By leveraging service design capabilities, StarRides is redefining the premium mobility market through a lens of service products. Its ambition? To design a tailored service product for every user scenario.
– Yang Guang, CEO of StarRides

 

#Prologue: Narrow Gate, Long Journey

You arrive at your pickup location, where a Mercedes-Benz awaits. A sharp, well-dressed chauffeur greets you with a warm smile. Inside, you relax to Bach’s cello compositions and sip sparkling mineral water, seamlessly reaching your destination in comfort and style.

This is the high-end mobility service provided by StarRides, a joint venture between Geely and Mercedes-Benz. Despite its elite origins as the “star” of two automotive giants, the road ahead is far from smooth.

Narrow Gate, Long Journey

Established in late 2019, StarRides now operates in 22 cities across China, serving over a million users.

At the time of its launch, China’s mobility market was already fiercely competitive. Internet-driven ride-hailing platforms had dominated for years, while traditional automakers were leveraging their vehicle resources and customer bases to break into shared mobility.

StarRides’ Challenge

To survive and thrive in this landscape, StarRides needed to define and perfect “service” as its core competitive advantage, setting itself apart with a premium service approach modeled after five-star hotels.

But is a prestigious brand name and luxury service standard enough?

 

#01 Planting the Seeds: Defining User Experience

What Do Affluent Customers Want?

In a fiercely competitive market, understanding what customers want is far more critical than showcasing what you offer.

In its early exploration phase, StarRides defined high-end mobility as meticulous attention to detail:

  • Buying breakfast for a customer heading to an early flight.
  • Offering a bouquet to a recently discharged hospital patient.

However, the company lacked clarity on what truly matters to high-end users. Overdelivering on service was costly but didn’t guarantee satisfaction.

StarRides needed to understand:

  • Why are users willing to pay a premium for its services?
  • Are current services perceived and valued by users?
  • What aspects of the service frustrate users?

The Answer Lies with Users

StarRides partnered with CBi China Bridge to conduct a comprehensive exploration from internal and external perspectives. This included close engagement with high-end users to uncover their true expectations for mobility services.

Key Insights: Breaking Stereotypes

Through one-on-one interactions, the following opportunities for service improvement emerged:

  • Sensitivity to Price Transparency: Even affluent users are highly sensitive to perceived fairness. A minor price variation of ¥20–30 between platforms can lead to dissatisfaction and damage brand reputation.
  • Dislike for Overbearing Service: Users value equality and subtlety in service. For example, requiring chauffeurs to always open car doors may feel intrusive, despite its safety rationale.
  • Appreciation for Human Connection: Courteous and genuine conversation from chauffeurs can leave a lasting positive impression.

These insights became the foundation for enhancing service features.

Designing With Users

Under CBi’s guidance, StarRides executives, frontline staff, real users, and external experts collaborated to:

  • Reassess the existing service system.
  • Align internal perceptions with user realities.
  • Co-create a repository of opportunities spanning the entire service lifecycle.

This resulted in:

  • Streamlining overly complex processes.
  • Introducing the innovative “One Price + Rounding Off” pricing system to alleviate concerns about transparency.

 

（耀出行团队的服务设计师帮助团队梳理用户旅程）

 

#02 Independent Growth: From Processes to Innovation Mechanisms

Streamlining Processes for Seamless Delivery

Service innovation relies on smooth internal workflows to ensure excellent customer experiences. Disruptions in processes can significantly undermine service quality.

StarRides sought to identify pain points in its service experience processes, optimize collaboration, and uncover opportunities for improvement.

Using Service Blueprints, CBi clarified:

  • Internal workflows and stakeholder roles.
  • Key needs and collaboration dynamics.
    This allowed StarRides to pinpoint critical issues and streamline internal processes across departments.

StarRides successfully adopted service design methodologies to independently map user needs, refine cross-departmental workflows, and deliver superior user experiences.

 

Creating the Next Service Hit

StarRides continues to innovate, adapting its services to ever-evolving user demands. Scenarios like maternity check-up rides and conference transportation have become breakout hits.

To maintain momentum, the company sought to establish a systematic innovation mechanism to nurture internal creativity and efficiently test ideas.

Tackling Innovation Fatigue

StarRides faced common challenges:

  • An abundance of ideas but high trial-and-error costs.
  • Lack of sustained oversight, leading to incomplete execution.

CBi designed a tailored Innovation Framework for StarRides, focusing on:

  • Minimizing costs while maximizing iteration.
  • Providing structured tools and methods for sustained innovation.

Empowering Through Service Design

CBi delivered the “Service Design Innovation Guidebook”, equipping StarRides with customized tools and processes to foster a culture of innovation. With these resources, StarRides can independently drive innovation, ensuring a competitive edge.

#03 Reaping Rewards: A Journey of Co-Creation

Building an Innovation Team

Through its two-year partnership with CBi, StarRides has transformed “service” into its core competency:

  • Defining user-centered service experiences.
  • Optimizing internal processes.
  • Establishing an innovation mechanism.

Service design principles—user-centricity, co-creation, holism, inside-out, and iteration—are now deeply embedded in the organization, enabling StarRides to achieve end-to-end empowerment.

From Service Excellence to Industry Leadership

StarRides’ achievements have garnered widespread recognition:

  • Official mobility partner for major events such as the 14th National Games, Fortune Global 500 Summit, and Global Figures Awards, solidifying its reputation as the go-to high-end mobility provider.
  • Winner of the “Best Luxury Mobility Brand in China” by the National Tourism Industry.
  • Recognition on the 2022 KPMG Leading Auto Tech Companies 50 List as a rising innovator in the service field.

 

StarRides: First-Class Mobility Redefined

By evolving from a premium service provider to a trendsetter in high-end mobility, StarRides has earned accolades as a “land-based first-class cabin,” a “mobile five-star hotel,” and the “pinnacle of mobility services.”

As CEO Yang Guang shared at the 2022 SDSS Global Service Design Alliance Summit:

“Service design is an invaluable tool and theoretical framework. To succeed, you must balance deep industry understanding with precise application of these principles to create real value.”

StarRides’ journey exemplifies how service design empowers industries to transform, delivering value for users while redefining market standards. Through relentless curiosity and innovation, StarRides continues to lead the way in premium mobility.


2022 SDSS全球服务设计联盟上峰会-服务设计赋能产业转型圆桌对话中，耀出行CEO杨广围绕“服务设计赋能产业转型”的主题发表观点