User Research

To understand how people in Montreal deal with parking before and during their trips, I spoke with 20 drivers aged 18 to 30 who drive in the city at least occasionally. Each interview lasted about 30 minutes and was done either in person or over video call. I found participants through social media and by reaching out in neighborhoods like Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont, and NDG.

Interview questions included:

• Walk me through the last time you drove somewhere in Montreal and had to find parking. What did you do before you left?

• How do you usually figure out whether parking will be available at your destination?

• Have you ever changed your plans or your route because you were worried about parking?

• What apps or tools do you use when looking for parking?

• Are you familiar with Mobicité? If so, when do you plan to open it during your trip?

• Is there a moment in the parking experience where you feel most stressed or uncertain?

• What would make you feel confident about driving somewhere you haven't parked before?

Key themes that emerged:
Participants often said that figuring out parking before they arrived was the most stressful part of their trip. Most used memory, Google Maps, or advice from others to guess if parking would be available, and none used Mobicité for this. Some even decided not to drive and switched to transit after having trouble finding parking in busy areas. People saw the app mainly as a way to pay for parking, not as a planning tool, and most only opened it after they had already found a spot.

From research to redesign

The interviews showed a clear problem. Most people said they would decide to drive, spend time guessing if parking was available, and only open Mobicité after they found a spot. The app was not used during the most stressful times.

One thing was clear: participants did not want real-time data or complex features. They just wanted a simple sign of confidence before leaving, something to help them decide where to go. This need pointed to the map page, which already exists in the app but only shows where paid parking is, not how likely it is to be available.
Rather than building a new feature, the redesign focuses on improving the map page. It adds availability patterns based on past session data to what is already there.

Design objectives

• Surface neighbourhood-level parking availability patterns on the existing map page, using historical transaction data already collected by the app

• Allow users to check likely availability before leaving their origin, reducing reliance on Google Maps or guesswork.

• Communicate probability honestly using plain-language indicators and heat map styling rather than false precision.

• Keep the map page as a single coherent tool that serves both pre-trip planning and in-trip navigation.

• Only display availability estimates for blocks with sufficient historical data, leaving sparse areas unmarked rather than misleading.

• Improve the overall journey continuity so users stay within Mobicité from planning through to payment, rather than switching between apps.

  
  

  

  
  

Impact

This redesign does not create a new app. Instead, it builds on the existing one. By showing availability patterns right on the map page, Mobicité moves from being used late in the parking process to being one of the first tools drivers use before they leave home.
The research clearly showed this gap. All 20 participants used another app, like Google Maps, memory, or word of mouth, to decide where to park before their trip. None opened Mobicité until after parking. The redesign fixes this by giving drivers the information they need right when they need it, so they do not have to switch away from Mobicité.
The result is a smoother experience, with one app guiding users from planning to payment.

Final Design