Why booking one trip

needed three

different apps

Pondy Rentals set out to hold a whole trip in one place. Hotels, cars, and bikes booked in the same flow, and every booking still visible after the payment goes through.

Industry

Travel and Hospitality

Timeline

2 Months

Role

Product Designer

Context

A traveler does not think in categories. They think in one trip.

The product

Pondy Rentals is a mobile booking product for travel around Pondicherry. A person books a room, a car, and a two wheeler in the same place, then keeps track of all of it from a single dashboard.

Why it mattered

Travel and hospitality runs on trust. If a person cannot see what they are paying for, or cannot find a booking they already made, they leave. The client asked for a product that stayed simple, modern, and reliable while covering three services at once.

03

Services placed under one roof: hotels, cars, and bikes

01

Dashboard holding every booking after payment

00

Times a person has to leave the app to finish a trip

The challenge

Three services, three apps,

and one trip in pieces.

The client came with a clear brief, build something simple, modern, and reliable. Underneath it sat three separate points of friction, each one pulling the journey apart in a different way.

User pain point

One trip, split across three downloads

One trip, split across three downloads

Booking a room, a car, and a two wheeler meant switching between different apps. Every switch reset the context: a new search, a new set of dates, a new account. The mental model of a single trip never survived the handover.

Hotel app

Search, choose, pay & book

Hotel app

Search, choose, pay & book

Hotel app

Search, choose, pay & book

The same three steps repeated in three places, with nothing carried between them.

The same three steps repeated in three places, with nothing carried between them.

Friction in the flow

Booking flows asking for too many steps

Booking flows asking for too many steps

The path from wanting something to confirming it was longer than the decision itself. Each extra screen was one more moment for a person to pause, compare somewhere else, and leave before paying.

Intent

Intent

Attention thinning

Attention thinning

Drop off

Drop off

A long chain of steps between the intent to book and the confirmation.

A long chain of steps between the intent to book and the confirmation.

After the booking

Nowhere to hold the trip once it was paid for

Nowhere to hold the trip once it was paid for

The path from wanting something to confirming it was longer than the decision itself. Each extra screen was one more moment for a person to pause, compare somewhere else, and leave before paying.

?

Hotel app

?

Car booking

?

Bike booking

Three confirmations with nothing connecting them.

Three confirmations with nothing connecting them.

02 / The solution

02 / The solution

Turn pet activity into a connected motivation loop.

Turn pet activity into a connected motivation loop.

01 / 04 — Community Feed

Progress feels invisible

Progress feels invisible

The daily open layer, discover, share, stay connected.

The daily open layer, discover, share, stay connected.

Share pet moments

Discover milestones

Stay connected

02 / 04 — Walk Tracker

Connect individual actions

Connect individual actions

Profile, activity, weight and goals, in one place.

Profile, activity, weight and goals, in one place.

Walk → Updates

Progress → Unlocks

Rewards → Encourages

Sharing

03 / 04 — Walk Tracker

Make progress visible

Make progress visible

Start and track a walk, turned into measurable progress.

Start and track a walk, turned into measurable progress.

❌ A number isn't always motivating.

❌ A number isn't always motivating.

❌ A number isn't

always motivating.

Clear progress

Achievable goals

Meaningful milestones

Badges & Leaderboard

Make progress visible

Make progress visible

Celebrate milestones, compare progress if you want to.

Celebrate milestones, compare progress if you want to.

Walk completed

Streak updated

Badge unlocked

Motivation increases

03 / Discovering the opportunity

03 / Discovering the opportunity

I didn't start with screens. I started with patterns.

I didn't start with screens. I started with patterns.

User interviews

User interviews

Affinity mapping

Affinity mapping

Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis

Product opportunities

Product opportunities

User interviews

User interviews

Activity trackers data, feels transactional

Social platforms engagement, no routine

If I can see we're improving, I'm more likely to keep doing it.

If I can see we're improving, I'm more likely to keep doing it.

Progress needs to feel visible.

Progress needs to feel visible.

Sharing what my dog is doing already makes the app more interesting.

Sharing what my dog is doing already makes the app more interesting.

Motivation needs emotional feedback.

Motivation needs emotional feedback.

A badge or streak gives me a reason to not break the routine.

A badge or streak gives me a reason to not break the routine.

Sharing already happens naturally.

Sharing already happens naturally.

Affinity mapping

Affinity mapping

Motivation

Motivation

Need a reason to keep going

Need a reason to keep going

Small wins matter

Small wins matter

Progress

Progress

Can't tell if it's working

Can't tell if it's working

Want to see change

Want to see change

Routine

Routine

Forget to log walks

Forget to log walks

Already busy enough

Already busy enough

Community

Love sharing pet pics

Love sharing pet pics

Want to meet other owners

Want to meet other owners

Rewards

Rewards

Badges feel fun

Badges feel fun

Streaks keep me honest

Streaks keep me honest

The strongest pattern wasn't a tracking problem. It was a motivation problem.

The strongest pattern wasn't a tracking problem. It was a motivation problem.

04

A community feed that gives a reason to return daily.

A community feed that gives a reason to return daily.

03

Consistency rewarded through badges and a leaderboard.

Consistency rewarded through badges and a leaderboard.

01

Walk tracking simple enough to fit an existing routine.

Walk tracking simple enough to fit an existing routine.

02

Weight and walk goals visible, so progress feels real.

Weight and walk goals visible, so progress feels real.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor Analysis

Puppr

Puppr

Dog training & care

Dog training & care

✓ Well structured training content

✓ Easy to use

✗ Limited social features

✗ No walk tracking

✓ Well structured training content

✓ Easy to use

✗ Limited social features

✗ No walk tracking

Opportunity

Combine training, tracking, and social in one place.

Combine training, tracking, and social in one place.

FitBark

FitBark

Activity tracker

Activity tracker

✓ Accurate activity tracking

✓ Good data insights

✗ Boring UI

✗ No community engagement

✓ Accurate activity tracking

✓ Good data insights

✗ Boring UI

✗ No community engagement

Opportunity

Make tracking engaging with gamification and social connection.

Make tracking engaging with gamification and social connection.

DogLog

DogLog

Health & medical

Health & medical

✓ Great for health records

✓ Medical reminders

✗ Outdated interface

✗ No social or discovery features

✓ Great for health records

✓ Medical reminders

✗ Outdated interface

✗ No social or discovery features

Opportunity

Enhance with modern UI and community features.

Enhance with modern UI and community features.

Instagram

Instagram

Social platform

Social platform

✓ Strong social community

✓ Easy content sharing

✗ Not pet focused

✗ No pet care tools

✓ Strong social community

✓ Easy content sharing

✗ Not pet focused

✗ No pet care tools

Opportunity

Offer a pet first social experience.

Offer a pet first social experience.

Wag

Wag

Dog walking

Dog walking

✓ Simple walk tracking

✓ Clean interface

✗ Only walk tracking

✗ No health or community features

✓ Simple walk tracking

✓ Clean interface

✗ Only walk tracking

✗ No health or community features

Opportunity

Expand beyond walks to become an all in one platform.

Expand beyond walks to become an all in one platform.

Activity focused apps

Activity focused apps

📊 Strong tracking

📊 Strong tracking

❌ Low emotional engagement

❌ Low emotional engagement

Community focused apps

Community focused apps

💬 High engagement

💬 High engagement

❌ Weak routine support

❌ Weak routine support

Emotional

Individual

connected

Functional

Community apps

Community apps

Tiny Tails

Tiny Tails

Activity apps

Activity apps

The opportunity was not another pet tracker.

It was a system that gives people a reason to keep going.

The opportunity was not another pet tracker.

It was a system that gives people a reason to keep going.

04 / Outcome

04 / Outcome

From isolated tracking to connected motivation.

From isolated tracking to connected motivation.

Before

Traditional pet tracking

Traditional pet tracking

Open app

Open app

Track

Track

View data

View data

Leave

Leave

After

Tiny Tails

Tiny Tails

Open app

Open app

Community

Community

Activity

Activity

Progress

Progress

Recognition

Recognition

Sharing

Sharing

Return

Return

05 / Reflections

05 / Reflections

What this project taught me.

What this project taught me.

Features don't create habits.

Connected experiences do.

Features don't create habits.

Connected experiences do.

Data alone isn't motivating.

People need to see what progress means.

Data alone isn't motivating.

People need to see what progress means.

Good design isn't about adding more.

It's about connecting what already matters.

Good design isn't about adding more.

It's about connecting what already matters.