CoachTracker

A responsive passenger-information experience that evolved National Express's coach tracking service from native apps into an accessible web and mobile product.

National Express had already been using CoachTracker as a native iOS and Android experience, originally designed by me at uTrack. As mobile technology and product expectations evolved, maintaining separate native applications became increasingly costly.

uTrack proposed evolving the experience into a responsive web product that passengers could access directly from the National Express website, without downloading or maintaining a dedicated app. The challenge was to preserve the value of real-time tracking while creating a simpler, more accessible experience across desktop and mobile.

As the sole designer at uTrack, I led the UX and UI design from requirements and experience definition through delivery, working closely with National Express stakeholders, our technical team and developers to translate complex transport data into a clear passenger experience.

CoachTracker wasn't a new product. It evolved through multiple generations of native mobile applications before becoming a responsive web experience.

Passengers could view a service, follow its scheduled stops and compare scheduled and expected arrival times in a single journey view.

The experience made routes and services easier to explore, giving passengers clearer access to destinations, journey details, stops and live service information.

The responsive experience brought service search, live tracking and route visualisation together across larger and smaller screens, creating a more accessible passenger experience.

✅ Previous product experience

✅ Usage analytics

✅ National Express stakeholder feedback

✅ Existing real-time data platform

✅ Technical feasibility

The experience evolved from a set of prioritised passenger needs into a simplified, responsive interface. I used these requirements to define the core journey, explore different structures, establish the visual system and prepare the experience for implementation.

The initial requirements were organised around what passengers needed most: access to the service, clear live information and confidence while travelling. These priorities helped focus the experience around the tasks that mattered most.

The core journey was mapped from the initial search through service selection and live tracking. Reducing the primary path to three steps helped keep the experience focused while still allowing access to supporting information such as journey details, maps and alerts.

Early sketches explored the main pages and relationships between search, service results, tracking, maps and alerts. These ideas were then translated into low-fidelity wireframes to test the structure across desktop and mobile before moving into visual design.

Once the structure was defined, I established a consistent visual language across typography, colour, buttons, icons and interface components. Custom iconography was also created to support transport-specific information and maintain consistency across the experience.

The final interface was documented with detailed measurements, styles and component specifications to support a consistent handoff into development.

With the product foundations already established, I focused on translating the familiar CoachTracker experience into a responsive web model without losing the clarity and immediacy of real-time tracking.

The redesigned CoachTracker brought the established tracking experience into a responsive web model, giving passengers a clearer way to find their service, follow its progress and stay informed throughout the journey.

Start with the journey, not the navigation.

Turn live operational data into a journey passengers can understand.

Give passengers timely information when the journey changes.

CoachTracker evolved from a native mobile service into a responsive passenger-information experience without losing the behaviours passengers already understood. The result brought service discovery, live tracking, journey progression and disruption information into one accessible experience across web and mobile.

I led the end-to-end design of CoachTracker, from defining the interaction model and information architecture through wireframing, interaction design, visual design, prototyping and developer handoff. Working closely with National Express stakeholders and the development team, I translated passenger needs and product requirements into a responsive experience across web and mobile.

As the product evolved, I also designed two complementary passenger-information experiences for National Express: Timetable Finder and Route Map. Together with CoachTracker, I brought these experiences into a connected Passenger Information Suite, giving passengers a consistent way to find services, explore the network and access journey information through a shared navigation and experience model.

CoachTracker became part of a broader passenger-information platform, helping passengers find services, follow journeys in real time and stay informed when conditions changed.

The most valuable part of CoachTracker was not simply turning a native application into a responsive web experience. It was learning how to preserve the behaviours passengers already understood while making complex, real-time information easier to access and act on.

The product later became the foundation for additional passenger-information products, reinforcing the value of designing the experience as part of a wider system rather than as a standalone interface.

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