Designers
Alannah Lietz
Year
2025
Category
New Talent
Country
Germany
School
IU International University of Applied Sciences
Teacher
Katharina Bredies
Three questions to the project team
What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The main UX challenge of this project was balancing complexity with user-friendliness. The app integrates diverse features, such as planned and spontaneous rides, multiple transportation modes, and social matching criteria, which could lead to an overwhelming interface. Ensuring simplicity and intuitiveness, especially for potentially less tech-savvy rural users, was critical. Additionally, building a trust system to ensure safety for riders and encourage drivers' participation was essential. The goal was to design a solution that clearly communicates its features while fostering usability, trust, and acceptance.
What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
My personal highlight was realizing through interviews and user testing that integrating social matching criteria significantly increased trust and acceptance of the app. This was an aha! moment, showing the importance of addressing not just technical features but also social dynamics to create a user-centered solution. A low point was discovering that one of my initial ideas of a more creative and modern hitchhiking app didn’t meet users’ needs for planning and reliability. This required developing a concept inclusive of all age groups, which was challenging but ultimately led to a much stronger and more relevant solution.
Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
In five years, I see myself continuing to work on user-centered design projects, refining my skills in creating impactful and sustainable solutions. For this project, I envision it evolving into a widely adopted platform that reduces low-occupancy private trips in rural and suburban areas. I hope to find developers who share my vision and can help bring the project to life and later on expanding its features to include more transportation modes for example. Ultimately, I aim for the project to become a model for sustainable mobility and create a positive impact on communities worldwide not only in one region.
