Prix
In May 2019, the Chief Marketing Officer of “Mi Águila,” an app focused on solving corporate mobility issues, approached us to take charge of the strategy, design, and product direction of the new major competitor in the mobility app market. The main challenge: The Uber effect. Due to the immense success of Uber, numerous startups emerged in the same market, and a new competitor would have to confront major apps like Cabify, Tappsi, Easy Taxi, or Didi.
To begin, we needed to comprehend the key competitive differentiators: safety, price, comfort, and experience were the answers. The Colombian market was heavily influenced by the stigma and negative reputation of taxi drivers. However, this was the first issue that Uber resolved, and the persistent efforts of apps like Tappsi and Easy Taxi, including driver data, online tracking, and secure payments, were sufficient to tackle this problem. Taxi fares were regulated by the government, making it not a true differentiator. In terms of experience and comfort, Uber’s deluxe services undoubtedly held the top position. So, what remained for us?
After comprehending how competitors reached customers, we began to question why users continued using the apps. At “Mi Águila,” we had ample corporate customer data, which led us to analyze what contributed to cohort growth. We discovered that all systems offered a superficial loyalty system that eventually led people to become loyal to one service or another. We also had many corporate clients, so we leveraged restaurants, bars, cafes, and shopping malls to incentivize people to use Prix to reach these places and redeem points for specific rewards.
The ultimate result was to focus on creating a mobility app that not only served as an incentive for people to use Prix to reach these places and redeem points for rewards but also fostered connections between users and commercial establishments through a points and levels system. Thus, we developed the first app for booking a taxi that not only transported you from point A to point B but also rewarded you for doing so, connected you with the city in a new way, and allowed you to discover new places.
With our strategy in place, we needed to christen our project. For this, we chose the word “Prix,” derived from the Old French “pris” and the Latin “pretium,” meaning prize.
“Prix” was the perfect name for us. Apart from directly alluding to the product’s differentiating factor, it also evoked motor racing circuits or “Grand Prix,” creating a name full of energy, vitality, brevity, and visual impact.
For the brand, we designed a logo that focused attention on the name, ensuring quick market recognition. We connected the body of the “R” with the lower left arm of the “X” using a curved line symbolizing the route from point A to point B, passing under the apostrophe, which represented the user traversing the city with Prix.
For the color palette, we used a vibrant yellow resembling taxi colors, dark enough to ensure white legibility as a secondary color. We introduced blue as a tertiary color for attention-grabbing contrast and to break the brightness, along with dark gray for added contrast.
For typography, we opted for a wide, easy-to-read sans-serif font. For complementary graphics, we utilized city images with the logo’s curve to create dynamic diagonal designs.
To kickstart application design, we crafted over 30 customer journeys for user, driver, and retailer apps. Each journey outlined a crucial step in product usage, spanning from registration to point redemption and progress visualization.
Once functionalities were defined, we developed wireframes for each key application screen. This allowed the development team to understand the project scope, initiate architectural development, and identify challenges in the product interface.
At this juncture, we needed to understand users’ digital skills, prompting us to create three personas: one for users, one for drivers, and one for commercial establishments. This enabled us to identify primary pain points for each group. We also analyzed over 100 digital products used by these users to understand the types of interfaces they were accustomed to.
Having gained insights into our users, we initiated prototyping, undergoing three iterations with end-user testing via focus groups.
Ultimately, the prototype not only breathed life into the project but also facilitated management in securing investments even without a fully developed MVP. The prototype sufficiently conveyed the product’s value to investors, leading them to lend their support.
