Redefining moving services through both multi-touchpoint channels, delivering a confident experience for first-time users, and ultimately increasing the conversion rate from first-time users to loyal consumers.
Get an overview of our project
Empathy
As first-time movers ourselves, we’ve experienced the uncertainty that comes with preparing for a move—navigating logistics, packing belongings, and facing the unfamiliar task of driving a large rental truck.
This personal experience sparked a deeper question:
Are others going through the same sense of overwhelm? At which point in the journey do they feel the most uncertain, and what support do they actually need?
We began with reviewed nearly 1,000 user reviews on the Google Play Store, clustering common keywords and sentiments to identify recurring frustrations.
To validate our initial findings from review analysis, we conducted in-depth interviews with
5 users who had rented U-Haul truck
2 employees from local U-Haul stores.
These conversations gave us a more nuanced understanding of both user frustrations and internal service gaps.
Define
Who is our target user? What is their psychographic?
Pain point
Goal
Swipe above to explore more details about the user archetypes.
Although our archetypes represent different backgrounds, motivations, and levels of confidence, they converge at key friction points throughout the U-Haul rental experience.
What unites them is not who they are, but what they experience.
Across all user types, we identified a consistent set of unmet needs and recurring frustrations, especially related to confidence, clarity, and coordination. These shared pain points became the foundation for reframing the core problem we aimed to solve.
Driving Anxiety
The stark differences between standard cars and U-Haul trucks (larger blind spots, unique control systems) cause hesitation and worry.
Decision Overload
Confusion in choosing the correct truck size leaves users overwhelmed, unsure about matching their cargo with available options.
Time Pressure
Tight moving schedules amplify anxiety, reducing users' capacity to prepare adequately.
Click below to see how the pain points unfold throughout the journey.
Through research, we uncovered a consistent gap between first-time renters’ expectations and the level of support currently provided by U-Haul.
Despite being a dominant player in the rental truck industry, U-Haul’s service for first-time users shows clear opportunities for improvement, particularly in confidence-building and the overall ease of driving and renting.
So how might we minimize the barriers for first-time renters to maximize efficiency and deliver a seamless experience throughout the journey?
Ideate & Prototype
Desirability Testing - Conversational Prototype
To quickly evaluate potential service flows and validate their desirability with first-time renters, we adopted a conversational prototype approach.
Through simulated dialogues and scenario-based interviews, we tested early-stage user flows and interactions—capturing immediate user reactions, clarifying misunderstandings, and uncovering preferences in real-time conversations.
Ocerall Service Flow 1.0
Building on this validated flow, we moved forward to develop a more tangible prototype, bringing the experience to life through screens, interactions, and service touchpoints that users could directly engage with.
Prototyping Question
What features from the app prototype you find helpful and intuitive?
Conversational Prototype
Digital Prototyping
Are the new renting recommendation options appealing?
Digital Prototyping
The Wizard of Oz
Were there any step of the process that you found unclear or challenging?
Digital Prototyping
The Wizard of Oz
Are the online + physical instructions enough to give you the confidence before driving?
Desktop Walkthrough
Cardboard Prototyping + Card Sorting
Digital Prototype
Physical Space Prototype
Machine Learning System
For the recommendation system, Orange 3 was used to validated the prediction, based on information previously collected during the truck booking in the app and stores.
Test
How we evaluate the success?
User Feedback
Users strongly suggested avoiding repetitive manual entry of personal details at different points during the booking process.
Users requested explicit, easy-to-understand explanations for why personal information is needed, emphasizing transparency and trust-building.
Users recommended providing access to driving tutorials directly from the moment they place their order, continuing through to the key pick-up stage.
Users felt frustrated when redirected multiple times between employees or resources, preferring clear, concise assistance in one interaction.
Users requested clearer visual guidance in-store, such as graphics or displays, to help them select appropriate moving boxes based on their specific needs.
These feedback weren’t just support functional improvements, they directly help us figure out users’ emotional needs for clarity and control.
"Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it by myself, but now I feel ready."
— A First-time U-Haul renter, post-prototype test
The Comeback
