HYPR

Client Requirements

After we contacted Matthew, we clarified more details about the project.

HYPR is a-first-of-its-kind supercar booking taxi app that works on the subscription basis in the London area. Its vehicle fleet includes Rolls Royce, Gelentwagen, Lamborghini, and other supercars, popular among wealthy millennials who prefer to rent cars than buy them.

Matthew already had several screens of his mobile app design, so he was looking for a development team that would build the code part for four standalone products, as well as back-end logic and stable infrastructure.

He also emphasized the limited time frames. We had only four months to develop the app's MVP so that the client could show it to the commission of Transport for London(TFL). It was quite challenging to book an appointment in TFL, which is possible only every 6 months. We had to demonstrate the product and receive certification, so knowing the strict deadlines, we had no room for mistakes.

Our challenges

During the development phase, we faced the following challenges:

• UI/UX design. Since it’s a luxury product, our team had to make the UX very smooth and user friendly.
• Detailed documentation. Due to tight deadlines, our developers needed to develop a clear code without bugs from the first attempt. Thus, we needed to create super-detailed technical documentation and determine all possible user stories and scenarios beforehand.
• TFL compliance. Our technical documentation had to be compliant with the Transport for London Technical Solution Demonstration Guidance and Technical Documentation Guidance for PHO Applicants. Transport of London pays extra attention to features connected with lost and found property, complaints and compliments, vehicle details, bookings records, and private hire drivers.
• Four products at once. Apart from creating the Admin panel and Subscription website, we needed to develop fully-fledged mobile applications for Drivers and Passengers with geolocation, personal profile, estimated pickup time, optimize the road to avoid traffic jams, and make both apps work simultaneously.
• Price aggregation algorithm. We needed to create a custom price generation algorithm that would generate the ride price by analyzing multiple factors. The algorithm determines the ride price by combining the car's rate, driver's location, the amount of time the driver waits for the passenger, the passenger's desire to extend the ride, ride length, and so on. In the case of the driver's location being too far away from the passenger, we needed to develop functionality that would offer similar cars nearby and calculate the ride's cost.
• Money refund logic. Since the app is targeted at the luxury segment, the first project release must work without bugs. At the same time, we faced issues with money refunds when the passenger canceled the ride. In this case, the money refund depends on many factors, including when the passenger hailed a car, passenger's membership type, driver location, and others.
• Hidden phone numbers. Since the app's users belong to a luxury society, they respect their privacy. Thus, we needed to hide real app users' phone numbers and mask them with random phone numbers from the London area.
• Real-time geolocation. The app should always show the current driver's position using GPS integrated into the mobile device. The main challenge here was to choose the right geolocation API because most third-party geolocation modules work with delays.
• Limited resources. During this project, we often compared ourselves with the team that developed the Uber mobile app. But, unlike the Uber team, we had limited resources, including developers, funds, and timeframes, making our mission to develop bug-free luxury mobile apps almost impossible.
  
• Bonus programs. At this step, we needed to develop the logic for HYPR's bonus program, which included several user groups. The app awards some users with 100 pounds they can use for rides. Also, some users receive a free subscription for several months, while others receive a life-time free subscription.