Reimagining taxi coop's rider experience

Before conducting research, I assumed that: 1) The main reason users avoided the app was pricing rather than usability. 2) The existing booking flow was clear but visually outdated. 3) People trusted Taxi Coop as a community-driven alternative.

Problem description

Users find the booking experience confusing and lacking in transparency, especially when it comes to understanding pricing, booking the ride, and feeling reassured about driver safety.

These pain points lead to hesitation, lower trust, and a perception that the app is not reliable.

This makes the app feel less reliable and less human, undermining Taxi Coop’s mission to build trust and community through a cooperative model.

‍

User Research

To challenge and validate my assumptions, I conducted: User Interviews, Competitor Analysis, Empathy Mapping, Journey Mapping, How Might We Questions to reframe insights into actionable design directions.

Key Findings & insights

App has inconsistent navigation; back button not reliable; UI lacks error recovery. Opportunity to merge cooperative values with smoother UX and safety features. Lack of accessible customer service channel undermines trust and safety perception. Design lacked warmth and polish, making users feel unsure about reliability. Need for clear pricing and intuitive tagging.Information architecture hides important features.

Final Outcomes

Redesigned user interface:

Simplified and modernized UI for the Taxi Coop app, focusing on clarity, accessibility, and ease of navigation. Key screens include booking flow, driver details, and support sections.Enhanced booking flow: Streamlined steps to book a ride with fewer taps and clearer instructions, reducing user friction. Improved trust & safety features: Added clearer driver identification and a contact button.Support enhancements: Redesigned help/support section for better discoverability and quicker access to FAQs and live support.Visual prototypes: Delivered high-fidelity screens, interactive prototypes reflecting real user pain points and behaviors.

‍

Metrics of Success:

User satisfaction: Increase in perceived ease of use compared to the current app.Efficiency: Average time to complete a booking is much faster.Error reduction: Missteps or confusion in the booking flow decreased during usability testing.Support accessibility: Users could locate and use the help section 2x faster than in the current app.

‍

Goal Achievement:

The redesign met objectives of improving usability, streamlining booking, enhancing trust and safety perception, and making support more accessible.

‍

Lessons Learned:

User behavior insights: Interviews revealed a lot of important information about the user needs and pain points.Journey mapping exposed multiple pain points that weren’t obvious from initial research.Design clarity matters: Simplifying UI elements and minimizing cognitive load drastically improved perceived ease of use.

‍

Future Recommendations:

Personalization & preferences: Include user-specific preferences (favorite routes, payment methods, ride type) for faster booking. Expanded accessibility: Implement multi-language support. Implement more of the cooperative values within the tone and brand of the app. Include more reward-driven elements like points to differentiate the app from other competitors. Driver-user interaction transparency: Introduce more detailed driver profiles and ratings to enhance trust further.Continuous testing: Regular usability tests with real users will ensure the app evolves alongside user expectations and habits.

This project was undertaken to identify and improve usability and trust issues in the Taxi Coop app, focusing on the booking flow and price estimation process. These are key moments that influence user confidence and willingness to use the service regularly.

Read more about this project and access this project's high-fidelity protoype: HERE.