Get Valet App

1. Research & Analysis

We began with competitive and comparative research across valet and parking applications to understand common patterns, feature expectations, and usability gaps. App store reviews and existing user feedback were analyzed to identify recurring pain points, particularly around onboarding, status clarity, and real-time updates during the parking experience.

2. Problem Framing & User Needs

Insights from research revealed that users needed reassurance, clarity, and speed during time-sensitive parking moments. Key needs were defined around:

• Clear status updates throughout the valet process

• Minimal steps for core actions such as requesting or retrieving a vehicle

• Transparency around timing and vehicle location

• A consistent experience aligned with the existing corporate platform

3. Journey Mapping

I created a customer journey map to visualize the end-to-end experience from arrival and drop-off to vehicle retrieval. This helped identify friction points and opportunities for improvement, such as better notification timing and clearer service states.

To align stakeholders, I also created a simple system visualization illustrating how consumer actions connect to valet operations behind the scenes.

4. Ideation & Sketching

Early sketches were used to quickly explore layout ideas, interaction patterns, and flow options. This phase allowed rapid experimentation with different approaches to onboarding, vehicle requests, and notifications before committing to structured wireframes.

5. System Thinking & Flow Definition

Before moving into detailed wireframes, we aligned on how the entire system functioned behind the scenes. I created a simple animation to visualize how customer requests, valet operations, and station coordination interact, ensuring shared understanding across the team and stakeholders. The animation illustrates:

• Primary valet flow — the standard, end-to-end experience

• Vehicle request flow — the interaction for requesting a car

• Multiple active requests (edge case) — scenarios involving overlapping or repeated requests

6. Design & Prototyping

Low-fidelity wireframes were used to explore structure and flows, with a focus on minimizing steps for key actions like requesting or locating a vehicle.

As the design evolved, I helped define a visual system through a style guide and mood board, emphasizing clarity, speed, and confidence—critical qualities for users often in time-sensitive or stressful situations.

High-fidelity prototypes were created to validate interactions and present design decisions.

A lightweight visual system was established through mood boards and a style guide to ensure consistency across screens and alignment with the corporate platform. The UI emphasized clarity, trust, and ease of use—important qualities for users often in a hurry or under stress.

7. Iteration & Stakeholder Feedback

Designs were iterated based on stakeholder reviews and usability feedback gathered throughout the sprint. Feedback informed refinements to interaction flows, visual hierarchy, and messaging to improve clarity and confidence for end users.

What I Learned

• How to translate research insights into end-to-end user flows for a real client

• The importance of system thinking when designing experiences that connect consumer actions with operational workflows

• How to collaborate within a fast-paced design sprint and incorporate stakeholder feedback

• Why clarity and trust are essential in time-sensitive, service-based mobile experiences

  
  

Key Takeaways

• Designing across consumer and operational contexts requires strong system awareness

• Early research and journey mapping lead to more confident design decisions

• Clear communication is critical when working with real stakeholders under tight timelines

What’s Next

Following the capstone, I continued working on the product as a UX intern, supporting prototype presentations for investors and partners and refining designs based on real-world feedback. This phase reinforced scalability, feasibility, and business alignment.