App Design
Pathly helps riders with temporary or changing mobility constraints plan, adjust, and complete transit trips with greater confidence.
Designed for Montréal’s fragmented transit information ecosystem, Pathly shifts route planning from “what is fastest?” to “what is manageable for me today?” through personalized routing, real-time accessibility updates, and low-attention alerts.
Context
Mobile App Design Transit Accessibility User-Centered Design
Methods
Problem Framing
Secondary Research
Journey mapping
Ideation
Prototyping
Timeline
January - March 2026
Role
Product Design UX Research Concept development Interaction Design
The problem
Accessibility and disruption information is fragmented across platforms, alerts, and station updates.
In Montréal, accessibility and disruption information is often spread across multiple platforms, service alerts, and route-planning tools. For riders with temporary or changing mobility needs, this makes it difficult to know whether a trip is manageable before leaving, and even harder to adjust when conditions change mid-route.
A route may appear possible on paper but become difficult in practice because of elevator outages, construction detours, winter conditions, or crowded stations.
This shifts the real planning question from “What is the fastest route?” to “Can I actually complete this trip with confidence today?”
Reframing the problem
From fixed accessibility to situational mobility
Most transit apps ask:
“Is this route accessible?”
Pathly asks:
“Is this route manageable for me today?”
Traditional framing
Accessible / not accessible
Static route information
Optimized for speed
General user needs
Pathly framing
Manageable today
Real-time route conditions
Optimized for effort + reliability
Temporary mobility needs
Design for the moment when mobility changes.
Help riders understand whether a route is manageable before they leave, and adjust with confidence when conditions change during the trip.
How might we help riders with temporary or changing mobility needs plan and adjust transit trips based on what is manageable — not just what is fastest?
To understand where Pathly could support riders most, I mapped the journey from planning to completing a transit trip. This helped identify where uncertainty appears, when confidence drops, and where real-time guidance could make the experience more manageable.
Key takeaway:
The biggest opportunity was not only helping riders choose a route, but supporting them when conditions change before or during the trip.
What ideation clarified
Pathly needed to support the full trip, not just route selection.
The experience had to connect three layers: personal mobility needs, changing transit conditions, and real-time guidance.
Initial idea: accessibility-aware route planning
Refined concept: situational mobility support
Final direction: personalized routing + verified updates + low-attention alerts
Core experience
Pathly supports riders across four key moments
After ideation, I combined the strongest concepts into one connected experience: helping riders personalize their mobility needs, plan manageable routes, verify real-time barriers, and receive low-attention guidance during the trip.
Personalize mobility profile
Set temporary conditions such as stroller use, fatigue, injury, or low-energy mode.
Plan and adapt routes
Compare routes based on effort, accessibility status, and live disruptions.
Share & verify reports
Report barriers and confirm updates from others to improve trust in real-time information.
Haptic Notifications
Get timely phone/watch alerts and haptic guidance when route conditions change.
Main screens
The Home screen brings together route planning, live alerts, reporting, watch settings, and mobility profile access, helping riders start from their most immediate need.
Features
Problem:
Mobility needs are not always permanent. A rider may need extra support because of a stroller, groceries, fatigue, injury, or winter conditions.
Design decision:
I designed the profile as a temporary preference layer, not a fixed identity label. Users can adjust their current condition so route recommendations respond to what they can manage today.
Features
Problem:
Fastest route is not always the best route for someone with temporary mobility constraints.
Design decision:
Pathly compares routes using effort, reliability, and accessibility status so users can choose the route that feels most realistic.
Features
Problem:
User-submitted reports can be useful, but they can also become outdated or unreliable.
Design decision:
I added verification and time-sensitive visibility. Reports stay useful when other riders confirm them, and they fade when they are no longer supported.
Features
Problem:
During travel, users may not be able to constantly check their phone, especially while carrying items, pushing a stroller, navigating crowds, or transferring.
Design decision:
I explored Apple Watch alerts and haptic feedback as a low-attention layer for critical trip updates.
What changed from early concept to final prototype
Key iterations
1. From route planner to trip companion
The concept expanded from selecting a route to supporting riders before and during the trip.
2. From submitted reports to verified updates
Reports became time-sensitive and community-confirmed to reduce unreliable information.
3. From phone-only experience to low-attention support
Watch and haptic alerts were added for moments when checking a phone is difficult.
A connected experience for planning, adjusting, and traveling with confidence
Final prototype
Limitations
This project was developed as a course prototype and was not connected to live STM/REM data. The concept also needs further testing with riders who experience temporary or changing mobility constraints in real transit scenarios.
Next steps
Test the prototype with riders using strollers, temporary injuries, heavy bags, or low-energy conditions
Validate whether users understand and trust the manageability-based route comparison
Refine report verification and expiration rules
Test different haptic patterns for urgency, rerouting, and disruption alerts
Explore how official transit data and community reports could be clearly separated
Final reflection
What I learned
This project helped me understand accessibility as a changing, context-dependent experience rather than a fixed label. The biggest design shift was moving from “How can we show accessible routes?” to “How can we help riders decide what is manageable for them today?”