Streamlining the Carpool:
How User Research is shaping Nabogo’s Platform
My Role
UX Researcher
UX UI Designer
Deliverables
Research report with insights and next steps
User persona profiles
Taxonomy and fundamentals
Visuals
Timeline 2024
3 months - ongoing
Company
Nabogo
Overview
At Nabogo, I led a comprehensive UX research project to build user personas and journey maps that align with the company’s growth strategy. Through detailed interviews, pattern analysis, and pain point identification, we crafted foundational personas that will guide Nabogo’s design and business decisions.
This case study explores how these insights shaped the platform’s user journey map, UI structure, and design iterations to ensure that Nabogo’s platform resonates with its growing user base.
Mission
To create a research-driven foundation for Nabogo’s carpooling platform that ensures usability, user satisfaction, and alignment with business strategy as the company scales.
Problem
As a scale-up, Nabogo needed a solid, user-centered foundation to ensure future growth and platform adoption.
The key challenge was to understand potential users’ needs, pain points, and motivations deeply enough to develop personas, journey maps, and design iterations that would foster a great carpooling experience from beginning to end.
Research &
Methodology
As a key part of Nabogo’s growth strategy, this research focused on gathering insights to inform the creation of user personas, journey maps, and a more effective UI structure.
Our research was based on qualitative interviews and surveys that provided valuable insights and secondary research to be able to validate and support findings. The research approach was:
-
Conducted interviews with actual and potential users to gather insights on commuting needs, preferences, and challenges. (Google forms, Excel, Condens)
-
Gathering data in Condens to identified common themes and pain points across user data.
-
Created user personas based on insights, ensuring they represent key user types and guide strategic business decisions. (Miro, Figma)
-
Mapped user journeys to visualize interactions and touchpoints, highlighting areas of friction. (Figma)
-
Used heatmaps to understand user navigation behavior, refining the UI structure based on findings. (Hotjar, Figma, Excel)
-
Continuously iterated on the UI structure and navigation based on insights gathered from testing and pattern analysis. (Figma)
Targeted Data collection & Interviews
Focus on Key User Groups
We concentrated our research on potential and actual users from high-density commute locations, like municipalities and business parks.Tailored Interviews
Interviews with employees from these organizations uncovered specific commuting needs, highlighting preferences for convenience, reliability, and sustainability. Questions targeted both individual and organizational needs, ensuring the platform could meet practical demands.Pattern Analysis & Ongoing Feedback
Using tools like Condens, we analysed responses to identify common themes, guiding persona development and journey mapping.
User Personas
Using Rogers' Innovators Theory, so far we segmented these interviewed personas by adoption willingness:
Innovators – Environmentally conscious, eager to adopt sustainable options and provide early feedback.
Early Adopters – Interested in sustainable solutions but focused on reliability and convenience. Their feedback guided platform refinements.
Early Majority – Open to carpooling but cautious, needing proven ease of use and trust.
This approach allowed Nabogo to tailor the platform to users’ adoption stages, driving engagement and meeting varied commuter needs effectively.
How can Nabogo leverage user personas to shape a more effective business strategy, tailoring its approach to commuters based on their profiles to increase engagement, adoption, and satisfaction with the carpooling platform?
Problem Statment
Solution
By grounding the design in user insights, we developed personas, journey maps, and UI structures that will guide Nabogo’s platform as it scales.
The new UI will reflects user needs and behaviours, making the platform intuitive and aligned with the long-term business strategy. This user-centered foundation positions Nabogo to expand its impact in the commuter market effectively.
Through our UX research at Nabogo, we identified key solutions to improve the platform's user experience and strategic approach:
Developing Targeted User Personas
By diving deep into our target group, we crafted detailed user personas that reflect the needs, behaviors, and motivations of commuters from municipalities and business parks. These personas guide both design decisions and marketing strategies, ensuring our approach resonates with our users.Reframing Nabogo’s Role
We recognized the importance of positioning Nabogo as an integral part of public transportation. This shift reframes our platform not just as a standalone carpooling solution but as part of a longer, multi-modal journey. For instance, Nabogo could complement train or bus travel by offering a convenient first-mile or last-mile option for users.Enhancing the User Journey
Insights from user personas and journey maps helped us refine the platform’s interface and overall experience. By adapting the UI to align with users' commuting patterns and preferences, we aim to deliver a seamless, intuitive experience that fits naturally into their daily lives.
These solutions position Nabogo as a user-centric platform, bridging gaps in current commuting systems and laying the groundwork to become a trusted part of public transport infrastructure.
Next steps
Integrate Nabogo into Public Transportation Systems: Partner with local municipalities and transport providers to establish Nabogo as a first-mile/last-mile solution. This includes integrating with public transit apps, ticketing systems, and mapping services to make the platform a seamless part of multi-modal journeys.
Expand and Refine User Research: Conduct iterative usability testing and gather feedback through direct channels with users. Focus on enhancing the platform's adaptability to diverse user needs, particularly for commuters in underserved areas or those with complex travel routes.
Strengthen Data-Driven Personalization: Utilize user persona insights to optimize personalized recommendations, such as matching carpool partners or suggesting routes. Further develop the AI-driven customer database to ensure scalability, accuracy, and relevance for marketing strategies and future feature development.
more cases?
-
Fashion E-commerce with A-view
The mission of the case study is to redesign A-view's e-commerce website, aiming to enhance user experience, boost online shopping satisfaction, and increase the website's conversion rate by at least 25%. The primary objective is to create a user-friendly, responsive platform that replicates the in-store shopping journey, positioning A-view as a prominent player in the fast fashion e-commerce market.
-
UX in Automation Robotic
The MiR project focused on building a reliable customer database and customer journey map by analyzing cross-departmental data. The goal was to increase data accuracy to 95% through user feedback, identifying pain points and improving decision-making for future growth.
-
City Mobility
This case study delves deep into the realm of urban mobility, unraveling a story where innovation, user-centric design, and real-time solutions converge. Join us as we navigate the cityscape, transforming challenges into opportunities, one commute at a time!