At a glance
Design a bike taxi experience for women, with women drivers, where a rider can see she’s safe at every step: before, during, and after the ride.
- My role
- UX and interaction design, end to end
- What I did
- Problem framing, journey mapping, interaction and UI design, visual language
- Deliverables
- Six key screens, a mascot, a night-safety mode, a colour system
- Platform
- Mobile app concept, a personal project
how I did it
Framed the problem
Why bike taxis feel risky for women: unverified drivers, late travel, no safety information to rely on.
Studied apps and riders
What Rapido, Uber and Ola offer today, and a proto-persona, Meera.
Mapped the journey and IA
One ordinary commute, four moments, and the app’s structure around them.
Designed for trust
Verification before she confirms, a trip she can share, night mode, and Thozhi.
Why she ride?
Because trust is decided before the bike arrives.
- key screens
- 6
- moments mapped
- 4
- friend along for the ride
- 1
- VerifiedDriver identity and verification, visible before she confirms.
- VisibleLive trip details, so she always knows what’s happening.
- SharedA trusted contact can follow the trip as it happens.
- Night-awareAfter 9 PM, a safety checklist switches on.
The journey behind the journey.
The study looks at what makes bike taxis feel risky for women today.
- Discomfort with unverified drivers
- Anxiety around late-evening travel
- No transparent safety information to rely on
How might a bike taxi experience make trust visible before, during, and after a ride?
These concerns shape more than one booking. They decide when someone travels, how she gets home, and whether she feels comfortable travelling on her own.
What riders get today.
Three apps women in Chennai already use for bike rides, and what each offers for safety. Each learning points to a decision in She Ride.
-
Rapido
Bike taxi, India
- Bike Pink: women captains for women riders, launched in Chennai in 2023
- SOS during a ride, which also shares the live trip
- Background checks and document verification for captains
- Helmets for both, and insurance on the ride
-
Uber
Rides in India
- Women Rider Preference: lets women drivers choose women riders
- Share My Trip, and Safety Preferences to switch features on automatically
- RideCheck flags long stops and route changes
- SOS that shares the trip with the police, and audio recording
-
Ola
Ola Bike, India
- SOS to a 24×7 safety response team
- Up to five emergency contacts, who can get every ride automatically
- Guardian spots unusual stops and route changes, and the team calls
-
Women-only rides are an add-on.
Rapido offers Bike Pink as a separate service, and Uber’s Women Rider Preference is a setting for women drivers.
So: Every She Ride driver is a woman, and the home screen shows how many are nearby.
-
Most safety works out of sight.
Background checks, route monitoring and response teams are real, but they work in the background, not at the moment she decides.
So: The driver card says what was checked, before she taps confirm.
-
Sharing shows where she is, not that she’s home.
A tracking link shows the route. It doesn’t say she arrived safely.
So: One tap on “I’m home safe” tells her contacts she’s home.
Public features of each app, from company newsrooms and the press.
Designing for Meera.
One rider, built from the problem framing: who she is, what she wants, and what worries her.
Meera
Proto-persona
She wants to
- Get to work on time, without paying for a cab
- Know who is picking her up before she says yes
- Let Amma know she’s safe, without a phone call
What worries her
- Drivers she can’t verify
- Riding late in the evening
- No clear safety information to rely on
So She Ride should
- Show trust before she books
- Share the ride without extra steps
- Close the trip with “I’m home safe”
Built from the problem framing and the journey map, to be checked in interviews with riders.
Meet Thozhi.
Thozhi means friend in Tamil. She’s a bike helmet with a face on her visor, and she turns up at the moments a rider might feel unsure.
Vanakkam! I’m Thozhi. I’ll ride with you.
Where to today, Meera?
Monica’s verified. Good to go!
Amma can see us. 12 mins to go!
It’s late. I’ll keep watch till you’re home.
Home safe! I told Amma.
தோழிThozhifriend, in Tamil
Built from the brand
A teal shell and a dusty-pink stripe from the colour system, and a string of jasmine, as worn across Chennai.
Talks like a friend
Short lines in the rider’s words: “Where to today, Meera?”, never “Enter destination”.
Steps back in an emergency
Thozhi stays off the SOS flow. When something is wrong, the screen belongs to help.
Where she turns up
Vanakkam! I’m Thozhi.
I’ll ride with you.
Welcome to
She Ride
Safe, verified rides for women
Mobile number
- Verified only
- Women-only
We’ll text you a 6-digit code to sign in.
Anna NagarCurrent location
Where to?
- Home
- Egmore Station
- Work
Where to today, Meera?
40 women drivers nearbyAvg pickup: 3 mins
She Ride bikeWomen drivers only
₹160estimate
Driver on the way
Monica Sharma4.9 · 144 rides
ID and driving licence verified
VehicleHonda Activa
PlateINDTN 01 BC 1444
Ride PINShare it only at pickup
4827Share trip details
AmmaGets your live trip when you ride
Shared live with Amma
SOS12 minsto Egmore Station
₹160Cash
Monica · Honda Activa
TN 01 BC 1444Home safe!
I told Amma.
Home safe, Meera
Your contacts know you’re home.
- AmmaNotified just now
- AkkaNotified just now
How was your ride with Monica?
Egmore Station to Home, with Monica
Ride along.
This is the prototype, playable. Tap the buttons on the phone, just as a rider would, from signing in to getting home safe.
a phone number is all it takes, and Thozhi says hello
drivers on the map before she books: reassurance first
what was checked, in plain words, and a PIN for pickup
Amma follows live, and SOS stays one press away
one tap, and everyone who worries can stop worrying
Tap “Send code”Tap “Find ride”Tap “Confirm ride”Tap “Skip to drop-off”Tap “Done” to ride again
A morning with Meera.
One ordinary commute, from the journey map: four moments, and the screen that supports each one.
-
8:47 AM
Opens the app
She sets a destination. Before she books, the home screen already answers her first question: are there women drivers nearby?
40 women drivers nearby: reassurance before she even books
-
8:48 AM
Matches with a verified driver
The driver’s photo, verification, rating, vehicle and plate all appear before she confirms the ride.
verified badge, up front, at the moment she decides
-
8:49 AM
Shares the trip with Amma
One tap shares her live trip. Amma can follow along, and SOS stays within reach on the map.
Shared Live: someone she trusts is watching out
-
9:23 AM
Arrives, and taps “I’m home safe”
At drop-off, one tap tells her contacts she’s home. She can rate the ride, and the trip is closed.
one tap, and everyone who worries can stop worrying
How the app is organised.
Five steps follow the ride from sign-in to arrival. Safety isn’t a separate place to find: it sits across every step, and after 9 PM it adds a checklist.
She Ride
-
Get startedscreen
- Sign in with a phone number
- One-time code
- Verified, women-only promise
-
Bookscreen
- Where to?
- Saved places
- Women drivers nearby
- Ride option and fare
-
Meet the driverscreen
- Photo and what was checked
- Rating and rides
- Vehicle and plate
- Ride PIN
-
Ridescreen
- Live map and arrival time
- Shared live with contacts
- Call, chat or share
-
Arrivescreen
- “I’m home safe” check-in
- Contacts notified
- Rate the ride
Safety, on every step
- Trusted contacts
- SOS
- After 9 PM: night mode adds a checklist to the same ride
Account
- Profile
- Ride history
- Payments
- Help
screen designed in this project
Trust, before she taps confirm.
The driver screen carries most of the trust decisions, so it gets the closest look.
- a verified tick on the photo: trust at the point of decision
- 4.9 stars, 144 rides: a track record, not just a name
- what was checked, in plain words
- vehicle and plate, so she can match the bike at pickup
- a ride PIN, so the trip only starts with the right driver
- Amma gets the live trip without an extra step
After 9 PM, a safety layer switches on.
Late-evening travel was one of the three concerns. Night mode isn’t a different app: the same ride adds a checklist, with sharing, SOS, verification and route tracking all on, and the home-safe check-in.
a calm map and nearby drivers
night mode: a safety checklist, SOS on double-press, and “I’m home safe”
Every screen, start to finish.
From a phone number to a safe arrival.
Welcome
Book
Meet the driver
Ride, shared
Night safety
Home safe
Before and after.
The first pass had the right structure, but the screens were quiet: blank avatars, an empty map, plain buttons. The second pass gives each one something to say.
drag the line to compare
Calm, warm, and clear.
Safety information should reassure, not alarm. A calm teal and warm dusty tones carry the brand, and a soft serif in the headlines adds warmth. Marigold is kept for moments of delight; night blue takes over after 9 PM.
- TealActions and calm
#2F6F6A - Dusty pinkWarmth
#E5A898 - Soft neutralBreathing room
#F7F2EA - Deep greenClarity
#21403C - MarigoldMoments of delight
#E9A53C - Night blueAfter 9 PM
#1C2033
Trust needs more than a badge.
This concept explores how a service can communicate reassurance through a connected set of decisions: identity, information, visibility, and support.
The next question is whether riders notice those signals at the moments they need them. Testing the booking journey and night travel would separate useful reassurance from added complexity.
