GrydPark Carplay

Automotive App Booking

Overview

Finding a parking spot in busy urban areas can be a major challenge for drivers, often leading to frustration and safety risks. Even pre-booked parking can come with its own set of hurdles.

GrydPark seeks to transform the parking experience by integrating its services with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This innovative solution enables drivers to discover and book parking spots in real-time while navigating to their reservations—all through a hands-free, distraction-free interface designed for in-car use. Embrace GrydPark and reclaim your time and peace of mind on the road.

Role
UX Research, Product Design, Wireframing, Prototyping

Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud Apps, My car!

Timeline
8 Weeks

The Problem

Drivers often struggle to find, book, and navigate to available parking spots, particularly in busy urban areas. Searching for parking while driving can be frustrating, time-consuming, and even dangerous due to potential distractions. Furthermore, those who pre-book parking may encounter challenges accessing and navigating to their reserved spots smoothly.

Research

To design an effective in-car experience for GrydPark users, we conducted research focusing on driver behavior, pain points, and best practices for automotive UX. Key areas of exploration included:

USER PAIN POINTS

Navigation Friction: Users often had to manually copy and paste the parking address from the GrydPark app into their preferred navigation app, creating unnecessary steps and potential distractions.

Time-Consuming Parking Search: Users wanted a quick way to find and book parking without having to pull over or manually interact with their phones.

Distractions While Driving: Mobile interactions pose safety risks, making providing a hands-free, glanceable solution essential.

Uncertainty Upon Arrival: Some users reported confusion about exact entry points, especially in dense urban areas or multi-level parking structures.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

We analyzed existing parking and navigation solutions (e.g., Google Maps, Waze, native parking integrations) and found that most focused only on parking discovery, lacking seamless booking and reservation-based navigation. This gap reinforced the need for an all-in-one in-car experience.

Solution and approach

My design approach for GrydPark focused on creating a seamless, intuitive, and distraction-free parking experience for drivers using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The key elements of my approach included:

User-Focused Simplicity: I prioritized ease of use by ensuring the interface was minimalistic yet functional. Key features, such as booking a parking spot or navigating to a pre-booked spot, were accessible with just a few simple interactions, reducing distractions while driving.

Dual Mode Design (Light & Dark Mode): I designed for both light and dark modes to ensure readability and visual comfort in various lighting conditions, whether in bright daylight or low-light environments at night. Both modes were optimized for clarity, reducing strain on the eyes and making sure users could always easily interpret parking information.

Real-Time Parking Availability: We included real-time updates on parking availability, ensuring that users could confidently book parking spots while on the go. The interface was updated dynamically to reflect availability near the driver’s location, minimizing the stress of searching for parking.

Seamless Navigation to Booked Spots: The design included features to easily navigate to previously booked parking spots, keeping the user’s journey efficient and stress-free. This required a simple flow that allowed for quick access to navigation, minimizing the steps needed to get to a reserved spot.

On-the-Go Booking: We enabled users to book parking spots on the go, allowing them to quickly find and reserve nearby parking spots in real-time. This feature empowered drivers to make decisions and secure parking without needing to pull over or make complex arrangements.

Reflection

Working on this project was a fascinating experience, as it challenged me to design for an environment I wasn’t initially familiar with—an in-car interface. Unlike traditional mobile or web design, this required a deep focus on simplicity, safety, and usability in a context where distractions can have serious consequences. I had to carefully balance providing essential functionality, like booking and navigation, with ensuring that interactions remained minimal and intuitive for drivers. It was an exciting opportunity to expand my design thinking beyond typical touch-based interfaces and explore how voice commands, glanceable UI, and real-time updates could create a seamless experience in motion.

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