for KONA Mobility
KONA Mobility is a subsidiary of KONA I, operating a daily average of 7,000 taxi call requests. The company operates Busan's largest taxi platform with over 90% (2,000+) of regional taxis enrolled, along with the Incheon e-taxi service (20,000+ individual and corporate taxi subscribers), and the Cheonan Haengbok Kollektaxi service launched in May 2023.
As the platform expanded into new regions, a structural tension emerged: the more markets the service entered, the more internal management points ballooned, and users had to download a new app for every new region they visited. A Mobile UX team of 5 (planners and designers) was assembled to integrate services and improve user experience as a strategic goal.
The key performance metric is dispatch success rate. Over 2021–2022, internal data (MAU, call conversion rate, N-day retention, call count, new user acquisition) was analyzed. The data showed that the dispatch success rate was hard to improve significantly despite strategies including easy signup, regional expansion, and partner service launches.
"If we increase new user acquisition through a new Value Proposition built on a differentiated experience, we can solve the problem."
8 users aged 20s–40s who use taxis a minimum of 4 times per month were selected for 1:1 interviews. Rising taxi fares were causing behavioral shifts across all user types. From late-night outings to daytime errands, users were actively rethinking whether to use taxis at all. The common thread was price anxiety, not a service quality problem.
Analyzed UX from TADA, i.M, Kakao T, and Uber. All competitors positioned around driver-passenger transaction efficiency. The positioning opportunity: none offered a "friend to friend" warmth, a human connection beyond the service transaction.
All competitors positioned around the driver-passenger transaction. The opportunity was human connection: not just a faster ride, but a warmer one.
Other services: (Driver and Passenger)
KONA Mobility: (Friend and Friend)
The brand was named COSMOS, using Pretendard as the primary typeface. The graphic language uses organic blob shapes with gradient fills. The symbol logic reads as "Joy + Joy = Community".
Iconography is built on Korean character structural forms applied as the foundation for navigation and UI elements throughout the app.
The interface was built around conversation and dialogue. Speech bubble and capsule-shaped Graphic Motifs are used throughout to directly convey the Core Value. Key screens include the main map view with a chat-bubble prompt, real-time matching, driver profile, and payment flow.
The payment experience was designed to leverage localized infrastructure including regional e-payment systems, government subsidies, and coupons, a uniquely Korean payment UX that sets KONA Mobility apart from national competitors.
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