Toogethr: The Smart Bell That Made Commuting Social Again
Post-lockdown, we all returned to the office. And brought back the worst habit: solo car commutes.
The average rush-hour car carries just 1.2 people while spewing emissions and clogging roads.
But here's what really bugged me: we weren't just polluting the air. We were missing out on the social connections we'd craved during isolation.
The real question: How do you turn a lonely commute into a social routine?
My Mission: Sustain the Cycling Surge
During the pandemic, I bounced between Germany and the Netherlands. The contrast was brutal: German traffic jams vs. Dutch cycling culture.
My graduation project focused on a specific window of opportunity: the post-pandemic cycling boom. How could we turn temporary interest into lasting habits while rebuilding workplace social bonds?
Goal: Create bike-to-work habits with minimal digital friction, maximum real-world connection.
The Toogethr Ecosystem
- Toogethr Parking – Smart parking management
- Toogethr Carpool – Match commuters, reduce cars
- Toogethr Cycles – Track rides, pair colleagues, earn rewards
Research: I Studied Memes (Seriously)
To understand commuting culture, I went deep into the internet's subconscious. Memes, TV shows ("Carpoolers"), social media rants about traffic. You name it, I consumed it.
Why? Because memes reveal what people actually think, not what they tell researchers.
Learning from the Sharing Economy's Failures
I analyzed similar ecosystems (Couchsurfing, BlaBlaCar, Eatwith) to understand why great ideas fail. The goal: identify patterns and avoid repeating others' mistakes.
The 5-Why Method: Digging Deeper
I used the 5-Why technique to peel back layers and find the root problems along the office commuter's journey, both for carpoolers and people on bicycles.
Ideation: Five Concepts, One Winner
From my research emerged five distinct concepts. I explored, tested, and refined each one.
The wild card: An interactive traffic light survey that asked pedestrians waiting at red lights through a QR code sticked to the traffic light button through an interactive survey: "Did you know there are just 1.3 people per car, making your wait longer?" I ran this experiment with ~100 participants. While exciting, it was more of a public awareness campaign than a direct ecosystem improvement.
After all, I selected the office cycling community concept.
Low-Fidelity Prototypes
Tool: Digital paper (because sometimes the simplest tools work best)
The Two Questions That Guided Everything
How might we increase the likelihood of cycling to work?
How might we boost the sense of community at the office?
These became my North Star throughout the project.
User Stories: The People Behind the Problem
| As a | I need | So I can |
|---|---|---|
| Not-yet-cycling employee | a sense of community when cycling | combine fitness, fun, and connection |
| Experienced cyclist | find others to ride with | make my daily ride more social |
| HR / Office Manager | a visible way to promote active commuting | improve employee well-being and sustainability goals |
| Team Lead / Manager | lightweight ways to encourage team bonding | foster a healthier, connected team culture |
| Sustainability Officer | scalable interventions | track real-world impact on emissions and commuting behavior |
The Solution: A Bell That Talks
The Magic Fietsbel (Bicycle Bell)
A smart bicycle bell in the office hallway that connects to Slack. When someone wants to cycle home, they ring the bell. Colleagues get notified and can join the ride.
The genius part: It's physical, visible, and requires zero app downloads. Just ring and ride.
Mapping the Ecosystem
Tool: Miro
Building The Device: When Magic Happens
The moment it came to life was pure magic: the bell started sending messages to Slack, and colleagues actually replied. A physical object became a social catalyst.
The Hardware: IoT Meets Simplicity
Smart bicycle bell with ESP32S microcontroller, touch sensor, WiFi, and Slack API integration. Building the bell meant balancing playful interaction with solid engineering. I used an ESP32S microcontroller, a touch sensor, WiFi, and Slack’s API to connect the physical and digital worlds.
The Testing: Physical Products need Onsite-Testing
Unlike pure software, physical products demand real-world validation. How do people actually use a device in the office? What feels natural, what doesn’t?
On-site Testing – Together with Wim Hol (UX designer & cycling colleague), we brought the bell into its natural habitat: the office hallway.
To ensure usability, I applied Nielsen Norman Group’s 10 Usability Heuristics, systematically checking everything from visibility of system status to error prevention.
Insights – Testing revealed that small cues (like audio feedback and visible placement) mattered more than adding extra features. The evaluation revealed that the core challenge wasn’t the tech itself, but how people understood and trusted it in context. Users needed clear feedback that the bell worked, simple and human Slack messages, and consistency across channels. Small design tweaks - like audio/visual confirmation, fun conversation starters, and a visible sign near the device - proved more valuable than adding new features. In short: usability came from making the bell obvious, social, and effortless.
The Management Part: Deals with Moscow and GitHub Projects
The art in design and also code is to stay concise and lean - to create actual manageable code - and a MVP end users love. Using The MoSCoW method, I determined which priorities to keep and what not to focus on (for now).
![[toogethr_prios.webp]]
Project Management: GitHub Projects with classic Kanban board
😺 GitHub: philffm/magicFietsbel
The Software: Making Strangers Talk
The real challenge wasn't getting people to cycle-it was getting them to talk to each other. I built conversation starters into the Slack integration to break the ice between colleagues.
Beyond Slack: The Universal App
I created a fallback solution that works independently of Slack. One codebase, multiple platforms: smartphone, browser, or browser extension.
Demo
Potential Next Steps in Product Development
- Expand notification channels
- Enhance social features
- Scale to multiple office locations
- Integrate with existing mobility solutions