Getting around Baghdad’s public transport system feels like solving a puzzle without all the pieces. There are no fixed bus stops or timetables, and information is mostly shared by word of mouth. As a result, people rely on private cars and taxis, making public transit an underused option.

Transit Lab is Iraq’s first bilingual transit app, designed to change that. This case study walks you through how we tackled the challenge, making public transport more accessible and user-friendly.

👩🏻‍💻🧑🏼‍💻👨🏽‍💻 Team:

Collaborated with a team of developers, a senior designer, and the founder.

4 months to launch, with iterations that continue to this day.

Public transport in Baghdad is a mystery:

No centralized source for routes or schedules

Tourists struggle due to language barriers

This forces many to depend on cars, worsening traffic and limiting access to affordable transportation.

We aimed to increase the percentage of users who report increased reliance on public transport after using the app. This would be measured through user feedback.

Transit Lab provides clear, up-to-date transit information, allowing users to:

With limited time and resources, I turned to secondary research. I studied similar apps, analyzed public transport systems in comparable cities, and brainstormed with team members in Baghdad. This approach allowed us to design a practical and user-friendly solution despite constraints.

🚍 Lack of information: Users struggle to find reliable information.

📍 No fixed stops/timetables: This creates uncertainty and confusion for users.

🚗 Over-reliance on cars: To avoid the chaos of public transport, people rely on cars creating traffic congestion and environmental strain.

🗣 Language barriers: Local guidance is needed for tourists and people who don't speak Arabic.

We addressed these pain points in our brainstorming sessions by creating:&nbsp;

🚍 A centralized source for routes and schedules

📍 Estimated schedules and user-reported updates

🚗 A user-friendly alternative to encourage public transit use

🗣 Bilingual support in Arabic and English

We prioritized simplicity, knowing some users might have limited smartphone experience.

🔹 Wireframing &amp; Prototyping: I started with sketches and then moved to Figma, iterating based on team feedback.

🔹 Visual Design: Clean interface, readable typography, intuitive icons, and a minimalistic layout for easy navigation.

🔹 Testing &amp; Refinement: Interactive prototypes were tested internally, leading to multiple refinements before development.

🚧 No official transit data: We relied on crowdsourced reports while working to collaborate with local authorities.

📲 Adapting to constant changes: Users can report route updates, keeping information relevant.

🚀 The English version of Transit Lab is live! This&nbsp;marked a big step toward making public transportation in Baghdad more accessible.

📊 Impact will be measured through user feedback, focusing on increased public transit use. The accuracy will increase with time as more and more users report inconsistencies.

🔄 Continuous updates will improve accuracy and usability over time.&nbsp;Continuous iterations and updates will help Transit Lab evolve alongside its users’ needs and create a lasting solution for Baghdad’s urban mobility challenges.

In the long term, the impact of Transit Lab will be measured through user research. Our main KPI focuses on increasing the percentage of users who rely more on public transport after using the app.

Working on Transit Lab was an incredible learning experience that challenged me to think creatively and adapt quickly.&nbsp;

✨ Creativity thrives under constraints – Limited resources pushed us to find alternative research methods.&nbsp;I learned to use secondary research, open-source solutions, and informal feedback to design a helpful app.

✨ Iteration is key – Launching an MVP allowed us to improve based on real-world feedback.

✨ User collaboration matters – Crowdsourced data ensures accuracy and relevance.

If I could do things differently next time, I would advocate for more time and resources to conduct thorough user research early on. Gaining deeper insights from users would help uncover hidden pain points and create even more user-centric solutions.

This project was a journey of creative problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration, showing that even. Although it is too early to assess the full impact, its potential to improve urban mobility is immense. I’m excited to see how Transit Lab evolves with user feedback and ongoing improvements, and I look forward to applying the lessons learned here to future projects that make a real difference.

Interested in user-friendly, accessible design? Let’s chat! 😊

Find me on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hajar-shakir/">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.behance.net/hajarshakir1">Behance</a>

Improving public transport accessibility in Baghdad through a user-friendly mobile application.

How I Designed Iraq’s First Public Transport App: From Chaos to Clarity

Created a CRM for a pediatric occupational therapy clinic

• Designed an intuitive app for patients, enabling appointment scheduling, therapy plan access, and secure payments.

• Created a web-based CRM for the clinician to manage appointments and therapy plans.

• Developed features for at-home therapy resources, improving clinic efficiency and user experience.

• Designed Transit Lab, Baghdad’s first public transportation app, to simplify urban mobility by providing route, schedule, and stop information in both Arabic and English.

• Collaborated with a designer and developers to deliver an intuitive solution for navigating an informal transit system, addressing key user pain points.

Have you ever been to a new country but forgot to buy a ticket to a major attraction? Or worse, you didn't know how because the website was only in the local language? Or maybe you already had all the tickets but kept losing track of them? Those are exactly the problems I set out to solve when I designed Muse.

Finding and booking cultural events is often frustrating due to scattered ticketing, language barriers, and accessibility concerns. Muse. simplifies this by offering a centralized platform to discover events, book tickets, and access accessibility details—all in one app.

I conducted interviews with six users, including individuals with disabilities, to understand their struggles.

<b>Main Issues:</b>
❌ Hard-to-find events
❌ Scattered ticketing process
❌ Language barriers
❌ Accessibility uncertainty

Luna finds booking frustrating due to multiple platforms, language issues, and repeated payment entries.

🎯 Her goal? A harmonious way to book, track, and access tickets in one place.

Andre, a wheelchair user, often discovers too late that venues are inaccessible.

🎯 His goal? Reliable accessibility information before booking.

✅ Paper &amp; Digital Wireframes to refine layouts

✅ Lo-Fi Prototype for testing core flows

🎨 Accessible Design – Readable typography, WCAG-compliant colors.

🌎 Multi-Language Support – Started with English &amp; Spanish.

♿ Accessibility Features – Venue accessibility details in event descriptions.

A second usability study confirmed improvements and suggested:

✔️ Displaying ticket availability on the calendar

🌟 User Research Drives Design – Insights shaped every decision.

🌟 Iteration Matters – Refinements made the app more user-friendly.

🌟 Problem-Solving is Essential – Addressing roadblocks strengthened my skills.

🌟 Inclusive Design is Crucial – Accessibility features improved usability for all.

About a year after finishing this project, I returned to see my progress, and I can already feel the improvement in only 1 year. What I'd do differently now:

✅ Research, then run the findings with other people to see different perspectives.

✅ Get feedback early on and constantly.

✅ Use a design system, or create one using already-made components. Designing them from scratch takes too much time and usually doesn't look as professional and sleek.

✅ Don't be scared to use AI, as long as you use it well and take inspiration from it.

✅ Use the correct prompt to get good results.

Hearing a user during testing say, “This app would make outings so much easier,” validated my work. Muse. isn’t just about booking, it’s about making culture accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

This is where locals and tourists can find, book, and manage tickets to cultural events, museums, and galleries.

How I Designed Iraq’s First Public Transport App: From Chaos to Clarity

Hajar Shakir