E-scooter startup by �山ǿ�� alumnus set to roll out in Kelowna, B.C.

A University of Toronto startup is racing toward its goal: to introduce electric scooters (e-scooters) in a way that is safe, legal and tailored to Canada.

Roll Technologies Inc., whose CEO is �山ǿ�� Scarborough alumnus Richard Cao, has reached a deal with the city of Kelowna, B.C., believed to be the first city in Canada to welcome a program of e-scooters. The startup will deploy 200 e-scooters and 50 electronic bikes (e-bikes) in September. Users will be able to find, unlock and rent the scooters via Roll’s app.

“E-scooters are a popular and effective form of shared mobility – and one that provides a green solution to a common urban transportation problem,” says Cao, who is from Shanghai and graduated from �山ǿ�� Scarborough's management program in June.

“I want to provide a reasonable product to the market that people actually need and can use in a safe way.”

E-scooters appeared in the U.S. in September of 2017, but problems arose when they were made available without extensive instructions, helmets or invitations from government bodies. Injuries, deaths and public backlash were rampant through 2018 and have continued in 2019.

“Canadian governments have been very conservative with e-scooters to minimize the risks – it’s a good thing, and one of the reasons American companies haven’t gotten into this market as quickly,” Cao says.

Cao’s father works in the Chinese manufacturing industry and has been making e-bikes and e-scooters for U.S. companies. This gave Cao the idea and connections to begin building a competitive startup.

In March, Cao went to The Hub, �山ǿ�� Scarborough’s entrepreneurial incubator, and began working with its director, Gray Graffam.

“What I’m trying to do is differentiate him straight up from what the other companies are doing,” Graffam says. “I’m introducing him to various politicians and governing agencies to say, ‘How can I work with the city to introduce these e-scooters in a safe way?’”

Cao built a team of six, and Roll has now launched its website, coded its app and crafted its bright yellow e-scooter.

“I want to provide a reasonable product to the market that people actually need and can use in a safe way,” says Richard Cao (photo courtesy of Roll Technologies)

The platform of Roll’s e-scooter is wider and heavier than those of major U.S. companies in an effort to make them more stable. The wheels are also larger, to help prevent them from getting caught in curbs or uneven street surfaces.

A study of e-scooter use in Austin, Texas by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about 20 people were injured per 100,000 e-scooter trips, with half of those injured sustaining head injuries.

The study noted head injuries could have been prevented by wearing a helmet, but only one of the 190 injured people in the study was wearing one. That’s why Cao is making wearing a helmet mandatory for all users, and is launching a free helmet program.

The same study found that one-third of injured users were harmed on their first time riding an e-scooter. So, Roll’s app will identify first-time users and lock the e-scooters into a lowered speed.

Roll is also working to make sustainability a priority, because while the scooters may seem eco-friendly, a short lifespan can send them on a fast track to the landfill.

That’s why Cao has made durability a focus in his design. Part of Roll's daily operations will be investigating scooters and making every effort to repair them instead of replacing them.

�山ǿ�� study finds people have expectations of the ideal number of collaborators to make a product

noreen.rasbach — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 15:12:10 +0000

�山ǿ�� study finds people have expectations of the ideal number of collaborators to make a product

noreen.rasbach Fri, 07/26/2019 - 11:12

Cutline

“People have an estimate in their minds for the best number of collaborators to make the best possible product,” says Sam Maglio, associate professor in the department of management at �山ǿ�� Scarborough (photo by Yana Kaz)

Don Campbell

Topic

Breaking Research

Department of Management

Research & Innovation

Rotman School of Management

�山ǿ�� Scarborough

When it comes to how people view the group size of a collaboration, new University of Toronto research finds there’s such a thing as too many – and too few – cooks in the kitchen.

The research, published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science, looks at what people expect from collaborations of different sizes.

“People have an estimate in their minds for the best number of collaborators to make the best possible product,” says Sam Maglio, associate professor in the department of management at �山ǿ�� Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management.

There’s a lot of existing research looking at how managers can best construct their teams, but Maglio says this is the first to look at how outsiders evaluate collaborations of different sizes.

In one study, participants were asked to judge the tastiness of a cookie after being told that it was made either by one, four or eight bakers. Despite sampling the same cookie, participants judged the cookie made by four bakers to be the tastiest.

“This shows how our expectations shape the way we interact with goods and services,” says Maglio, who is an expert on consumer behaviour.

“If people have high expectations for what they are about to encounter, then they’ll usually find a way to see that product as meeting those expectations.”

The complexity of a task does seem to change our opinion of ideal collaboration size, Maglio notes. In two studies, participants were asked for the ideal number of collaborators to make more complex products, such as a pen, watch and lock. A more complex task made participants want more collaborators working on it.

“It seems people believe in an ideal number of collaborators that’s often bigger than two, especially for complex tasks. At the same time, we never saw that ideal number go into the triple digits, so there needs to be a balance between not too many and not too few,” he says.

Once a collaboration becomes too large, we tend to view it as excessive, costly and unwieldy – and it can dampen our enthusiasm for it, he adds.

Maglio was first inspired to do this research after witnessing the hype generated by a new beer made by a collaboration of three independent brewers in San Francisco.

“We tend to think of co-branding as only two brands, but here were three brewers and people were lining up around the block for a beer they hadn’t even tried,” he says. “It seemed, at least in this case, that three was better than two in terms of generating enthusiasm.”

Maglio says there are clear lessons for marketers: They can do more to find the number of collaborators their customers would prefer and then promote it. At the same time, it’s also important to know when too many collaborators can ruin enthusiasm.

“It’s important to know the number and not exceed it. Having three independent brewers may be close to ideal, but having 22 – which has actually happened – may cause consumers to walk away,” he says.

The research received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.