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The emergence of Uber and Lyft in the late 2000s turned the peer-to-peer ridesharing business and its service framework on its head. 

Unlike their more formalized taxi competition, they embraced the social networking element of ridesharing and fundamentally transformed the customer experience. 

Traditional taxi services applied straightforward transportation from point A to point B. In the case of Uber and Lyft, the service is about the experience, coupled with the act of conveyance. This particular feature allowed Uber and Lyft to gain a significant competitive advantage and become substantial players in the peer-to-peer ridesharing industry.

In addition to that, focus on experience broke new grounds in terms of developing different ridesharing niches for different types of audiences. 

Our company had a chance to work on such a peer-to-peer ridesharing experience service. In this article, we are going to tell you about it. 

HYPR project description

HYPR is an on-demand ridesharing service specialized in luxury vehicle riding experiences. In other words, it is an application that allows customers to take a ride to their destination in style and have a good time riding in an exclusive supercar. 

How does HYPR make a difference in this niche? 

  • Exclusive vehicle riding (especially supercar rides) is a close-knit activity. It is tough to get into unless you are already a part of this community by proxy.
  • In addition to this, luxury car renting services tend to be overpriced and riddled with document checking and insurances due to a relative lack of competition.  
  • On the other hand, HYPR makes the thing available for subscribers without the overcomplicated proceedings of renting services. 

Here’s how:

  • HYPR takes an Uber type of peer-to-peer ridesharing service model and implements it into a completely different use case. 
  • Car renting services focus on the vehicle itself. The riding experience needs to be figured out by the customer on his own.
  • Uber is ultimately about getting to the destination (bundled with a quality service).
  • On the other hand, HYPR is about the journey in a specific type of vehicle. 

There is a shift from strictly transportation services towards experiential commerce.

Because of that, there is a stronger emphasis on the social networking element. 

  • Users get a newsfeed with a selection of current ride opportunities. 
  • On the other side, drivers manage their bookings and announce ride opportunities. 
  • This activity creates an engagement loop in which the user’s exchange of experiences encourages further use of the service.

Project technical specification

The core functionality of the HYPR app is a variation of the taxi app concept. 

There is a mobile application for customers. Its features include: 

  • Journey specification and vehicle selection;
  • Event newsfeed;
  • The real-time monitoring of vehicle movement when it is nearing the customer.

The other elements of the service include:

  • Subscription website – to submit registration forms and subsequently, for subscription management; 
  • Admin Dashboard contains the following features: 
  • General application activity overview; 
  • In-app analytics;
  • Driver dashboard with activity status and booking management features.
  • Vehicle manage and ride prices; 
  • Form applicants and customer management;
  • Customer support operations; 
  • Damage reports and statistics review (vehicle demand, ride stats, etc.)
  • Driver’s app includes:
  • Activity Dashboard;
  • Booking list – with current, past and upcoming bookings;
  • User Profile.

Key Solutions

Payment Processor integration

Transparent payment proceeding is one of the requirements for efficient customer service. HYPR application required a reliable and accessible payment processor to handle: 

  • Subscription fee management;
  • Ride payments.

After a thorough examination of the available options, the most suitable choice for the application was Stripe. It was the best gateway in terms of fitting the requirements: 

  • Easе of use;
  • Merchant account features;
  • Multiple payment methods;
  • PCI DDS compliance + AVS, SSL, CCV features;
  • Flexible API.

Google Maps / Google Places Integration

The other significant component that needed third-party integration was geolocation. 

  • The application needed a solution for general map navigation and vehicle monitoring. 
  • In addition to that, the map needed as much additional relevant information regarding different locations as possible.

We’ve used: 

  • Google Maps for general web mapping and vehicle movement monitoring;
  • Google Places to streamline the navigation and provide additional information regarding different locations;

Firebase integration

You can’t go far without proper data analytics. Understanding the state of things regarding the application, the way customers are using it, and how efficiently it operates, hangs on thorough analytics. 

The app needed a practical and accessible mobile analytics solution to gain insights regarding application use, and also, user engagement.

We used Firebase because of its ease of use and flexibility. With its help, the company can see what is going on in the application and react appropriately.

Handling data security

Data security is one of the significant challenges that come with the development of any application that deals with sensitive data.

The main requirement was GDPR compliance, with its strict guidelines for user data management, transparent data use, and guaranteeing the safety of data. 

The following solutions were used to provide appropriate data security measures:

  • HTTPS, TLS, SSH for data-in-transit encryption; 
  • bcrypt for database encryption; 
  • DDoS protection ;
  • PCI DSS compliance;
  • Activity Logging + Access Management;
  • Limited access to the production database at the network level.

Transport for London compliance 

At the point of application launch, HYPR operation is based in London. In order to get a license to operate in London, the application should be compliant with Transport of London requirements.

In essence, TfL compliance means that the application should provide the following information upon request: 

  • Lost/Found property
  • Compliant/Compliment form
  • Vehicle specifications
  • Bookings record
  • Private hire driver agreement

In order to enable the gathering of this data conveniently, we augmented the database with a couple of metatags that bring together all the required information with a click or two.

Tech Stack

  • Subscription website – JavaScript/Php 
  • Consumer App- iOS 
  • Admin Dashboard- Sonata 
  • Stripe Payment Processor
  • Google Maps + Google Places
  • Google Analytics for Firebase

Personnel

  • Project Manager
  • Business Analyst
  • 2 QA engineers
  • Front-end developer
  • 2 Back-end developers
  • 2 iOS developers

Conclusion

HYPR application showcases the potential of transportation-related applications combined with niche fields. 

  • The application streamlined the luxury ride experience service to a couple of clicks. The app provides room for further elaboration of the ridesharing service framework.
  • On the other hand, the application’s use of social networking greatly expands its opportunities in user engagement.

For our company, it was a great experience in applying a familiar framework in a different configuration. We developed a solution that is easy for both users and admins. 

During the development of this project, we utilized a streamlined, agile workflow. This approach helped us to deploy an operating prototype of the system ahead of the planned date and dedicate more time to its testing and refinement. 

Denys Vetriak
Denys Vetriak
administrator