What 2,750 riders told us before we built The Rider App

The idea for The Rider App grew out of our own experience on the bike. At the same time, we knew our way of riding isn't automatically everyone else's. So before we developed the app further, we put a questionnaire to 2,750+ riders in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany: how do you plan your rides, how do you track them, how do you find other riders, and which digital tools do you miss along the way?

Why we wanted to listen first

It's tempting to build exactly the motorcycle app you'd want yourself and assume other riders feel the same. We had a clear first idea, but we wanted to test it before going further.

How we ran the research

The research was a questionnaire, shared through channels within the motorcycle world itself. That let us reach riders across several countries, on different bikes and with different ways of riding.

1. The right questions. We asked riders how they plan and track their rides, which apps and tools they use, where they get stuck and what they miss.
2. Shared through the motorcycle world. The questionnaire spread via Motor.NL and Motorrad Online, Facebook groups and the MAG, and reached riders in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
3. 2,750+ responses. Enough responses to tell a personal preference apart from a more widely shared need.
4. Spotting recurring needs. We compared the answers by country and type of rider and looked at which needs kept coming up.

What 2,750 riders told us

Different bikes, different countries, different reasons to ride. Even so, a handful of patterns kept coming back in the answers.

More than answers in a spreadsheet

We didn't only look at the survey results. At the MOTORbeurs Utrecht we spent a few days talking to riders, and we were invited onto De Motor Podcast. Those conversations largely matched what we saw in the research.

What was still missing digitally

Plenty of existing tools solve one part of the ride well. Apps, group chats and platforms all have their own value. What stood out most in the research was that riders miss coherence between planning, riding and sharing.

Those pieces often sit apart: the route in one place, the navigation in another, the ride history somewhere else again, and contact with other riders through separate channels.

How the research shaped The Rider App

Those insights helped set the direction of The Rider App. The app was built around a handful of needs that clearly emerged in the research: bringing rides, routes and the motorcycle community closer together, around the whole ride.

The research gave us a clear basis for the choices we made afterwards. From that basis, we built The Rider App.