbed and almost murdered; therefore, he thinks that the danger is for both the driver and the user.
- Interview #5:
- This interviewee was a female student. She believes that these ride-sharing services are safe in comparison to a normal taxi because of the technology they use. She stated that every time she goes into a ride-sharing service, she sends her location to friend or a relative. Moreover, she explained that the company that offers this service can also see where the driver and the user are. Although she feels safer in a ride-sharing service more than it a taxi or public transportation, she stated that this might be more of a problem of the specific country than with the company itself.
- Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before?
- After interviewing these five students, I found different perspectives about the dangers of ride-booking services. Most of the interviewees believed that ride-booking services are not safe and there is a need to avoid crimes. However, they also stated that this safety issue is not the ride-booking services complete fault. Moreover, most of the students trust these ride-booking services, but anyway take their own precautions. It must be mentioned, that both men and women feel unsafe while using these services and believed that an app that could scan faces and plates to have quick personal information could be really helpful in their daily life. By giving these interviews, I concluded that the danger is everywhere; however, like any other risky situation, people tend to take their own precautions and want different ways to avoid crimes. Therefore, an app that could use a facial recognition software , as well as a plate recognition software could really safe lives.
Hey Jazmin,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting that the safety issue is not that of the ride-booking services. Personally I believe that at least some of the fault falls on them due to the fact that they are "hiring" in a sense. I think dong something like face recognition would be interesting, but kind of costly, so as you move forward that maybe something to consider. Another thing to consider is that these services can also be dangerous to the drivers and not just the riders.
Hi Jazmin!
ReplyDeleteI actually really like your idea. It would be super cool to have that added to Uber, for example. I don't know how serious you are about this, but if I were you I would do something like this:
1 - Formalize and structure the idea;
2 - Write the code (if you don't know, learn it);
3 - Participate in events, send it to your mentors, and send it to companies. Take note of feedback;
4 - Make the corrections;
5 - Make money (: