Teach riders how Waymo drives
What I did
- Researched heavily, including stakeholder interviews to understand how Waymo cars drive
- Wrote the article including headers and image captions
- Designed the page layout
- Configured and published the final page, including some light HTML
Who I worked with
- Eng & PM - to understand how the tech works behind Waymo
- Legal & Policy - to understand what we can and can't say about our product
- Marketing & PR - to understand how we want to promote our product and align on language and brand continuity
Challenges
I was asked to write this without much context or upfront information from other teams and was on a tight timeline.
I read our current external safety manual cover-to-cover and reviewed language from our website to create this help page.
Results
- Managed competing expectations from multiple stakeholders to collaborate and compromise on final copy
- Finished on deadline without blocking the larger product launch
How Waymo experiences the world
A combination of cameras, radar, microphones and LiDAR are the eyes and ears of every Waymo car.
Waymo uses…
- LiDAR to detect everything around the car, like pedestrians, cyclists, or other drivers
- Radar to help detect objects around the car and estimate their speed, like other motorists traveling around it
- Exterior cameras to see visual information, like whether a traffic light is red or green
- Microphones to hear audio cues, like the sound of police or emergency sirens
To help it plan a safe path ahead while driving, the car can see up to 3 football fields away in all directions.
How Waymo drives itself
Waymo software is the brain of the car. Through the software, the car makes sense of everything coming from the sensors, and uses the information in real time to drive itself.
Waymo cars can...
- Navigate on city streets to get from point A to B safely
- Avoid hazards including by slowing down, changing lanes, or braking completely for a stopped car
- Adjust to unexpected changes in the roads like road work or closed lanes
- Obey traffic laws like stopping at stop signs, and yielding to pedestrians or cyclists
Explain the rider rules
What I did
The only document riders had available to them to understand the rules of our service was the dense Terms of Service (TOS) written by legal.
I created an in-car rules page that was a more customer friendly version of what was in the TOS but in simple, jargon-free language.
Who I worked with
- Legal & PM - to understand and define what rules apply in the car for each type of customer
- UX & Customer Support - to understand where riders were confused about the rules from the TOS and needed more reenforcement
Challenges
We have 3 services with rules that vary for each experience (UX testing, public customers, employee testers), so multiple articles were needed to cover everyone. I solved this by creating 3 articles and using signals in the back end so you see the right article for you, depending on who you are.
There are a lot of rules to cover and the previous version was jargon heavy, full of legalize, and use scary and serious language. To make it easier to skim, I sectioned off the copy into two main sections ("Sharing your rides" and "While riding") and added a descriptive header for every major rule.
Results
- Waymo now has a clear set of rules and expectations for riders, in an easily digestible format
- Customer Support is able to enforce in-car rules now that we have clearer rules in place, where as before we couldn't
Waymo One public service rules
If you’re in the Early Rider Program, different rules apply. Read the Early Rider rules
Follow these in-car rules to help us create a safe and comfortable experience for all riders.
To help keep riders safe, we've created some new in-car rules in response to COVID-19. You can read them here
Sharing your rides
As noted above, if you’re part of the Early Rider Program, different rules apply.
Share photos, videos, and info about Waymo if you’d like
You're welcome to share details about your experience as a Waymo rider with your friends and family, including sharing photos, videos and social media posts.
Bring guests if you’d like
Share a self-driving trip with guests whenever you’d like. Family members who are under 18 can ride along with you, as can others under 18 if you have obtained consent from their parent or legal guardian. Remember you’re responsible for your guests following these rules.
Accompany guests at all times
Don’t request a Waymo for someone else. You’re welcome to bring guests, but be sure to accompany them during the ride. Do not allow minors to ride in a Waymo car unaccompanied by an adult.
See the full article here