Overview
Aurion is a premium car rental mobile app designed to provide seamless, transparent, and engaging access to a curated selection of high-end, cutting-edge, and concept vehicles. It enables users to explore, book, and manage rentals through a fluid and cohesive digital experience.
The project aims to balance business efficiency with emotional appeal, transforming an often complex process into a clear, controlled, and trust-driven journey. Aurion prioritizes clarity, user control, and confidence from discovery through trip management. Beyond its core functionality, Aurion introduces a forward-looking dimension through Future Vision Guide, positioning the platform not only as a rental service but as a gateway to automotive innovation and future design.
Role
UX Research · UX/UI Design · Visual Design · Design System · Prototyping · Branding · Illustration
Timeframe
Type
Tools
Context
The premium car rental market has grown in recent years, driven by interest in exclusive experiences, temporary access over ownership, and the appeal of high-end and concept vehicles. However, the digital experience surrounding these services does not always reflect that premium character.
Many platforms still rely on fragmented, unclear, or overly transactional interfaces, creating a gap between the promise of exclusivity and the reality of the rental process. In a context where expectations around digital services continue to rise, the quality of the experience becomes as important as the product itself.
Problem
Although premium car rental promises freedom, status, and performance, the user experience often introduces friction and uncertainty. Unclear pricing structures, complex booking processes, and poorly structured flows weaken user trust at critical moments.
In addition, the relationship with the customer is often limited to the isolated moment of the transaction, offering little continuity, context, or value beyond the rental itself. This lack of ongoing engagement reduces the sense of control, diminishes the overall experience, and misses the opportunity to build a more lasting relationship with the user.
Project Goal
Aurion aims to reframe the premium car rental experience through a digital product that combines clarity, control, and trust, making this type of service more accessible and easier to understand for users.
The goal is to simplify the entire journey, from exploration to post-booking management, while maintaining an aspirational and coherent tone.
Beyond the one-time act of renting a vehicle, Aurion seeks to build an ongoing relationship with users, keeping them informed, engaged, and connected to the evolving world of automotive design and innovation.
Through Future Vision Guide, the platform is conceived not only as a rental service, but also as a reference space for discovering new models, concepts, and trends within the experience itself.
Comodín
When the experience is limited to the transaction, luxury becomes circumstantial.
Research Overview
The research phase combined desk research, observation of the premium car rental market, and a comparative analysis of digital platforms within the automotive sector. The goal was to understand how users perceive these services, which factors influence trust, and how a sense of exclusivity is built beyond the vehicle itself.
The research focused particularly on the pre-transaction experience: exploration, comparison, decision-making, and service comprehension. The findings revealed a recurring gap between the aspirational promise of premium rental services and the reality of many digital experiences, as well as opportunities to strengthen clarity, control, and long-term relationships with users.
Overview of current service and experience models within the premium car rental market.
Research Insights
Trust before the transaction
In premium car rental, trust is built during exploration, not at the moment of payment. Early clarity and service coherence directly influence the final decision.
Cognitive overload in pricing
Poorly structured pricing, add-ons, and conditions create friction and mental fatigue. When users are forced to calculate too much, the experience loses fluidity and perceived value.
Aspirational gap
Guidance without loss of control
Users value expert guidance but reject rigid or prescriptive flows. They seek context and reassurance without sacrificing autonomy or personal control.
Beyond availability
Interest goes beyond immediate availability. Innovation, future models, and market evolution strengthen brand connection and extend the value of the experience.
User Personas
These personas reflect two complementary approaches to premium car rental: performance-driven efficiency and experience-driven refinement.
Points of View
These points of view synthesize the main tensions identified during the research and help define clear design opportunities centered on the premium car rental experience.
1
Users who rent premium vehicles need a clear and reassuring digital experience, because a lack of transparency around pricing, availability, and conditions creates distrust before starting the booking process.
2
Time-constrained users need to manage premium rentals efficiently, because fragmented processes and multi-channel management slow down the experience and reduce its perceived value.
3
Experience-driven users need clear guidance when choosing a premium vehicle, because too many options without context lead to fatigue and weaken the sense of luxury.
4
Premium mobility users need an ongoing relationship with the service, because staying connected to new models and trends strengthens long-term engagement with the brand.
How Might We
These statements translate the identified points of view into clear design opportunities for the Aurion experience.
1
How might we build user trust from the very first interaction by ensuring clarity around pricing, conditions, and availability before booking?
2
How might we simplify the premium rental process so it feels fast, seamless, and effortless, even for time-constrained users?
3
How might we provide a guided decision-making experience that helps users choose the right vehicle without overwhelming them or imposing decisions?
4
How might we extend the value of the app beyond a single rental by keeping users connected to innovation and industry trends?
Based on the How Might We statements, the project moves into the definition phase. The focus shifts from identifying needs to structuring a clear, fluid, and coherent in-app experience. In Aurion, this stage translates luxury car rental into a guided, transparent, and frictionless journey, where each step reinforces the user’s sense of control and confidence.
Site Map
The Site Map defines Aurion’s global architecture and organizes its main navigation areas. The structure is built around five key sections: Home, Explore, Bookings, Profile, and Future, allowing a natural transition between exploration, decision-making, and management.
Secondary and tertiary sections unfold progressively to maintain clear hierarchy and reduce cognitive load, reinforcing an elegant and controlled experience.
User Flow
The User Flow describes how users move through Aurion, from their first interaction with the app to booking a vehicle or exploring inspirational content.
The primary flow focuses on searching, comparing, and selecting vehicles, integrating natural branching points to review ratings, conditions, and alternatives without breaking the experience rhythm.
Secondary paths, such as booking management, profile settings, and access to the Future Vision Guide, extend the app’s value beyond the transactional moment.
Task Flow
Wireframes
Aurion’s wireframes focused on validating the core flows of exploration, discovery, and booking before moving into visual design. The goal was to ensure clear, direct, and frictionless navigation, prioritizing fast decision-making and immediate understanding at every step of the user journey.
Branding
Aurion’s logo is built around a solid, angular geometric form that conveys precision, control, and technological progress. The symbol suggests movement and direction, reinforcing ideas of advancement and future vision, while maintaining a compact and stable structure characteristic of a premium product.
Its design balances sophistication and dynamism: tense lines and sharp cuts introduce energy and a contemporary character, avoiding an overly rigid or distant aesthetic. The result is a visual identity that feels modern, fresh, and confident, aligned with a luxury experience driven by innovation and the pleasure of driving.
Aurion’s color palette combines cool, technology-driven tones with a vibrant accent that introduces contrast, energy, and a sense of contemporary exclusivity. This combination helps differentiate information levels, highlight key actions, and reinforce visual hierarchy without relying on unnecessary visual noise.
The typography, defined by a geometric structure and clean strokes, supports a voice that feels precise, elegant, and trustworthy. Its consistent use across headings and functional content brings clarity and rhythm to the interface, supporting an experience that feels current, refined, and oriented toward control and informed decision-making.
UI Design & Components
Aurion’s UI system is built on modular, consistent, and easily scalable components. Buttons, cards, and interactive elements are designed to communicate hierarchy and state at a glance, ensuring a smooth and coherent experience across exploration, booking, and management flows.
Prototype
In this phase, Aurion takes its final form as a complete, high-fidelity product experience. Visual decisions, the color system, and the brand language come together in polished screens that demonstrate how the app operates across real-world exploration, comparison, and booking scenarios.
Transitions, microinteractions, and system states are carefully crafted to reinforce clarity, control, and user confidence, ensuring a fluid, consistent experience aligned with a premium, action-oriented product.
Hi-Fi Overview
Hi-Fi in Motion
A guided walkthrough of Aurion’s core booking flow: exploring curated vehicles, reviewing details and availability, and completing a reservation with clarity and confidence.
Following a journey from inspiration to action: discovering future vehicles, saving favorites, and seamlessly connecting vision with real-world availability through Aurion’s curated experience.
Outcome & Results
Project Conclusion
Aurion explores how a premium car rental experience can be translated into a clear, efficient, and aspirational digital product.
The project demonstrates that high-end positioning does not require complexity: discovery, comparison, and booking flows are designed to feel direct, controlled, and confidence-driven. From a product perspective, Aurion addresses a common challenge in luxury services: balancing emotional appeal with usability, ensuring that visual sophistication supports — rather than obstructs — decision-making and conversion.
Expected Benefits
Human / user experience value
1
Reduce cognitive load during vehicle discovery and comparison.
2
Increase user confidence through transparent pricing, availability, and clear specifications.
3
Support fast decision-making without sacrificing a sense of exclusivity or control.
4
Create aspiration without intimidation, making premium vehicles feel accessible and understandable.
Product / market value
1
Clear differentiation from generic rental platforms through editorial and future-oriented features.
2
Stronger conversion potential by simplifying the path from exploration to booking.
3
Higher perceived value, supporting premium pricing strategies.
4
Brand extension opportunities through concept cars and future releases content.
Hypothetical KPIs
(proxy metrics)
If Aurion were a real product, its performance could be evaluated through metrics such as:
% of users completing a reservation after viewing a vehicle detail page.
Effectiveness of listings and filters in driving interest toward specific vehicles.
Identification of friction points during date selection, pricing review, or confirmation.
How quickly users move from first interaction to confirmed reservation.
Interaction with concept cars and upcoming releases as a measure of brand aspiration.
Indicator of trust, satisfaction, and long-term product value.
Learnings
1
Clarity drives conversion. Reducing choice anxiety through clean layouts, predictable flows, and explicit information proved essential in a premium context.
2
Luxury requires restraint. Visual sophistication works best when paired with functional simplicity. Removing unnecessary steps and decorative noise increased perceived control.
3
Editorial features can support business goals. The Future Vision Guide showed how non-transactional content can strengthen brand value, aspiration, and long-term engagement without distracting from core flows.
4
Designing for trust is designing for revenue. Clear pricing, visible availability, and reversible actions reduce hesitation and shorten the path to booking.