A hybrid extras flow increased revenue on spontaneous trips.
Proving upsells can work without slowing "start rental," and that validating assumptions early matters.
Share Now · 2020 · 3 Months
Starting Point
Share Now offers two rental modes: spontaneous rentals, where users pick up a car anywhere and start immediately, and pre-booked trips planned in advance. Experiments in the pre-booked flow — offering additional drivers, better insurance, and other extras — had already increased revenue by approximately 8%.
We aimed to capture similar opportunities for spontaneous trips, particularly longer rentals. The question was whether those mechanics could work in a flow built entirely around immediacy.
Goal
Offer meaningful extras for spontaneous car-sharing users without disrupting their primary task of starting a rental, while maximizing potential revenue from longer trips.
Hypothesis
We entered the project with two distinct hypotheses: one behavioral, one about revenue impact. Both needed to hold for the effort to justify its priority.
01 · Behavior
Users on longer spontaneous trips will opt for extras if presented clearly and conveniently.
02 · Revenue
By tailoring and surfacing extras to match trip type, spontaneous rentals will achieve a proportional increase in additional revenue comparable to pre-booked rentals.
Discovery
Comfort and security
I need to feel safe and at ease on longer trips, with clear insurance options, roadside help, and confidence driving in unfamiliar areas.
Frictionless short trips
I need to start a quick commute fast, with any extras optional and unobtrusive so nothing slows down "start rental."
Clarity and control
I need transparent, easy-to-understand extras that scale with my trip type and duration, so I can choose only what's relevant without confusion.
Discovery of longer-trip value
I need to know that longer spontaneous trips are supported and worthwhile, with visible rates and extras that make extended use practical and cost-effective.
Users
Two main user segments with distinct needs. And what "optional" really means differs fundamentally between them.
The Commuter · Minutes – 12 hrs · ~80% of users
Short trips in familiar areas
Get from A to B quickly.
Low risk perception.
Priority: Get a car.
Extras must be optional and non-obstructive. Any friction in "start rental" is a direct cost to this segment.
The Traveler · 1 – 30 day trips · Growing segment
Longer trips in less familiar areas
Temporary car ownership.
Priority: comfort and security.
Extras should provide insurance clarity, roadside confidence, and peace of mind for unfamiliar territory.
Concept
BI insights guided an initial matrix of extras by rate type, designed to scale to future options such as Additional Driver. Based on the data, we defined which extras to offer per selected rate and ensured the designs could support expanding the catalog over time.
Exploration
We created wireframes integrating extras into the existing spontaneous rental flow, collaborating with engineers to ensure feasibility. Three distinct approaches emerged — each with a different answer to where and when to surface extras.
Dedicated Step
Pros
Cons
Extras Pills
Pros
Cons
Clustered Rates
Pros
Cons
User Research
5 in-house participants · 3 heavy users, 1 non-user · 20 min per session · Goal: surface issues with extras discoverability, price transparency, and overall accessibility.
Dedicated Step
FindingsConfusing for minute rentals. Limited cost experimentation.
Extras Pills
FindingsPreferred. Good task success. Curiosity-driven interaction.
Clustered Rates
Engineers flagged clustering as technically heavier to build. Narrowed focus to Extras Pills and Dedicated Step before user testing began.
Final Design
We merged the best aspects: optional extras for short trips with mandatory awareness for longer rentals. Preserving the commuter flow while giving travelers the context to make an informed decision.
Increased affordance of pills
Improved pill affordance with clear calls to action ("Edit options," "Adjust insurance"), an extras subtotal, and a green check mark on selected extras.
Secondary action
Added transparency of costs and driving rules.
Proper stage for "Your extras"
Enough room to explain extras.
Outcome
~2.4% increase from extras, mainly insurance upgrades. Lower than the ambitious target due to short duration of most spontaneous trips.
We expected upsell gains from spontaneous trips to mirror pre-booked rentals, but early data showed spontaneous trips are much shorter on average, naturally limiting upsell potential. Regardless of how well the UI works, the structural constraint was the trip length distribution.
Key Take-Aways
We expected upsell gains from spontaneous trips to mirror pre-booked rentals, but early data showed spontaneous trips are much shorter on average, naturally limiting upsell potential.
Assumptions from pre-booked rentals inflated expectations. Small gains still matter in absolute revenue. Validate in the problem space before solutioning to avoid overestimating impact.
