Soole
A community-driven carpooling platform that turns unused car seats into value — connecting verified drivers already travelling between Nigerian cities with passengers heading the same way.
Project overview
Soole is a community-driven carpooling platform designed to reduce the stress, cost, and inefficiency of intercity travel in Nigeria. The product allows verified car owners to post upcoming trips, while passengers travelling along the same route can book a seat and agree on a price directly.
The goal is to provide a safer, more flexible alternative to overcrowded motor parks and unreliable public transport systems.
The problem
Intercity travel in Nigeria is often stressful and inefficient:
- Overcrowded and poorly organised motor parks
- Long waiting times before vehicles fill up
- Lack of price transparency
- Limited comfort and safety concerns
- No structured way for travellers going the same route to connect
Despite many private car owners travelling daily between cities, there is no trusted system that connects them with passengers who share the same destination.
The status quo: a crowded, disorganised motor park — long waits, no price transparency, and no structured way for travellers on the same route to connect.
The opportunity
I identified an opportunity to:
- Leverage existing private vehicles already travelling between cities
- Reduce dependency on motor parks
- Enable flexible, negotiated pricing between drivers and passengers
- Improve comfort, safety, and travel experience
Soole aims to turn unused car seats into value — while making travel more human, direct, and efficient.
Grounding the product in real behaviour
To ground the product in real-world behaviour, I carried out informal qualitative research with frequent intercity travellers and private car owners who regularly travel between cities in Nigeria. The goal was to understand current travel patterns and pain points, how pricing decisions are made, trust and safety concerns, and what would make people switch from traditional motor parks.
Key insights
- Travellers value departure certainty more than comfort or luxury
- Long waiting times at motor parks are a major frustration
- Price negotiation is culturally expected and preferred
- Users are more willing to trust a system that shows clear identity and trip details
- Most users are mobile-first and want minimal steps to complete a task
These insights directly influenced the product's flow, feature set, and interaction design.
Two sides of the same trip
Soole only works if both sides win — the driver offsetting travel costs, and the passenger leaving sooner than a motor park would allow.
The Driver
Profile
- Travels between cities regularly for work, family, or personal reasons
- Owns a private vehicle with unused seats
- Interested in offsetting fuel and travel costs
Needs & motivations
- A simple way to post trips without friction
- Control over who joins their trip
- Flexible pricing discussions
- Basic assurance of passenger legitimacy
Design impact
- Informed a quick trip-posting flow
- Led to seat availability and trip-detail visibility
- Influenced chat-based price negotiation
The Passenger
Profile
- Frequently travels between cities
- Often uses motor parks or public transport
- Mobile-first and time-conscious
Needs & motivations
- Faster departure compared to waiting at motor parks
- Clear route and departure information
- Ability to negotiate price before committing
- Feeling safe and informed before booking
Design impact
- Shaped the trip discovery and search experience
- Emphasised clear trip and driver information
- Led to a simplified booking flow with minimal steps
From posting a trip to arriving paid
Five connected surfaces cover the full journey for both sides of the trip.
Trip Posting — drivers
- Simple onboarding — kept light to reduce friction
- Route — origin and destination
- Departure — date and time
- Available seats — how many are open
- Pricing & confirmation — set a price and publish
Trip Discovery — passengers
- Search trips by destination
- Discover available rides and check trip details
- Clear visibility of available seats
- Driver profiles surfaced before booking
Price Negotiation
- Flexible pricing rather than a fixed fare
- Built-in chat lets both parties agree on a price naturally
- Mirrors how pricing already works culturally
Payment
- Fund an in-app wallet and pay through the platform
- Or pay the driver directly in cash
- Choice keeps the product usable for cash-first travellers
Trust & Safety
- Driver profiles with verification indicators
- Reviews from passengers on a driver's previous trips
- Clear identity and trip details before committing
Driver Payout
- Drivers can track their transactions
- Withdrawals kept seamless
Impact & learnings
Although Soole is a concept-stage product, the design process reinforced several lessons that carry into everything I build.
What the process taught me
- Designing for local context matters more than copying global patterns
- Trust and simplicity drive adoption more than feature volume
- Real problems create stronger products than trend-based ideas
What it strengthened
- Translating local, real-world problems into structured digital solutions
- Designing two-sided products where both sides must win
- Letting cultural behaviour — like price negotiation — shape the interface
Final note
Soole represents my approach to product design: starting from real user pain points, designing with cultural context in mind, and building solutions that balance usability, trust, and business viability.
