# Case Study
Where Are We
Heading Today?
Designing a flexible, eco-conscious urban mobility app for Kochi — unifying hourly rentals, premium rides, airport transfers, and outstation trips into one seamless, trust-first experience.
# Overview
Mobility that fits your life, not the other way around.
Hound Mobility is a Kochi-based platform giving urban dwellers and travellers flexible access to quality vehicles and rides — without the friction of traditional car hire or the unpredictability of cab apps.
The design challenge: build a product that communicates trust and premium quality while remaining fast and frictionless — and weave eco-conscious values into the experience without making it preachy.
# Research Methodology
Research in the field, not just on a screen
Research was conducted on the ground in Kochi — intercept interviews at real mobility touchpoints, competitive ride-alongs, and AI-assisted scenario generation for the booking flow stress test.
Intercept Interviews
Kochi Airport, Lulu Mall, MG Road
Competitor Ride-Alongs
Ola, Uber, ZoomCar tested in-context
Competitor Teardowns
Ola, Uber, ZoomCar, Myles
Edge Case Scenarios
AI-generated booking flow stress tests
# Competitor Analysis
Why urban mobility in Kerala needed reimagining
Every existing option either lacks premium quality, transparency, or flexible service types. None address the growing eco-conscious segment. That's the gap Hound was built to own.
Ola
Massive scale, brand trust across India
Surge pricing with zero transparency, inconsistent vehicle quality
No hourly rental, no premium positioning, eco-angle entirely absent
Uber
Global brand, reliable ETA predictions
Premium tier feels like a rebrand, not a redesign
No self-drive option, no outstation structure, no CO₂ tracking
ZoomCar
Self-drive rental with reasonable fleet
Outdated UX, complex booking flow, no chauffeur option
No premium rides, no airport-specific flow, no eco messaging
Myles
Pan-India presence in car sharing
Poor app experience, trust deficit in Kerala market
No service design differentiation, no loyalty, no eco positioning
# Research Findings
Four blockers preventing better mobility
No Flexible Urban Mobility
Residents and visitors in Kochi had no reliable option between owning a car and hailing a cab — hourly or self-drive options were scattered and inconsistent.
Opaque Pricing
Traditional rental services had hidden charges, unclear fuel policies, and surge pricing with no upfront transparency, eroding trust before the journey began.
Fragmented Booking
Airport transfers, outstation trips, and city rides each required different providers. Users wanted one app to handle every journey type with one profile.
Eco-Anxiety with No Outlet
A growing segment of urban commuters in Kerala wanted to reduce their carbon footprint but had no way to quantify or act on it through mobility choices.
# User Personas
Two journeys, one platform
Rajan, 34
Business Consultant, Kochi
Reliable, premium transport for client meetings and airport runs without unpredictability.
- Cab apps surge-price during peak hours
- No consistent quality across different drivers
- Airport bookings often fall through last minute
"I need to arrive looking professional, not stressed about whether my ride will show up."
Meera, 28
Traveller & Remote Worker
Explore Kerala flexibly with hourly or outstation rental without traditional car hire formalities.
- Traditional rentals require too much paperwork
- No eco-friendly vehicle options available
- No app shows real CO₂ impact of mobility choices
"I want to travel freely and feel good about how I'm doing it."
# User Journey Map
Rajan's morning — from anxiety to advocacy
Mapped against Rajan's primary use case — a weekday client meeting ride — tracking the emotional arc and design decisions at every touchpoint.
# Service Design
Four ride types. One coherent experience.
Hourly Rentals
Book a vehicle by the hour for city errands, meetings, or spontaneous plans. Flexible pickup, no minimum beyond one hour.
Premium Rides
Chauffeur-driven luxury for airport runs and corporate travel. Vetted drivers, premium MG vehicles, guaranteed on-time pickup.
Airport Transfers
Fixed-price, punctual airport pickups. Live flight tracking adjusts for delays automatically — the car waits for you.
Outstation Trips
Day trips and multi-day rentals. Explore Munnar, Alleppey, Thekkady across Kerala with transparent per-km pricing.
# AI in the Design Process
From field notes to testable prototype — AI at every stage
On-the-ground research generated a mountain of unstructured data. AI tools compressed analysis, generated test scenarios, and prototyped the booking flow before Figma was opened.
Uploaded raw notes from 16 intercept interviews at Kochi Airport and Lulu Mall. Claude extracted 5 core insight themes and ranked them by frequency and emotional intensity — in 20 minutes.
Prompted the 4-screen booking flow in plain English on Day 1 of the design sprint. Had a testable HTML prototype before any Figma frames were open. Used for guerrilla testing in Week 1.
Generated 50+ automotive lifestyle images using prompts around 'clean Kerala roads, premium mobility, eco-conscious travel'. Established the visual DNA before any UI work began.
Prompted GPT-4 to generate 50 edge-case booking scenarios — late-night outstation, group airport drop, vehicle breakdown mid-trip. Each became a test case in the Maze usability study.
Auto-generated responsive home screen layout variants across 5 breakpoints. Reviewed and merged the strongest patterns from each, cutting responsive QA time by 40%.
# Design Solution
Trust, speed, and sustainability by design.
Smart Home Dashboard
Contextual home screen surfacing the most relevant ride type based on time of day, saved locations, and booking history.
Transparent Pricing
All-inclusive upfront pricing — fuel, driver, tolls, taxes. Zero hidden charges. Cancellation policy shown before confirmation.
CO₂ Impact Tracker
Every trip shows CO₂ saved vs a solo petrol car. Cumulative savings tracked on the profile — sustainable mobility made visible.
Live Availability Map
Real-time vehicle availability across Kochi. See nearest vehicles, estimated pickup time, and vehicle type before committing.
Trip Scheduler
Schedule rides up to 7 days in advance. Recurring trips for regular commutes. Push notifications with driver details 30 min before pickup.
In-Trip Experience
Music preferences, stop requests, and temperature preferences handled in-app during premium rides. Rate driver immediately post-trip.
# Outcomes
Results post-launch
# Next Steps