Kabbee
Redesigning a cab comparison and booking platform to improve usability, increase bookings and build customer trust.
Kabbee was one of London’s first minicab comparison apps, offering users the ability to compare and book from over 100 taxi firms. After several inconsistent redesigns delivered by offshore agencies, the app had become bloated and confusing. I was brought on to unify the product experience and return focus to speed, clarity and trust, helping the company compete in an increasingly crowded market.
Deliverables: UX & UI Design, User Research, Design System, Prototyping
Project Type: Mobile App, B2C, Marketplace
Team: Product Designer (me), Product Manager, Development Team
Business Goal
Kabbee’s growth had plateaued following a series of redesigns that introduced inconsistency and increased user friction. Reviews were dropping, churn was high and competitors were gaining ground. The business goal was to re-establish trust with customers, streamline the booking process and increase repeat bookings.
User Goal
The core user need was speed and simplicity. Research showed most customers just wanted to get home quickly after a night out but they were overwhelmed by too many options and inconsistent UI. The goal was to reduce effort, simplify key flows and design an app that felt dependable.
Design Process
With limited resources, I took a lean, research-driven approach focused on quick wins that would have immediate impact on user satisfaction and booking conversion.
01. Research & Discovery
I conducted regular guerrilla-style interviews with commuters and surveys to understand problems and test solutions. Since Kabbee’s busiest booking time was Friday evenings, I spent hours outside pubs asking people how they were getting home and testing interface concepts on my phone. Through these conversations and user feedback analysis, a clear theme emerged: users found the booking experience overwhelming due to too much choice being presented simultaneously. Most users simply wanted to get home quickly without having to think about car size, driver ratings, company ratings and passenger limits all at once.
02. Information Architecture
I used card sorting activities with key customer segments to evaluate and prioritise what information users actually needed upfront versus what could be hidden. The research revealed that most Kabbee users simply used the app to get home from a night out, making destination input repetitive and frustrating. This insight informed both the interface hierarchy and feature prioritisation, focusing on surfacing relevant car information upfront while removing uncertainty rather than overwhelming choice.
03. Feature Innovation
Based on user research showing the prevalence of 'getting home' trips, I collaborated with their product manager to develop a 'Take Me Home' feature that allowed customers to tap a single button, prefilling their home destination and most common cab selections. This removed all effort from repeat bookings and drastically reduced time on task. The feature was integrated across all Kabbee apps and became a key differentiator in addressing real user behaviour patterns.
04. Design Consistency
The previous apps had ranged in colour from bright pink to green to orange, used different icon styles and had different typefaces depending on the screen. I worked with stakeholders to create a cohesive design language that worked with the primary logo and was purposeful in its application. Colour was refined and used strategically to guide people through the booking flow, with a specific impactful yellow reserved for booking-related calls to action. Icons were redesigned to improve visual recognition and typefaces were chosen for clarity and accessibility.
05. Prototyping & Testing
I created wireframes, journey maps and personas to help Kabbee’s team align around the new direction. Rather than static documentation, I worked directly with Kabbee developers to implement a 'live' design system in code, enabling faster iteration and consistent implementation. Focus groups across London helped validate the redesigned prototypes and ensure the design was heading in the right direction.
06. Simplified Booking Flow
The final interface featured a more straightforward slider for selecting cab size while hiding non-essential options in sub-navigation. By presenting relevant information about cars upfront and removing uncertainty, users could make confident booking decisions without cognitive overload. The streamlined flow maintained Kabbee's choice advantage while making it accessible in high-pressure booking moments.
The redesign delivered significant improvements across all key metrics within six months. Bookings increased by 175%, app store reviews improved from 2 stars to 4 stars and cancellations reduced by 40%. The 'Take Me Home' feature proved particularly successful, resulting in a considerable increase in evening bookings. The project culminated in Kabbee being awarded Best App at the UK Mobile & App Design Awards.
This project reinforced the importance of moving quickly in competitive markets while staying grounded in user research. The key insight was that choice can be a differentiator without being overwhelming - it's about surfacing the right information at the right time. While the redesign successfully improved the user experience, the rapid pace meant Kabbee didn't fully anticipate how competitors like Uber would remove choice entirely to achieve maximum simplicity. The experience taught me that sometimes the best user experience means questioning fundamental product assumptions, not just optimising existing features.
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