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GoGoGrandparent — A way for seniors to use Uber and Lyft
GoGoGrandparent helps older adults use on demand transportation services. We primarily handle two challenges:
1) Technological accessibility - they call to order a ride, no smartphone required.
2) Ride management - we screen drivers to make sure they're comfortable with seniors, monitor rides and communicate on behalf of the registered callers
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Andrei M. Marinescu
Congrats @justinboogaard & team on tackling a major pain point!
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looks very cool. from the screenshots, i can't see how the grandparent would know the car license plate # though, which is normally displayed in app
@_jacksmith The system is primarily audio, the texts are what goes out to family members. When someone calls in and selects where they want to be picked up, then when they get matched with a driver they hear: "Thanks for waiting! Your driver's name is John, John will be there in 5 minutes. John is driving a gray Toyota Camry and the first two letters of John's license plate are 7, J."
@justinboogaard Important to note: the first two letters of a license plate are issued sequentially by region, so in CA for example you'll see lots of "7J" or "6J" license plates. You'll definitely want to go for the last two letters of a plate, which are random.
@robertjksn @justinboogaard thanks for the info Robert, we'll make that change right now!
Very cool! This could not only work for grandparents but also less tech savvy parents :)
Curious to know -- what's the BIG vision for this product/company?
Thanks for the question @gauri. We see this product as the beginning of a beautiful senior care business. When you decide to give up driving, older adults soon find themselves giving up a lot of things. It's really that (and the subsequent lack of social life) that drives them to seek really expensive alternative housing. If we can continue to provide services that keep older adults happy, social and healthy in their homes, I think we'll be able to lay the ground work for building a really great company.
@justinboogaard @gauri Love the concept (both initial product and bigger vision), but I can't help but feel the clunkiness of the name may hold it back…
Grandpa Sonny is going to be so excited to hear he can finally use Uber! Looking forward to seeing where else you expand.
@david_toper Woohoo I just checked and though we have a lot of Rudolphs, Georges and Rodgers, GoGoGrandparent will have only one Grandpa Sonny
Really LOVE the product and the opportunity to cater to non-smart phone users. This market is huge and speaks to the larger population of the world. On a related note, do you think you're alienating potential users by focusing on catering to the elderly (via your name or the way the website is set up)?
@giselledarlene Thanks Giselle! We think about it a lot. Our second biggest demographic are the visually impaired. We want to eventually be a senior service business because the industry is so large, but definitely don't want to alienate folks that could also participate in that industry. I don't have a good answer right now unfortunately, check back later!
This is a great idea. Super simple and very useful for non-smartphone users. I will definitely be passing this along to some family members who are curious/know about uber, but don't use the tech required to actually use the service. Great job!
This is a great way for making Uber accessible the less tech savvy. Fantastic idea and work 😁
@jonathanzwhite Thank you! And hopefully more services too. We definitely wanna perfect the ride experience, but this becomes epic when you think about everything else older adults need
So is this another @tweetmagicnow, for the less smartphone savvy generations, launching with a single purpose before scaling out? Or... another thing?
There's so many times I want to introduce cool new tech to my grandparents, and we're lucky to be able to do so through businesses like these, especially with my grandparents being at that transitional point where them driving is becoming less of an option. GoGoGrandparent is one of those companies that remind you that we live in a truly wonderful world 💌
@justinboogaard this is the most amazing thing ever. whenever my grandparents land from the airport, it sucks because I don't have a car. and they don't really have a smart phone....this makes it super easy. I love it. you guys have made an amazing product and the growth is proving it!!! so excited to see what is next!!
what are the next steps for you?
@sydney_liu_sl we're focusing on making the ride service perfect for everybody. For example, The Silent Generation is full of folks that don't speak English very well as even a second language. Translating the service would be easy and important to insure everyone gets the mobility and freedom they deserve.
@justinboogaard @sydney_liu_sl Glad to hear translation is in the works! Found myself telling a few people about this service when we were talking about filial piety/taking care of our parents this past weekend— if it were available in other languages, and if a family member could pre-program pick-up and drop-off locations or even new trips, that'd be incredible.
@dtran320 @sydney_liu_sl languages are in the works and yes, you can pre program pick up locations. They would hear: "Press 3 for a pickup from Vons, press 4 for a pickup from church, etc." Each location gets custom instructions that are messaged to the driver.
@justinboogaard glad to hear translation is in the works. I've been trying to get my 92-year-old father to stop driving. He loves his freedom, so if a Mandarin Chinese version is available, I can see him using it daily. Hope to see this implemented soon :-)
Great idea! I actually really want to get rid of my smartphone, but the thing I'd really miss is the ability to call a ride. Problem solved!
Grandparents?? I'm getting my mom on this thing. She wants Uber but refuses to learn any smartphones!
Congratz Justin and GGGP team! <3
@dam13n Thank you! Haha, our use span is from 23 to 99, the more the merrier :)
GoGoGrandparent is an amazing product that brings life-changing services like Uber and Lyft to people without smartphones!! So proud of @justinboogaard and the team for bringing this to seniors across the country!
When we started doing this GoGoGrandparent thing we knew we'd learn some code, would be forced to get strategic at marketing and advance at the mighty snail's pace towards becoming better team members, but those were not the surprises.
What I think has been truly unique to @davlung and my experience is bearing witness to the wisdom of thousands of grandparents:
To our customers, two decades feels like a minute, and a minute is how long it takes to "properly raise oneself from the seated position (Ms. Claire, 86 - Minneapolis, MN)."
"A dollar is a measure of how quickly you can get something done. But all the good things are done slowly (Mr. Georgie, 94 - Pacific Beach, CA)."
"I may not be pretty but I am wise. Speaking of, here is a piece of wisdom. Tell me I'm pretty (Ms. Elsie, 77 - West Palm Beach, FL)."
The best part of course is the ways in which we're the same. Their bodies hate them, and they can't multiply 23 * 17 very quickly, but the human part - the emotions - never change. It makes me really appreciate both what I have now, and what I'll never lose. It's pretty cool.
If you're interested in helping us reach more octogenarians, talk to your own parents and grandparents. I can't promise to be perfect, but I can promise we'll care about being perfect as if our life depends on it.
Because one day it will.
But for now we still have a whole lot more to learn.
Hi folks! GoGoGrandparent makes it easy for older adults to use services that will help them stay independent. We're starting with making it really easy to call a ridesharing service without having to use a smart phone.
Using the service is super simple: when registered callers call (855) 464-6872 they'll hear: "Please press 1 for a car to pick you up from your home, please press 2 for a car to pick you up where we dropped you off last or zero for the operator".
We're starting with rides but are already testing food delivery and home care services. You can learn more about our story here (sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/10/gogograndparent-uber-seniors-without-smartphones) - we built it for our grandmas.
The service is automated, available everywhere and we have 24/hour phone support. Though the average age of our callers is early 80's, there are no age restrictions - in addition to older adults our second largest demographic is the visually impaired.
Our fares include an additional $0.27/minute phone service fee, which from what we've seen comes out to an average of between $3 and $4 per ride.
We do a lot on our end to customize the experience for older adults. When someone registers we'll send them a brochure about how it works and a business card with our number on it. Family members can get automatic text updates whenever a loved one uses the service.
Check out our website and try the demo, if you have any questions post them here!
@justinboogaard Congratulations on launching! Absolutely ❤️ the idea, and really excited for it 😊
@justinboogaard looking forward to continuing to see Ben big impact you're going to have!
#technologyforall
@boogsau Are there more of us?! I know of one, in Australia, my sister found him on Facebook. His grandfather is from the same fishing village as mine.
@justinboogaard Do you require the caller to say the pickup location or can you figure that out?
@shadalabad Thanks for the question Shadi! We're automated, and the prices are up to 30% cheaper
@shadalabad We're in Canada, but got our eyes across the pond. We have another person really interested in helping us bring it to Austrailia
This is so wonderful, really making it easier for grandkids to help their elderly fam out! Would love to see this expand even further into perhaps donating rides for the elderly in need. #gogograndparent #producthunt
@candyab That is not a bad idea at all Candy! We'd have to screen folks, but that'd be easy.
@lyskovandrei Thanks for the question Andrei! We've already "elder friendly" meal delivery and grocery shopping, but we want to try medical assistants to appointments before committing to the next product.
