Explore: CityBike
BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH & UX/UI DESIGN
CityBike is a mobile app designed to promote cycling in car-dependent European capitals like Rome, Dublin, Reykjavik, and Athens. Using gamification, navigation, and educational content, the app motivates users to replace car trips with cycling while addressing both physical and psychological barriers to change.
Project duration: 1 year
Tools used: Figma, AI tools
Project Goal
The goal with this project was to encourage more people to choose cycling over driving by combining navigation and gamification into a single engaging mobile experience.
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Target audience: Urban residents aged 18-45 years old, based in one of the four car-dependent European capitals (i.e., Rome, Dublin, Athens, Reykjavic)
Challenges
1) Designing for different cycling skill levels​
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2) Balancing gamification with usability
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3) Encouraging behavior change
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4) Maintaining engagement over time
Project Background
​​The idea for CityBike was born out of academic research I conducted on cycling behavior, which included an extensive literature review exploring the psychological, social, and environmental factors that influence the decision to cycle. While improvements to cycling infrastructure - such as bike lanes and parking - are important, research shows that these physical changes alone are often insufficient to drive long-term behavior change. Namely, a variety of psychological and social factors, including habits, risk perceptions, attitudes toward cycling, and social norms, also play a critical role in shaping how people choose to travel in their daily lives ( ). That being said, most mobility apps focus narrowly on route planning and distance tracking, with little attention paid to user motivation, engagement, or education. These platforms often assume that once infrastructure is available, people will automatically choose to cycle - a view that overlooks the behavioral complexity of transport choices.
CityBike was designed to fill this gap. As an intervention for social good, the app applies gamification principles and behavioral insights to nudge users toward cycling more often.​ Gamification refers to the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, such as badges, leaderboards and points. Its been shown to be a powerful tool for encouraging behavior change - tapping into intrinsic motivators like achievement and personal growth ( ).​​​
Meet The Users
Group 1: Unmotivated enthusiast
Name: Chiara Russo
Age: 30
Occupation: Office Admin
Hometown: Rome, Italy
Maria enjoys cycling and used to ride regularly, but over time has found herself relying more on her car out of habit and convenience. While she still sees cycling as a healthy and enjoyable activity, she struggles to stay motivated without clear goals or external encouragement. A solution that offers structure, small achievements, and community engagement could help her rebuild the habit and rediscover the joy of everyday cycling.
Cycling ability: Skilled
Cycling frequency: Occasionally (weekends)
Group 2: Eco-conscious
Name: Elías Jónsson
Age: 23
Occupation: University Student
Hometown: Reykjavic, Iceland
Elías is very interested in sustainability and environmental action. They already cycle a few times a week, often choosing the bike over public transport to reduce their carbon footprint. They are motivated by impact and are eager to learn, track their progress, and feel part of a larger movement. A platform that highlights the positive environmental effects of their choices and rewards consistent cycling could deepen their commitment and make active travel even more meaningful.
Cycling ability: Intermediate
Cycling frequency: Daily
Group 3: Practical parent
Name: Aidan Murphy
Age: 41
Occupation: Graphic Designer
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
As a father, Aidan is constantly balancing work, school runs, and errands - he's looking for practical ways to integrate more cycling into his family’s daily routine. He’s concerned about safety and efficiency, especially when riding with or near children. A tool that provides safe route recommendations, helps set manageable cycling goals, and fits seamlessly into his schedule could support his efforts to choose the bike over the car more often.
Cycling ability: Basic
Cycling frequency: 3 times/week
Mapping the Experience
To translate the app concept into a functional experience, I began by sketching rough, hand-drawn wireframes to explore layout ideas and navigation flow. These early sketches helped identify how key features - such as routes, leaderboards, and profiles - would connect, ensuring a smooth user journey from onboarding to daily use. I then developed a wireflow to visualize the app’s structure, mapping out how users would move between pages and complete core actions.
Wireflow
Visual Design
The visual design of CityBike was kept clean and uncluttered to ensure that the inclusion of multiple gamification elements would remain engaging rather than overwhelming. Consistent iconography, typography, and spacing further enhance the sense of cohesion, making the interface intuitive and visually harmonious. Moreover, I opted for a hamburger menu as the primary navigation pattern. This choice reduces visual noise, ensuring that vibrant colors and gamified elements remain the focus, while still providing users with intuitive and familiar access to all features.
Color Palette
The chosen color palette is vibrant and contemporary, reflecting both the app’s motivational purpose and its playful tone. The primary color, bright blue, conveys trust, clarity, and a tech-savvy feel; the accent color, bright green, reinforces themes of sustainability and positive reinforcement; and the secondary accent, vibrant pink, adds playfulness, energy, and a gamified atmosphere. Together, these colors form a triadic color scheme that brings energy and visual interest while maintaining balance to prevent overstimulation. This palette is applied over a clean, neutral background to enhance readability, create contrast, and ensure that interactive elements stand out.
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Solutions to Key Challenges
CHALLENGE 1
Designing For Different Skill Levels
To address this challenge, I crafted an onboarding experience to gather key information about each user’s habits, confidence, and goals. This includes questions about cycling frequency, perceived skill level, and personal preferences. The responses inform tailored route suggestions, relevant in-app challenges, and motivational content that match the user’s abilities—offering safer, simpler options for beginners and more ambitious opportunities for skilled riders. By making onboarding both engaging and purposeful, the app sets the stage for a personalized, motivating experience from the very first interaction.
CHALLENGE 2
Balancing Gamification With Usability
To balance gamification with usability, the design focused on integrating game-like elements in a way that enhanced, rather than distracted from, the core navigation and cycling features. Points, badges, and leaderboards were placed in supportive roles-visible enough to motivate, but not overwhelming the interface. A clean layout, intuitive navigation, and a vibrant yet balanced color palette ensured that users could easily access practical features like routes or safety articles without feeling crowded by visual noise. This approach kept the app engaging and rewarding while preserving clarity and ease of use.
CHALLENGE 3
Encouraging Behavior Change
To encourage meaningful behavior change, the app combines behavioral insights with features that make cycling feel rewarding and achievable. Gamification elements like eco-points, progress tracking, and friendly competitions tap into intrinsic motivators such as achievement and social connection, while curated safety tips and local event listings provide practical support. Personalized route suggestions and skill-based challenges further nudge users toward cycling more often, ensuring that the experience is both motivating and relevant to their needs. By blending education, incentives, and personalization, the app fosters habits that can lead to lasting shifts in travel behavior.
CHALLENGE 4
Maintaining User Engagement
To maintain engagement over time, the app was designed with dynamic content and evolving challenges that keep the experience fresh and rewarding. Seasonal cycling events, rotating challenges, and updated leaderboard rankings encourage users to return regularly. The blog section provides a steady stream of new articles on safety, tips, and urban cycling culture, while progress tracking and milestone rewards give users a sense of ongoing achievement. By combining variety, community interaction, and recognition, the app fosters long-term commitment rather than short-term novelty.
Future Directions
Looking ahead, there is significant potential to refine and expand CityBike’s impact. A priority would be to conduct user research to gather feedback on the app’s usability, features, and overall effectiveness in motivating cycling behavior. These insights could guide further iterations and ensure the app aligns closely with the needs of its audience. Additionally, introducing more social features - such as a community page where users can add friends in their area, post daily updates, and engage with others’ achievements through likes-could foster a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition, further encouraging long-term engagement.
Takeaways
Working on CityBike reminded me why I’m passionate about designing for social good. This project showed me how digital tools can go beyond functionality to actively inspire positive behavior change—in this case, encouraging more people to choose cycling in car-dominant cities. My research revealed that the decision to cycle is far more complex than simply having infrastructure in place; psychological, social, and motivational factors all play a key role. I had a lot of fun imagining CityBike as a creative solution that blends gamification and usability to address these factors. Most importantly, this project reaffirmed my belief that thoughtful, user-centered design can be a powerful lever for collective impact- helping communities move toward healthier, more sustainable mobility choices.
