SENTRA is designed to ensure a more controllable and predictable way for older GIG workers

A service leveraging intelligent navigation and safety technologies to support older gig workers on motorcycles. It enhances risk prediction, emergency response, and riding control while promoting adaptability, dignity, and family connection—enabling a safer and more sustainable return to the workforce.

Click the video below to see how the Sandbox service works!

The Problem

Motorcycles often carry a negative image, frequently associated with danger, noise, and even social stereotypes of recklessness or rebellion.

Beyond these impressions, motorcycles have made a significant contributions to human life: they provide affordable and efficient mobility, expand transportation access in developing regions, and even play vital roles in emergency response and medical delivery as well as combating carbon emissions. This is a powerful enabler of human connection and progress.

User Research

The user generally fall into four categories, For some of these groups, motorcycles are not just toys, it’s a life line for them.

Faced with the objective shortcomings of motorcycles, there is an older group of people with a decline in physical and cognitive abilities who seem to be unable to avoid intersections with the safety issues. These are user groups who survive by riding motorcycles under GIG economy. So how can we help them to improve their riding experience and reduce the potential dangers to rebuild their confidence?

Design Process

After revised insights, I began to conceptualize how to support these insights to design goals, the data in and data out, as well as how this data was processed and the technologies they relied on. The focus was on the information architecture—what to sense, what to suppress, when to notify, and how to make signals clear and understandable under pressure. This facilitated the integration of user journey map to identify solutions.

The Discover & Define phase was an iterative process, leveraging participant feedback and emerging data to guide next steps.

This phase involved 7 participants from different research fields and 3 key iterations, which helped me shift the scope of the project toward delivering an ideal solution for the target user group.

Incorportating user feedback and usability heuristics, I prioritised financial incentives to address low motivation, tailored physical controls to older users’ familiarity, and refined the app interface for accessibility. A key oversight was data accuracy: unreliable data risks harm, highlighting the need for fewer but more precise inputs. This feedback sharpened my design insights.

Design Development

Site Map of SENTRA APP

SENTRA APP Low-fi Iteration

The core components of **SENTRA APP is a navigation system**. **This function can be embedded within transportation platform software**, similar to Google Maps, as a navigation driver and optional feature. **The main body of the app is an individual component,** which provides product connectivity, data feedback, and special location assistance. The **embedded nature of the service as reflected in the task flow, also reduces the number of steps required for users.**

Based on user feedback and reflection to screens prototypes. I simplified the product pairing interface. **Considering what data users truly care about.** Regarding home data sharing, further trade-offs are needed by considering privacy protection and ethical issues. The user interface maintains **high contrast, large buttons, and a predictable layout to reduce cognitive load.**

3 Key Iteration of SENTRA BAR

The first prototype, a wristband tracker combining bio-signal monitoring, physical buttons, and gesture-based controls, revealed key limitations: weak haptic feedback, poor fit, disrupted gestures with gloves, the need to remove a hand from the bars, and unreliable signals that gig workers often deprioritised.

The second prototype, inspired by MotoGP handlebar units, replaced wearable with mounted controls and light prompts, but testing exposed new issues: accidental button presses, distracting lighting, and limited adaptability across bikes, riders, and hand sizes.

SENTRA BAR: a universal clip-on handlebar controller with two intuitive buttons and dual-colour light modules. Designed through iterative testing, it reduces cognitive load, improves visibility, and respects older riders’ habits while remaining adaptable across motorcycles and rider needs.

Final Outcome

Paring Section

A magnetic quick-release mechanism allows riders to charge their products individually without the need for tools or frequent disassembly of the entire products. This is a matter of usability and sustainable considerations, not a subtle trick. They may not frequently turn up this interface, but once they do, they can easily find the setting they need.

Navigation Section

Safer route options — analysed against UK road conditions with clear trade-offs. The center one is the main navigation page, which not only provides visual hazard predictions on the screen but also alerts users through the SENTRABAR. Positioning assistance will save time which as a key factor to forces riders to take risks. Safe parking spots are often overlooked, leading to financial losses and compromised personal safety. Human-centred design is also essential.

User Assistance Section

The homepage integrates Product Setup, Assisted Positioning, and User Feedback. Risk-prone maintenance items are flagged, while an AI-driven Safety Points system rewards safe riding with redeemable benefits. A visual footer highlights safety gains and transparent earnings, encouraging continued use. Data sharing with family enhances reassurance, fostering trust in safety, financial sustainability, and long-term technology adoption.

What if the worst happens…

If an incident is detected, the app triggers a countdown, if no cancellation is received, it auto-connects to the first responder for remote guidance and coordinates rescue. A progress-distance indicator helps reduce panic. In line with help-and-documentation heuristics, users can manually cancel for minor events or false alarms. I sincerely hope this screen is never needed.

Pengfan Qian, MA User Experience and Service Design

As UX designer

I am a UX designer driven by a human-centred mindset, research-led methods, and systematic thinking. My process begins with framing meaningful topics, then zooming in and out to align user needs with wider contexts. By combining qualitative storytelling with quantitative data, I generate insights that are both empathetic and actionable. I communicate ideas clearly, refine them iteratively, and reflect critically on my practice. This balance of creativity and rigour allows me to design solutions that enhance usability, preserve dignity, and foster long-term trust between people, products, and services.

Ambitions as a UX Practitioner

I aspire to make a difference in the field of vehicle-driver interaction, focusing on improving the user driving experience through the design of an ecosystem of products and services. My goal is to create intuitive visual solutions, coupled with an inclusive ecosystem, to change the way people interact with mechanical vehicles, achieving a human-car interaction similar to that in the Pixar film Cars.

Personal Reflection

Even having gone through multiple iterations, opportunities for refinement were still needed. Data accuracy and reducing ownership costs are crucial for adoption among gig workers, while strategic partnerships with insurers, retailers, and rescue services could build a sustainable ecosystem. From a UX perspective, usability improves when products form a coherent service journey. I learned to frame safety not only as a technical problem but as an experience of confidence for riders and reassurance for families. This project reshaped me to design beyond individuals—considering wider stakeholders, ecosystem impacts, and behaviour-change strategies grounded in both practicality and empathy.