How Jump’s design made lockdown exercise a little easier

After facing the inevitable closure of my local Underground station in the wake of London’s lockdown response to the coronavirus pandemic, I found myself pondering alternative ways to get to work. Then, when eventually confined to the great indoors, I was looking for a more socially distant way to exercise. The solution to both dilemmas was found in Uber’s cycle hire app, Jump.

After downloading it for free from the Google Play Store and saving my payment details to my account, I searched the local map it provided for the closest available conveyances, which are relatively attractive orange electric bikes with a small plastic basket on the front to assist you with your shopping needs. There were several nearby, with the closest being a 4 minute walk away. Users of the regular Uber app will already be familiar with this map, with the only difference being the icons of static bicycles instead of moving cars.

As well as showing you how many miles each bike has left to run on its battery life, the app also allows you to reserve one for fifteen minutes (at the regular cost of 12p per minute), so no one else can claim it before you get there. On arriving at your bike, unlocking it is as simple as selecting the ‘unlock bike’ icon then pointing your camera at the QR code on the bike’s front pillar for the price of £1. This unlocks the cable that keeps the bike immobile, kicks the battery into life and allows you to ride away.

After following the app’s safety advice, which includes recommending checking the seat height, brakes and tyres, you’re ready to go. Then, after arriving at your destination, all you need to do to complete your journey is place the locking cable back into the slot at the bike’s rear end, which informs the app that your journey has ended and gives you the option of holding onto it for quarter of an hour in case you’re planning on returning to it. After use, a summary of the distance travelled, time taken and total cost are displayed onscreen alongside a map of your journey, which are all duplicated in the receipt that Uber email to you for your records.

While the best feature of the Jump experience lies in the exhilarating speeds you can get up to when pedalling swiftly down a long but gentle hill, the ease of use and practical, real world integration throughout the experience is remarkable. From finding a bike in your neighbourhood to unlocking it and subsequently ending your trip, every aspect of its design is strongly focussed on availability and convenience.

Without any notable technical issues faced so far, there are no frustrating glitches to concern yourself with, and like the regular Uber app, Jump is also deliciously minimalistic in its layout, with no complicated processes or unnecessary pages to wade through when you’re in a hurry to have fun on those hills.