VERIFONE'S CURB mobility
Three-Sided Marketplace Redesign: Professional drivers, Riders, Business Tools.
Three-Sided Marketplace Redesign: Professional drivers, Riders, Business Tools.
I led design across Curb's three-sided marketplace — 10+ products spanning riders, drivers, and fleet partners — taking the driver app from a 4.1 to 4.8 App Store rating across 70,000+ reviews.
Problem
Curb's driver and rider products had grown gradually across a 10+ product ecosystem with no established design process. Teams were jumping to solutions before agreeing on the underlying problem, and the driver app, despite carrying real operational weight for professional drivers, was still functionally minimal, with little more than chat.
Goal
My goal was to create transportation solutions that are accessible and seamless for everyone.
My goal was to create transportation solutions that are accessible and seamless for everyone.
Role
I led a team of 3 designers, working closely with 70+ engineers and executive leadership across 9 product lines, to improve the experience for riders, drivers, and fleet partners.
I led a team of 3 designers, working closely with 70+ engineers and executive leadership across 9 product lines, to improve the experience for riders, drivers, and fleet partners.
Responsibilities
Conducting in-depth research, collaborating with cross-functional teams, identifying opportunities, driving the discovery process, and designing strategy. Managing designers and establishing design processes.
Conducting in-depth research, collaborating with cross-functional teams, identifying opportunities, driving the discovery process, and designing strategy. Managing designers and establishing design processes.
Curb's ecosystem spans a Driver app, a Rider app, an iPad meter app, fleet management portals, in-cab advertising (Curb Array), and a payments platform (Curb Pay) — ten-plus products that had to work as one coherent system for three very different user groups. I started with the Driver app, where the operational stakes and the gap were both highest.
Team
Worked closely with executive leaders to support 70+ developers and designers teams and 9 product lines with over 2 million active users.
Timeline
It all was made remotely in 1,5 years timeframe from 2018 to 2019.
Challenge
1. The transportation industry is constantly evolving, and it is crucial to stay ahead by identifying the real problems that our users face.
2. Design processes weren't established yet and often team was jumping into solutions without fully understanding the user's needs. It's a common situation with start-ups in which I don't have problems shifting focus to users. However, working a lot with executives on this project was more challenging than usual because of their strong opinions.
3. In Transportation it is always important to be accessible to every user.
2. Design processes weren't established yet and often team was jumping into solutions without fully understanding the user's needs. It's a common situation with start-ups in which I don't have problems shifting focus to users. However, working a lot with executives on this project was more challenging than usual because of their strong opinions.
3. In Transportation it is always important to be accessible to every user.
B2B USER
NEEDS
NEEDS
• Fleet management tools (Hardware and software)
• Licensed taxi services for corporate clients
• Advertising services
• Custom-branded ride-hailing apps
• Access to data and analytics
• Dedicated customer support
B2C USER
NEEDS
NEEDS
• Ability to order/hail a taxi via mobile app
• Accessible ride for users with mobility needs
• Transparent pricing and payments
• Transparent pricing and payments
• Drivers want to be connected with riders and manage their rides
• Real-time ride tracking and notifications
BUSINESS
NEEDS
NEEDS
• Connect drivers to riders through a reliable platform
• Provide business tools for drivers to manage rides and grow their business
• Offer secure payment processing for riders and drivers
• Provide advertising services for businesses
• Develop transportation solutions for businesses and municipalities
CURB Driver
app
app
Goal — connect licensed drivers with riders. Capabilities: accepting ride requests from passengers, navigating to their pickup and drop-off locations, and getting payments for their services.
When I started the app had only chat functionality. So for the majority of features, it was end-to-end work. This includes — Managing driver accounts, Offer Management, Navigation, Scheduled Trips, Statistics, Driver Onboarding, Day/Night Mode, and Meter.
When I started the app had only chat functionality. So for the majority of features, it was end-to-end work. This includes — Managing driver accounts, Offer Management, Navigation, Scheduled Trips, Statistics, Driver Onboarding, Day/Night Mode, and Meter.
Driver App
Prototypes
Prototypes
As head of product design introduced prototyping to Curb Mobility, making it a crucial part of the product design and development process. Before starting development, new features were tested on internal staff to ensure they met the required standards.
The prototypes were also used in the company's training center, providing hands-on experience for new employees.
The prototypes were also used in the company's training center, providing hands-on experience for new employees.
Safety
Measures
Measures
I made sure to prioritize the safety of our drivers when creating the Driver App. A dark theme was introduced to reduce distraction while driving at night. The goal was to minimize the amount of light emitted by the phone and make the roads safer for everyone.
iPad meter
app
app
The tablet app was created to replace traditional hardware meters.
The design was inspired by classic industry aesthetics, making it both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The app includes all the functionality of the Driver App, with the meter taking up the entire right side of the screen, providing passengers with an easy-to-read display of the fare information.
Navigation and
Map Design
Map Design
The original product map was cluttered with unnecessary labels and distracting visuals, making it difficult to track important information.
I recognized this issue and suggested a map redesign when the company switched from Google Maps to Open Street. The custom-created maps not only improved the visual appeal of all products but also made labels more visible and easier to read.
This change was made without any additional cost to the company and greatly improved the overall user experience.
I recognized this issue and suggested a map redesign when the company switched from Google Maps to Open Street. The custom-created maps not only improved the visual appeal of all products but also made labels more visible and easier to read.
This change was made without any additional cost to the company and greatly improved the overall user experience.
Rider
App
App
I worked on adding new functionality to the user-facing app. This included car type selection, intermediary stops, estimated fare, and a "Pair & Pay" screen.
Through my efforts to improve the product and overall user experience, the app went from 4.1 stars to 4.8 stars on the App Store, with 70,000 ratings. The added functionality and improved design greatly enhanced the overall user experience.
User
Feedback
Feedback
The user feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with users expressing high satisfaction with the inclusion of online trip scheduling applications, the convenient Pair-n-Pay functionality, and the reliable Estimated fare feature in traditional taxis. Curb has solidified its position as the preferred choice for travel in cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington DC, and users confidently embrace its competitive pricing, surpassing even popular ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber.
FLEET
MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT
For the B2B ride monitoring system, I oversaw the redesign of all forms to make them more efficient and user-friendly.
The forms were designed to be easily filled out using only a keyboard, with clear and easy-to-read labels and structure. Additional information was hidden to simplify the forms, while the text fields were made larger to hold all necessary information without the use of ellipses. These improvements streamlined the form-filling process, making it faster and more efficient for the user.
The forms were designed to be easily filled out using only a keyboard, with clear and easy-to-read labels and structure. Additional information was hidden to simplify the forms, while the text fields were made larger to hold all necessary information without the use of ellipses. These improvements streamlined the form-filling process, making it faster and more efficient for the user.
Accessibility
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Curb's products are used in public settings, including by riders with mobility needs, so WCAG compliance wasn't optional. I worked with engineering to bake accessibility into the design system rather than retrofit it screen by screen.
Learnings
This project taught me how to deal with stakeholders and support whole product ecosystems. It also proved the importance of accessibility, and inclusivity while dealing with multiple user roles.
Though it was a positive experience and we made many changes, I see many other opportunities for improvement. It's a great product line with a ton of potential.
Though it was a positive experience and we made many changes, I see many other opportunities for improvement. It's a great product line with a ton of potential.
Additional scope: Curb Array & Curb Pay
Hardware UI
My job included designing UI for hardware products such as payment terminals, in-car touchscreens, meters, and digital displays.
This was a step out of my comfort zone but brought an interesting perspective to the user experience. And highlights the importance of user-centered design.
This was a step out of my comfort zone but brought an interesting perspective to the user experience. And highlights the importance of user-centered design.
Curb Array
Curb Advertisement platform offers both static and dynamic ad formats such as digital displays, and in-app advertising. I was working closely with our C-level executives on its evolution — Curb Array. This platform allows advertisers to target specific demographics and locations, track ad performance, and receive detailed reporting and insights. It was complex and innovative work that I am still proud of.
Curb Advertisement platform offers both static and dynamic ad formats such as digital displays, and in-app advertising. I was working closely with our C-level executives on its evolution — Curb Array. This platform allows advertisers to target specific demographics and locations, track ad performance, and receive detailed reporting and insights. It was complex and innovative work that I am still proud of.
Curb Pay
It's a platform designed to streamline the payment process for taxi fleets and their drivers. The system allows fleet owners to manage payments to their drivers. And includes features such as automatic payouts, detailed reporting and insights, and flexible payment options.
This system was designed for our UK clients. And collaboration was with a different team and required research of the UK's payment specifics. Thanks to the defined design system this process didn't take long.
This system was designed for our UK clients. And collaboration was with a different team and required research of the UK's payment specifics. Thanks to the defined design system this process didn't take long.
Summary
As lead designer, I played a key role in the improvement of the company's mobile application, taking it from 4.1 stars to 4.8 stars (70K ratings on App Store). This was a team effort, but my contributions to design standardization and the fixing of issues at the web portals significantly reduced the support burden and improved development speed. These efforts helped the company to launch new products with the same team size, leading to a more efficient and effective overall design process.
