Reimagining Local Travel: Building TripPool for Hyperlocal Mobility

A case study on designing a unified ride-hailing, pooling & rental platform

TL;DR

TripPool was my attempt to solve the fragmented experience of local travel in India’s smaller cities. I designed and built a conceptual MVP that unified three disconnected services — ride-hailing, vehicle rentals, and car/bike pooling — into a single, frictionless platform. This was an exercise in system-level design, monetization planning, and real-world usability.

Background

If you’ve ever tried commuting in a Tier-2 or Tier-3 Indian city, you know the pain:

• Ride-hailing is inconsistent or unavailable

• Rentals require separate platforms

• Pooling exists informally, usually via WhatsApp or friends

There’s no consolidated experience — unlike major metros where Ola, Uber, and Bounce compete for user attention.

I asked: What if we could bring all of these services into one product — and make it usable for everyone, not just the tech-savvy?

Problem

• No platform integrates on-demand rides, short-term rentals, and peer pooling

• Users often juggle between 3–4 apps to get where they want

• There’s low trust in peer-to-peer ride options due to safety & UX gaps

• Existing interfaces assume high-speed internet + fluent users — not always true

Solution

TripPool — a one-stop app where users can:

• Book a cab/bike ride, like any ride-hailing app

• Rent a vehicle for an hour, day, or week

• Offer/request a ride pool for intercity travel

All in a UX tailored for low-bandwidth, local language, and fast booking.

Design Process

🧩 UX Strategy

• Built 3 clear user journeys: Book a ride, Post a pool, Rent a vehicle

• Mapped all actions to 2–3 clicks max from home screen

• Prioritized legibility, contrast, and large CTAs for accessibility

🛠 Tools Used

• Figma for UX flows and interaction maps

• Pen + paper wireframes for feature overlap resolution

• Notion for feature planning, Airtable for matrix mapping

📱 Visual Design

• Colors inspired by road signs: yellow (action), blue (info), green (safe)

• Used illustration to increase trust and reduce user hesitation

• Clean, flat layout — easy to navigate, even for first-time app users

Business & Monetization

I modeled 3 revenue streams:

1. Commission-based (like Uber/Ola) for rides

2. Subscription for verified renters/poolers

3. Marketplace promotion for vehicle rental vendors

Also included:

• User verification system via Aadhaar or College ID

• Safety scorecard based on trip history and ratings

• Admin dashboard for local vendor and route monitoring

Impact & Feedback

While the app wasn't launched, the case study:

• Helped me understand transport UX, pricing logic, and platform trust-building

• Was used as a portfolio piece in interviews and pitch decks

• Earned feedback from 5 startup founders in mobility & urban tech

• Inspired part of the vendor logic later used in itsweekend.wtf

What I Learned

• Designing for trust is harder than designing for efficiency

• Real-world edge cases (rider cancels, no GPS, payment failures) change flows drastically

• Local success = hyper-contextual design (language, intent, habits)

• Monetization needs to be built from day one, not retrofitted

What’s Next

TripPool isn’t live — but its learnings live on in everything I build. If I revisit it:

• I’d prototype using Flutter or Bubble for faster real-world feedback

• Integrate live GPS tracking and predictive ETA AI

• Run pilots with local colleges and coworking communities

Final Thoughts

TripPool showed me that UX isn’t just about buttons and flows — it’s about systems, behavioral economics, and deep empathy for constraints.

If you're working in mobility, local commerce, or platform UX, I’d love to jam.

🔗 amishsri.framer.website
📩 DM me on LinkedIn