Week 3 - Kushal MOhta

Students complete projects all the time, but often do not realize the full scope of what they are doing.  Please write to how you are specifically serving the Detroit community through your project this summer.  Please think past the surface level on this and really dive into what you are doing in and for the organization and the city.
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Due to the recent tensions around the world and inflation, gas prices have been on a continuous rise. This is making life extremely difficult for several people all across America. However, here in Detroit, there’s something special: MoGo Bikeshare. This is a non profit organization providing cheap bike sharing options with a wide variety of passes. This alternative to commuting is not only making travel easy, but also simultaneously helping everyone get back into shape. For the summer of 2022, I am interning for MoGo and hoping to further the impact this amazing organization has on the city of Detroit. 

This summer I will be working on 3 main projects. I have detailed the impact I am going to have below. 

1. Get consumer feedback. We have devised two strategies to do this: we are going to send out 2 comprehensive surveys and conduct ‘focus group’ interviews with 8-10 consumers selected randomly. This project is going to allow us to understand what customers like and dislike about their current MoGo experience. When customers call customer service, it is often for a negative reason. Therefore, we never get to see the positive side of peoples’ experiences. Hence, just basing changes to be brought into the company on customer service calls can be more detrimental than effective. The surveys and interviews will allow us to delve deeper into the minds of MoGo customers. Through this, we hope to develop a detailed presentation listing changes that must be brought about to further satisfy customers. Overall, this project would do nothing but further clarify the goals MoGo employees must work towards in the near future. 
2. Improve the efficacy of their email system. We want to develop 2 computer programs to test out the efficiency and effectiveness of their automated emails and their newsletter. This would allow MoGo to better interact with its customers by generating a greater open rate percentage to their emails. This would indubitably benefit the community of Detroit. These emails often give detailed information about MoGo community events and free ride days. More people knowing about this would be a great benefit for the citizens of Detroit as they will be able to avail the benefits provided by MoGo and meet other people living in Detroit with similar interests. 
3. Spread awareness of their RiderPerks program. Being a MoGo member gets you several other benefits as well. For example, you can get 15% off on local businesses such as Moose Jaws and Ima to just name a few. There are 60+ such businesses where you can avail MoGo discounts. However, unfortunately a lot of people do not know about this because of lack of marketing. Our aim is to increase the number of people who use these perks by, for example, adding MoGo stickers near the cashier. This will incentivise more people to visit these local businesses, hence boosting the local economy. It will also at the same time make more people buy a MoGo membership. Therefore, it’s a win-win situation for both sides. 

​With all these extremely interesting projects, I genuinely cannot wait to continue my impact on MoGo and the city of Detroit.