01The Problem
A decade of accumulated debt.
By 2025, OLA's home screen carried ten years of layered product decisions — every new service, banner, and feature added without questioning what the screen was for.
It looked busy. Felt overwhelming. And was quietly losing users to Uber.
What was wrong
- Visual identity unchanged for ~10 years
- Map consumed 50% of viewport height
- Enter Destination buried below promotions
- Duplicate location — header AND map
- Food, Parcel, Kruti competing with booking
- 5-tab nav — only Home was ever used
- Users switching to Uber for simplicity
The opportunity
- Make booking the dominant, unmissable action
- Fresh identity that feels modern & trustworthy
- Reduce time-to-book with smarter layout
- Serve daily commuters AND casual users
- Future-proof for metro, flights, and EV
- Win back users lost to competitors
“Users aren't leaving because OLA is worse. They leave because figuring out where to tap feels like work.”
Before / After
Ten years of friction, in two screens.
Tap to switch — the change isn't cosmetic. The job-to-be-done was completely re-stacked.
The old home screen
Map dominates. Booking competes with food promos. A 5-tab nav nobody uses.
- Map: 50% of viewport
- ED bar buried below banners
- Services equal weight as booking
- 5 tabs, only 1 used