Kelda Ferries · iOS & Android · 2025
Ebb
Making the 07:40 to Holm feel like a habit, not a hassle.
Next sailing
Holm → Kelda Quay
Departs07:40
PassMonthly · 22 left
Hold to board
- Role
- Lead product designer, research to launch
- Timeline
- 14 weeks · March–June 2025
- Team
- 2 engineers, 1 PM, 1 researcher, me
- Shipped
- iOS, Android, 9 quayside kiosks
01The problem
Commuters were buying the same ticket 44 times a month.
Kelda's old app treated every crossing as a new purchase: pick a route, pick a fare, pay, wait for a PDF. On the Holm line, 71% of riders take the same two sailings every weekday. At the gangway, the median rider spent 38 seconds finding their ticket while the queue backed up the ramp.
The brief was "add monthly passes". The real job was to make the app disappear for people who already know where they're going.
02Process
Ride along first, draw second.
We rode 31 crossings at 06:50, 07:40 and 17:15, timing every step from pocket to gangway. Three sketches survived the week.
03Outcome
Twelve weeks after launch, the ramp stopped backing up.
−0%
Median time from pocket to gangway
0%
Holm riders now on a monthly pass
0.0
App Store rating, up from 2.9
0k
Monthly active riders across 6 routes
Noor spent her first week on our boats, not in our office. The app she shipped is the quietest thing we've ever launched, and the one riders mention most.
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