Valopilkku
Taking the Finnish taxi industry to the digital age
Client
Industry
Platforms
Services
One app. Thousands of taxis. Anytime, everywhere in Finland.
In 2014, The Finnish Taxi Owners Federation begun a large development project with us. The goal was ambitious: to update the taxi services in Finland to the new age.
The result of this project was Valopilkku, a nation-wide service that makes ordering a taxi with your smartphone easy and convenient.
The familiar taxi, smoother than ever
The app automatically searches for the location of the user's device. Thus, in most cases ordering a taxi is a matter of tapping one button.
The status of the order, as well as the location of the taxi is updated in real time. The user can also pre-order a car and leave a rating after the ride has ended.
Simple UI, complex back-end
There are a handful of taxi ordering centres in Finland, each with their unique system structure. Valopilkku seamlessly communicates with every one of them. Moreover, the back-end can reliably handle even the heaviest amounts of traffic.
Even though the back-end is complex, the user experience is extremely straightforward. No unnecessary menus or separate confirmation screens: just a delightfully simple UI that leaves no room for confusion.
Just ask them
From the get-go, the users were encouraged to share their experiences with the service in the social media and offer their views on how it should be developed further.
The message was that the development would not be done behind closed doors – only by listening to the end users would we be able to make the app reach its full potential.
Results
Both the media coverage and user feedback has been enthusiastic. At the time of writing, over 2,5 million orders have been made with Valopilkku by some 250 000 users.
The average review score for the rides ordered with Valopilkku has stayed quite consistently at 4.5/5. Moreover, the reviews have proved to be a valuable source of information in improving not only the app itself, but the taxi services in general.
Jouni MutanenDepartment HeadThe Finnish Taxi Owners Federation"From the very beginning, I was in awe of Taiste's fresh and user-centered approach to designing Valopilkku's user interface. At the heart of the design process, there has been the end users and their hopes and needs concerning the taxi ride. The way Taiste implemented the apps and built the back-end were truly impressive. The customers have really liked the service and the number of downloads have been on a steady rise. We will definitely continue working with Taiste on the project.
Oscar SalonahoManaging DirectorTaiste"The co-operation between all parties has been excellent, and it has been really interesting to be a part of updating the Finnish taxi to the age of mobile. The app was built to very high quality standards. In addition, it integrates to many data sources and ordering systems. I'm eagerly awaiting for all the challenges and possibilities the future holds!
