QORO - Intercity Depot Management System
Transforming bus depot management with real-time insights, automation, and human-centered design.
Project Overview
This project reimagines public bus depot operations through a real-time browser-based SaaS application. It enables depot managers to monitor fleet health, assign crew efficiently, schedule maintenance, track routes and access financial data all in one system. Built with scalability in mind, the system ensures better uptime, reduced operational friction and actionable insights for smoother transit operations across India.
Industry
Public Transport / Government
Category
SaaS, Fleet Management
User
Depot Manager (Mid-level Ops Lead)
Year
2024
Project Goals
Focusing on real-time visibility, smooth coordination and operational efficiency.
Operational Ease:
Digitize and centralize bus tracking, crew assignment and maintenance workflows.
Better Decision-Making:
Get live KPIs on routes, fleet status, delays, fuel usage, and alerts, accessible from desktop or tablet.
Reduced Downtime:
Predict and plan service issues before they affect trips.
Human-Centered Design:
Designed for ease-of-use by government staff with limited digital exposure.
About the Process
Revamping a government bus depot’s daily operations required a deep understanding of both logistics and human behavior. We followed the Double Diamond design process to ensure every decision was grounded in user needs, system constraints, and operational efficiency.
Our process involved field interviews with depot staff, analysis of current workflows, and multiple rounds of wireframes and iterative testing. The result is a smooth, accessible, and real-time dashboard that helps depot managers make faster, smarter decisions.
01 Discover
In this phase, we visited the Adyar MTC depot to observe live operations, document challenges, and conduct interviews with Senthil (Depot Manager) and crew members. We captured their goals, pain points, and environment-specific needs.
02 Define
We synthesized findings into key problem areas: lack of live visibility, scattered crew assignment data, reactive maintenance and no central dashboard. These insights formed the foundation for our design direction.
03 Develop
We ideated solutions through sketches and low-fidelity wireframes. Using insights from the depot context, we designed modules like trip tracking, crew management, alert systems and finance reports all optimized for desktop and tablet use.
04 Deliver
We built high-fidelity mockups and an interactive prototype tested with representative users. Feedback loops helped us polish the UI for better clarity, visual hierarchy, and quick-action workflows tailored for government use.
Qualitative Research
Through interviews with an individual involved in the daily operations of the bus depot we gained valuable insights into his frustrations, motivations, and needs.
User Persona
Senthil Kumar
Depot Manager, MTC Adyar
Experience
12+ years managing bus fleets, scheduling and maintenance
Responsibilities
Overseeing daily depot operations, assigning buses and crew to routes, ensuring timely maintenance, coordinating with workshop teams
“I need a system that gives me a clear overview of all buses, routes and staff without wasting time flipping through papers or chasing updates.”
Challenges
Manual Coordination – Relies on phone calls and handwritten logs
No Live Visibility – Can’t track buses once they leave depot
Crew Confusion – Last-minute reassignments and absenteeism cause delays
Disconnected Data – Maintenance, fuel and collections are in silos
Needs
Real-Time Bus Tracking – Location, speed, and route updates
Crew Assignment Clarity – View who's available or on leave
Maintenance Alerts – Know which buses are due or under service
Simple Dashboards – Key numbers at a glance, accessible on desktop & tablet
Goals & Objectives
Performance Reports – Route efficiency, crew attendance, trip count
Preventive Maintenance – Predict issues before they cause delays
Crew Scheduling – Plan shifts and backups with fewer conflicts
Real-Time Alerts – Be notified of breakdowns or deviations instantly
Empathy Mapping
Designing a public transport management interface requires a deep understanding of operational workflows, user behavior, and industry constraints. This project began with field research, followed by iterative wireframing and prototyping, validated through scenario-based testing with depot staff.
Affinity Mapping
Affinity mapping is a collaborative technique where ideas or data points are grouped based on common themes or relationships, fostering organized insights and decision-making through visual clustering.
01. Crew Management
Changing schedule according to peak hours
Daily counseling to underperforming crew
Manages the leaves of the staff members (through an app)
Monitors all the duties of drivers and TC
No. of trips (monitoring and allotting OTs)
Cannot afford to give many leaves
Crew will take uninformed leaves
Leave data should be compiled by 5.00pm before day
Wants to reduce uninformed leave
Overloaded information
02. Bus Tracking
Track of daily bus activities
No. of trips (monitoring and allotting OTs)Drivers tend to divert route
He wants proper value of KM PL (it would be better to have individual bus-wise value)
Authorities might not give access to real-time location of buses
Central GPS tracking system to other company
Contacting drivers if any issue
Drivers might be lying about detour
04. Finance
Approves daily money collection
Trust the cash counter department
Average collection might change according to driver
03. Maintenance
Keeping track of maintenance buses
Diesel management everyday
Drivers don't check for the bus condition
Buses are very old
Maintenance check for buses is scheduled in months before
05. Communication
Updating authorities about their queries
Contacting the drivers if any issue
Giving report to higher authorities
Higher authorities should approve the leave first
Daily schedule is given by central authorities
MTC has latest technology
Central team also doesn’t know the problem, they just raise a query to us
Overloaded with information
If GPS tracker is given to each depot it will become independent
06. Reallocation
Spare crew allocation is tough
Reroute and reallocate the crew in cases of shortage or breakdown
Experience matters to allocate crews
Managing intercity buses is tough
Algorithm helps in rescheduling and reallocating
Information Architecture
Making the journey easier
Logo and Style Design
This design system ensures both visual and functional consistency across the entire depot management platform. Every component from dashboards to alerts has been thoughtfully crafted to enhance clarity, speed, and accessibility, supporting users who operate in high-responsibility, time-sensitive environments.
Design System
MVP Designs
Other projects
