Harrisonburg

to
Home
An organized platform for helping JMU
students find safe, affordable rides home
 How might we improve the
experience of students trying to find
rides back to home towns?

Research Questions:

1. How will you go about finding rides from campus back to

your home town?
2. What are your opinions on the current ways students seek
rides through Facebook pages?
3. Are their features you’d like to see changed on the current
Facebook pages?
4. Do you think an all-in-one app where students can find rides
specifically back to their hometowns would be beneficial? Why or
why not.
5. Are features such as set prices and maps for rides home
important features?
6. As a freshman, will you feel more inclined to go home if
options to find rides are more accessible? As someone who
is not a freshman, would you have felt more inclined to go
home if options to find rides were more accessible?
 Rationale for Approach
As a freshman last year, I did not have my car on campus, but
wanted to visit home frequently to see family and friends. I began
to use the multiple JMU Facebook pages which offer rides, but I
found them to be overwhelming in number and in postings. This
caused me to not visit home as frequently as I would have liked
due to an inability to find proper rides home. I decided an all-in-
one app could help minimize these issues and others.

Before beginning to collect any data, I brainstormed what the best

method would be to collect the data. I decided interviews would be
the best way to collect the information needed, and I also decided
I did not need a pre-interview survey because I semi knew the
background of the people I interviewed. I knew these five students
ranged in ages and genders and had also all sought rides home at
some point in their college experience or will seek a ride at some
point.

I conducted the interviews one-on-one in multiple locations such

as dorm rooms and Dukes Dining. The one-on-one, in person
approach allowed me to ask follow up questions which proved
helpful when I was making generalizations for the platform.

From the data I collected, I created two personas which

represent the majority of the findings.
Harrisonburg to Home
VS Facebook Pages
 Selection of Students
When deciding what target audience to focus on for my
interviews, I narrowed my subjects down to JMU students who
I knew had visited home at least one time freshman year OR
students, specifically freshman, who I knew had the intention
of visiting home at least once this year. I wanted to interview
students who I knew had gone home or would go home
because Harrisonburg to Home is targeted towards those
students, so I needed to collect data from that group.
Harrisonburg to Home is also relevant to an audience of
students who do not have access to cars. From this, I chose
five students who I knew would have different opinions about
going home and a preference as to how they got home. The
students interviewed are below:

Ashton- freshman, female, from Glen Allen, VA

Grace- freshman, female, from Richmond, VA
Miles- junior, male, from Glen Allen, VA
Rachel- sophomore, female, from Danville, VA
Nan- sophomore, female, Richmond, VA
Comparing Behaviors and
Preferences
 Breakdown of Scale
Safety
Safety proved to be more important than not for all students
interviewed which is understandable given Harrisonburg to Home is
a platform where students would be driving with students who they
may not already know. The research found the freshman students
put slightly less emphasis on safety which could be due to their
inability to know what to expect with a driving platform or a
Facebook page which offers rides home. The junior male who was
interviewed strongly cared about safety which seemed out of the
norm given that males tend to not worry about safety as much as
females. Overall, all students emphasized safety and felt precautions
needed to be taken on the platform to make all students feel safe.

All-In-One
The all-in-one nature of Harrisonburg to Home also proved to be
important to most students. The female sophomore who did not feel
an all-in-one platform was needed said she enjoyed using the
Facebook pages to find rides and found them very useful. The other
four students stated an all-in-one app with maps and short bios of
drivers provided the possibility of them seeking rides home more
often. Overall, the common idea from all students tied back into
safety with each student saying they felt an all-in-one app would
allow them to feel secure when driving home.
Facebook Frequency
The overall consensus of using Facebook pages to find rides
home was very split amongst students with some almost
always using the pages to find a ride home and some almost
never using the pages to find a ride home. The junior male
who rarely used Facebook pages stated he preferred to ask
friends for rides, while the two females who strongly used/will
use Facebook pages stated they do not have many friends on
campus to catch rides from. Overall, the divided nature of
student's frequency to use Facebook pages to find rides home
showed Harrisonburg to Home can offer an alternative for all
students looking to go home.

Home Frequency
The majority of students I interviewed stated they sought or
will seek rides semi frequently throughout the school year
making Harrisonburg to Home a useful platform for them. The
junior male who stated he rarely goes home also stated he
had found his place in Harrisonburg and did not feel the need
to visit home often. The rest of the students shared feelings of
wanting to go home to see friends and family every few weeks
or so. Overall, the majority of students interviewed felt/feel as
if they will be visiting home moderately often this year.