Grab

When a ride turns unsafe, how should the platform respond?

I researched driver and passenger safety, then designed and facilitated simulations to help the team test its proposed incident response.

Year: 2019
Discipline: Service design
My role: User research; simulation design and facilitation

Grab wanted to improve its response to safety incidents involving passengers and drivers. The project covered several Southeast Asian cities, so we needed to understand the needs of both groups across markets.

My contribution

Research: I researched what made drivers and passengers feel safe or unsafe, and what support they expected when something went wrong.
Simulation design: I designed a simulation to explore how the proposed response would work across the app and the people delivering support.
Facilitation: I facilitated the simulation with colleagues from different teams to identify gaps in the proposed service.

Field research for Grab's safety project — Field research with drivers and passengers during Grab's safety work.

Testing the response as a service

A safety feature depends on what happens after an alert. The simulation let us examine how the proposed response worked across teams and where it needed further work.

Outcome

The team refined response procedures and incorporated simulation into staff training. My research and simulation work contributed to those changes.

Reflection

The app was one part of the response. Testing how it connected to people and operations made the gaps easier for the team to see.

Team: Product, design, data science, and regional safety colleagues