neelakolkar2001@gmail.com
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CARPOOL . SCHOOL
Where school buses can't, carpool can.
About
Carpool.School is a startup based out of Cary, NC developed by Krishnanand Kamath after he and his wife struggled with driving their two kids in different directions for hours every day. What started as a personal mission soon turned into Carpool.School - a platform dedicated to making coordinated school carpooling easy and accessible for communities nationwide. At the core, the startup is committed to helping other families overcome the universal struggle of getting kids to and from school safely.
ROLE
Design Lead
TIMELINE
7 Months
LOCATION
Cary, USA (Remote)
71%
User Engagement
18%
App Retention
Challenge
& Goal
The challenge was to address the systemic issues in school transportation, such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting times, and limited options, while also tackling the complexities of coordinating safe and reliable carpooling for parents and kids. Parents often face stress managing schedules and trust concerns, while kids experience disruptions in their routines, impacting their participation in activities and overall well-being. The goal was to design a user-friendly platform with a modernized brand identity, an intuitive website, and app interfaces that simplify carpooling, ensure safety and reliability for kids, and build trust and collaboration within school communities.
Research
To deliver a truly user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research involving:
Parents: Understanding their daily challenges in managing school pick-ups, drop-offs, and coordinating schedules with other parents. We explored their pain points with existing carpooling solutions and their expectations for a streamlined, reliable system.
School Kids: Gathering insights into their preferences and needs to ensure the app and branding appealed to them indirectly while focusing on their safety and convenience.
Activities & Logistics: Mapping the after-school activities and complex scheduling needs that required flexible and real-time solutions for carpooling.
USA School Problems: Diving into systemic issues such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting lines, and limited transportation options to identify how the app could alleviate these pain points.
Carpooling Needs: Studying trends and patterns in carpooling behavior, including the importance of trust, reliability, and ease of use, while ensuring compliance with school policies and safety protocols.
Conducted interviews and surveys with parents, school staff, and students to understand their daily challenges, motivations, and expectations.
Analyzed user behavior, needs, and pain points to identify patterns and segment the audience into meaningful groups.
Developed detailed personas representing key user types, including their goals, frustrations, and decision-making factors.
Included contextual information such as schedules, carpooling habits, and safety concerns to create realistic and actionable personas.
Used personas to guide design decisions, ensuring solutions were user-centered and aligned with real-world needs.
Ideation & Concept Development
Synthesized findings from user research to identify core pain points related to scheduling, safety, and usability in the carpooling process.
Conducted brainstorming workshops to explore multiple design directions and innovative solutions, emphasizing user-centricity and technical feasibility.
Created low-fidelity sketches and wireframes to quickly iterate on ideas, incorporating feedback from stakeholders and users.
Developed a feature prioritization matrix and information architecture to balance user needs and business goals, focusing on critical functionalities such as real-time updates, scheduling flexibility, and trust-building mechanisms.
Information Architecture
Mapped detailed user journeys to visualize how parents and kids interact with the system across different touchpoints, ensuring seamless user experiences.
User Journey Map structure used for research
Prototyping and Wireframes
Built interactive prototypes for both web and mobile platforms using tools like Figma to simulate user interactions and flows.
Organized usability testing sessions with a diverse group of parents, including working parents and those with multiple kids, to gather comprehensive feedback.
Facilitated feedback sessions with stakeholders (school administrators, community representatives) to align design solutions with institutional needs.
Iterated on prototypes based on feedback, focusing on optimizing navigation, improving the onboarding experience, and simplifying complex features like schedule management.
Integrated accessibility testing to ensure compliance with WCAG standards, addressing the needs of users with disabilities.
Wireframing
Wireframe and workflow decisions
Web-App wireframes
Web-App wireframes
High-Fidelity Wireframe
Prototype
Visual Design & Branding
Designed a comprehensive brand identity system, ensuring visual consistency across all touchpoints, including the app, website, and marketing materials.
Created multiple logo concepts and tested them with target users to determine the most resonant and impactful design.
Developed UI components based on a scalable design system, ensuring reusable and adaptable elements for future updates.
Emphasized trust and safety through design choices, such as color psychology, typographic clarity, and the use of approachable imagery and icons.
Implemented a responsive design approach, optimizing the user experience for various screen sizes and devices.
Final logo sketches
Collaboration and Development
Led the design efforts as the Design Lead, ensuring alignment between user needs, business goals, and technical constraints throughout the project lifecycle.
Collaborated closely with developers to translate high-fidelity designs into functional features, ensuring pixel-perfect implementation.
Conducted regular design handoff meetings, providing detailed documentation, specs, and interactive prototypes for seamless development.
Facilitated cross-functional collaboration with product managers, developers, and QA teams, maintaining a clear and open communication channel to address challenges effectively.
Championed agile methodologies, participating in sprint planning and retrospectives to adapt designs based on iterative feedback and evolving requirements.
Partnered with stakeholders to align on project objectives and milestones, ensuring the delivery of a cohesive and impactful product.
Outcome & Feedback
Website & Social Media Redesign: Transformed the company’s website and social platforms, creating a cohesive and modern digital identity that boosted user engagement by 71%.
Brand Identity System: Designed a unique logo and a complete brand identity system, including colors and typography, to enhance brand recognition and market positioning.
Web Application: Spearheaded the end-to-end design and development of a web application, delivering intuitive interfaces and seamless user experiences that improved user satisfaction and adoption.
Mobile App Enhancements: Led a cross-functional team of designers and developers to address design challenges in the mobile carpool app, delivering innovative solutions that enhanced usability and retention.
"Neel has been an outstanding Design Lead, driving a 71% increase in user engagement through a redesigned website, cohesive brand identity, and intuitive app interfaces. Their leadership and user-first approach resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, significantly improving satisfaction and retention. A true game-changer for Carpool.School."
Krishnanand Kamath
CEO & Founder
"The Carpool.School app has been a lifesaver for our family! Scheduling carpools is so easy now, and the real-time updates give me peace of mind. The design is simple yet effective, making it effortless to navigate. It’s clear that the team truly understands the needs of busy parents. I can’t imagine managing school pickups and drop-offs without it anymore!"
Kaitlyn
Parent and user
Photo Archives
Summary
This project showcased the impact of thoughtful design and collaboration. By addressing the specific needs of parents, school communities, and the challenges of school transportation in the USA, the modernized digital presence, cohesive brand identity, and improved app experiences positioned Carpool.School as a leader in its space, significantly boosting engagement and satisfaction among its users.
More work this way
Think I’d be a good fit for your team or project? Let’s connect.
Neel Akolkar
Senior Software Engineer & UX Designer. Currently crafting experiences at Capgemini.
© designed & built by NEEL AKOLKAR
made in framer – 2025
Carpool . School
Where school buses can't, carpool can.
About
Carpool.School is a startup based out of Cary, NC developed by Krishnanand Kamath after he and his wife struggled with driving their two kids in different directions for hours every day. What started as a personal mission soon turned into Carpool.School - a platform dedicated to making coordinated school carpooling easy and accessible for communities nationwide. At the core, the startup is committed to helping other families overcome the universal struggle of getting kids to and from school safely.
ROLE
Design Lead
TIMELINE
7 Months
LOCATION
Cary, USA (Remote)
71%
User Engagement
18%
App Retention
Challenge & Goal
The challenge was to address the systemic issues in school transportation, such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting times, and limited options, while also tackling the complexities of coordinating safe and reliable carpooling for parents and kids. Parents often face stress managing schedules and trust concerns, while kids experience disruptions in their routines, impacting their participation in activities and overall well-being. The goal was to design a user-friendly platform with a modernized brand identity, an intuitive website, and app interfaces that simplify carpooling, ensure safety and reliability for kids, and build trust and collaboration within school communities.
Research
To deliver a truly user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research involving:
Parents: Understanding their daily challenges in managing school pick-ups, drop-offs, and coordinating schedules with other parents. We explored their pain points with existing carpooling solutions and their expectations for a streamlined, reliable system.
School Kids: Gathering insights into their preferences and needs to ensure the app and branding appealed to them indirectly while focusing on their safety and convenience.
Activities & Logistics: Mapping the after-school activities and complex scheduling needs that required flexible and real-time solutions for carpooling.
USA School Problems: Diving into systemic issues such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting lines, and limited transportation options to identify how the app could alleviate these pain points.
Carpooling Needs: Studying trends and patterns in carpooling behavior, including the importance of trust, reliability, and ease of use, while ensuring compliance with school policies and safety protocols.
Conducted interviews and surveys with parents, school staff, and students to understand their daily challenges, motivations, and expectations.
Analyzed user behavior, needs, and pain points to identify patterns and segment the audience into meaningful groups.
Developed detailed personas representing key user types, including their goals, frustrations, and decision-making factors.
Included contextual information such as schedules, carpooling habits, and safety concerns to create realistic and actionable personas.
Used personas to guide design decisions, ensuring solutions were user-centered and aligned with real-world needs.
Ideation & Concept Development
To deliver a truly user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research involving:
Parents: Understanding their daily challenges in managing school pick-ups, drop-offs, and coordinating schedules with other parents. We explored their pain points with existing carpooling solutions and their expectations for a streamlined, reliable system.
School Kids: Gathering insights into their preferences and needs to ensure the app and branding appealed to them indirectly while focusing on their safety and convenience.
Activities & Logistics: Mapping the after-school activities and complex scheduling needs that required flexible and real-time solutions for carpooling.
USA School Problems: Diving into systemic issues such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting lines, and limited transportation options to identify how the app could alleviate these pain points.
Carpooling Needs: Studying trends and patterns in carpooling behavior, including the importance of trust, reliability, and ease of use, while ensuring compliance with school policies and safety protocols.
Information Architecture
Information Architecture
Mapped detailed user journeys to visualize how parents and kids interact with the system across different touchpoints, ensuring seamless user experiences.
Wireframing
High-Fidelity Wireframe
Prototype
User Journey Map structure used for user research
Prototyping and Wireframes
Built interactive prototypes for both web and mobile platforms using tools like Figma to simulate user interactions and flows.
Organized usability testing sessions with a diverse group of parents, including working parents and those with multiple kids, to gather comprehensive feedback.
Facilitated feedback sessions with stakeholders (school administrators, community representatives) to align design solutions with institutional needs.
Iterated on prototypes based on feedback, focusing on optimizing navigation, improving the onboarding experience, and simplifying complex features like schedule management.
Integrated accessibility testing to ensure compliance with WCAG standards, addressing the needs of users with disabilities.
Visual Design & Branding
Designed a comprehensive brand identity system, ensuring visual consistency across all touchpoints, including the app, website, and marketing materials.
Created multiple logo concepts and tested them with target users to determine the most resonant and impactful design.
Developed UI components based on a scalable design system, ensuring reusable and adaptable elements for future updates.
Emphasized trust and safety through design choices, such as color psychology, typographic clarity, and the use of approachable imagery and icons.
Implemented a responsive design approach, optimizing the user experience for various screen sizes and devices.
Final logo sketches
Collaboration and Development
Led the design efforts as the Design Lead, ensuring alignment between user needs, business goals, and technical constraints throughout the project lifecycle.
Collaborated closely with developers to translate high-fidelity designs into functional features, ensuring pixel-perfect implementation.
Conducted regular design handoff meetings, providing detailed documentation, specs, and interactive prototypes for seamless development.
Facilitated cross-functional collaboration with product managers, developers, and QA teams, maintaining a clear and open communication channel to address challenges effectively.
Championed agile methodologies, participating in sprint planning and retrospectives to adapt designs based on iterative feedback and evolving requirements.
Partnered with stakeholders to align on project objectives and milestones, ensuring the delivery of a cohesive and impactful product.
Outcome & Feedback
Website & Social Media Redesign: Transformed the company’s website and social platforms, creating a cohesive and modern digital identity that boosted user engagement by 71%.
Brand Identity System: Designed a unique logo and a complete brand identity system, including colors and typography, to enhance brand recognition and market positioning.
Web Application: Spearheaded the end-to-end design and development of a web application, delivering intuitive interfaces and seamless user experiences that improved user satisfaction and adoption.
Mobile App Enhancements: Led a cross-functional team of designers and developers to address design challenges in the mobile carpool app, delivering innovative solutions that enhanced usability and retention.
"Neel has been an outstanding Design Lead, driving a 71% increase in user engagement through a redesigned website, cohesive brand identity, and intuitive app interfaces. Their leadership and user-first approach resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, significantly improving satisfaction and retention. A true game-changer for Carpool.School."
Krishnanand Kamath
CEO & Founder
"The Carpool.School app has been a lifesaver for our family! Scheduling carpools is so easy now, and the real-time updates give me peace of mind. The design is simple yet effective, making it effortless to navigate. It’s clear that the team truly understands the needs of busy parents. I can’t imagine managing school pickups and drop-offs without it anymore!"
Kaitlyn
Parent and user
Photo Archives
Summary
Carpool.School project has made me learn the impact of thoughtful design and collaboration. By addressing the specific needs of parents, school communities, and the challenges of school transportation in the USA, the modernized digital presence, cohesive brand identity, and improved app experiences positioned Carpool.School as a leader in its space, significantly boosting engagement and satisfaction among its users.
More work this way
Think I’d be a good fit for your team or project? Let’s connect.
Neel Akolkar
Senior Software Engineer & UX Designer. Currently crafting experiences at Capgemini.
© designed & built by NEEL AKOLKAR
made in framer – 2025
Think I’d be a good fit for your team or project? Let’s connect.
Neel Akolkar
Senior Software Engineer & UX Designer. Currently crafting experiences at Capgemini.
© designed & built by NEEL AKOLKAR
made in framer – 2025
neelakolkar2001@gmail.com
Email copied!
neelakolkar2001@gmail.com
Email copied!
Carpool . School
Where school buses can't, carpool can.
About
Carpool.School is a startup based out of Cary, NC developed by Krishnanand Kamath after he and his wife struggled with driving their two kids in different directions for hours every day. What started as a personal mission soon turned into Carpool.School - a platform dedicated to making coordinated school carpooling easy and accessible for communities nationwide. At the core, the startup is committed to helping other families overcome the universal struggle of getting kids to and from school safely.
ROLE
Design Lead
TIMELINE
7 Months
LOCATION
Cary, USA (Remote)
71%
User Engagement
18%
App Retention
Challenge & Goal
The challenge was to address the systemic issues in school transportation, such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting times, and limited options, while also tackling the complexities of coordinating safe and reliable carpooling for parents and kids. Parents often face stress managing schedules and trust concerns, while kids experience disruptions in their routines, impacting their participation in activities and overall well-being. The goal was to design a user-friendly platform with a modernized brand identity, an intuitive website, and app interfaces that simplify carpooling, ensure safety and reliability for kids, and build trust and collaboration within school communities.
Research
To deliver a truly user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research involving:
Parents: Understanding their daily challenges in managing school pick-ups, drop-offs, and coordinating schedules with other parents. We explored their pain points with existing carpooling solutions and their expectations for a streamlined, reliable system.
School Kids: Gathering insights into their preferences and needs to ensure the app and branding appealed to them indirectly while focusing on their safety and convenience.
Activities & Logistics: Mapping the after-school activities and complex scheduling needs that required flexible and real-time solutions for carpooling.
USA School Problems: Diving into systemic issues such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting lines, and limited transportation options to identify how the app could alleviate these pain points.
Carpooling Needs: Studying trends and patterns in carpooling behavior, including the importance of trust, reliability, and ease of use, while ensuring compliance with school policies and safety protocols.
Conducted interviews and surveys with parents, school staff, and students to understand their daily challenges, motivations, and expectations.
Analyzed user behavior, needs, and pain points to identify patterns and segment the audience into meaningful groups.
Developed detailed personas representing key user types, including their goals, frustrations, and decision-making factors.
Included contextual information such as schedules, carpooling habits, and safety concerns to create realistic and actionable personas.
Used personas to guide design decisions, ensuring solutions were user-centered and aligned with real-world needs.
Ideation & Concept Development
To deliver a truly user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research involving:
Parents: Understanding their daily challenges in managing school pick-ups, drop-offs, and coordinating schedules with other parents. We explored their pain points with existing carpooling solutions and their expectations for a streamlined, reliable system.
School Kids: Gathering insights into their preferences and needs to ensure the app and branding appealed to them indirectly while focusing on their safety and convenience.
Activities & Logistics: Mapping the after-school activities and complex scheduling needs that required flexible and real-time solutions for carpooling.
USA School Problems: Diving into systemic issues such as overcrowded drop-off zones, long waiting lines, and limited transportation options to identify how the app could alleviate these pain points.
Carpooling Needs: Studying trends and patterns in carpooling behavior, including the importance of trust, reliability, and ease of use, while ensuring compliance with school policies and safety protocols.
Information Architecture
Information Architecture
Wireframing
High-Fidelity Wireframe
Prototyping and Wireframes
Built interactive prototypes for both web and mobile platforms using tools like Figma to simulate user interactions and flows.
Organized usability testing sessions with a diverse group of parents, including working parents and those with multiple kids, to gather comprehensive feedback.
Facilitated feedback sessions with stakeholders (school administrators, community representatives) to align design solutions with institutional needs.
Iterated on prototypes based on feedback, focusing on optimizing navigation, improving the onboarding experience, and simplifying complex features like schedule management.
Integrated accessibility testing to ensure compliance with WCAG standards, addressing the needs of users with disabilities.
Prototype
User Journey Map structure used for user research
Mapped detailed user journeys to visualize how parents and kids interact with the system across different touchpoints, ensuring seamless user experiences.
Visual Design & Branding
Designed a comprehensive brand identity system, ensuring visual consistency across all touchpoints, including the app, website, and marketing materials.
Created multiple logo concepts and tested them with target users to determine the most resonant and impactful design.
Developed UI components based on a scalable design system, ensuring reusable and adaptable elements for future updates.
Emphasized trust and safety through design choices, such as color psychology, typographic clarity, and the use of approachable imagery and icons.
Implemented a responsive design approach, optimizing the user experience for various screen sizes and devices.
Final logo sketches
Collaboration and Development
Led the design efforts as the Design Lead, ensuring alignment between user needs, business goals, and technical constraints throughout the project lifecycle.
Collaborated closely with developers to translate high-fidelity designs into functional features, ensuring pixel-perfect implementation.
Conducted regular design handoff meetings, providing detailed documentation, specs, and interactive prototypes for seamless development.
Facilitated cross-functional collaboration with product managers, developers, and QA teams, maintaining a clear and open communication channel to address challenges effectively.
Championed agile methodologies, participating in sprint planning and retrospectives to adapt designs based on iterative feedback and evolving requirements.
Partnered with stakeholders to align on project objectives and milestones, ensuring the delivery of a cohesive and impactful product.
Outcome & Feedback
Website & Social Media Redesign: Transformed the company’s website and social platforms, creating a cohesive and modern digital identity that boosted user engagement by 71%.
Brand Identity System: Designed a unique logo and a complete brand identity system, including colors and typography, to enhance brand recognition and market positioning.
Web Application: Spearheaded the end-to-end design and development of a web application, delivering intuitive interfaces and seamless user experiences that improved user satisfaction and adoption.
Mobile App Enhancements: Led a cross-functional team of designers and developers to address design challenges in the mobile carpool app, delivering innovative solutions that enhanced usability and retention.
"Neel has been an outstanding Design Lead, driving a 71% increase in user engagement through a redesigned website, cohesive brand identity, and intuitive app interfaces. Their leadership and user-first approach resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, significantly improving satisfaction and retention. A true game-changer for Carpool.School."
Krishnanand Kamath
CEO & Founder
"The Carpool.School app has been a lifesaver for our family! Scheduling carpools is so easy now, and the real-time updates give me peace of mind. The design is simple yet effective, making it effortless to navigate. It’s clear that the team truly understands the needs of busy parents. I can’t imagine managing school pickups and drop-offs without it anymore!"
Kaitlyn
Parent and user
Photo Archives
Summary
This project showcased the impact of thoughtful design and collaboration. By addressing the specific needs of parents, school communities, and the challenges of school transportation in the USA, the modernized digital presence, cohesive brand identity, and improved app experiences positioned Carpool.School as a leader in its space, significantly boosting engagement and satisfaction among its users.
More work this way
Think I’d be a good fit for your team or project? Let’s connect.
Neel Akolkar
Senior Software Engineer & UX Designer. Currently crafting experiences at Capgemini.
© designed & built by NEEL AKOLKAR
made in framer – 2025
Think I’d be a good fit for your team or project? Let’s connect.
Neel Akolkar
Senior Software Engineer & UX Designer. Currently crafting experiences at Capgemini.
© designed & built by NEEL AKOLKAR
made in framer – 2025
neelakolkar2001@gmail.com
Email copied!
neelakolkar2001@gmail.com
Email copied!