Pelayo Couceiro
Sep 2, 2025
I’ve always believed the real learning of building products doesn’t happen in front of a screen, but out in the world where people actually use them. Over time, I’ve made a habit of stepping out of the office and getting behind the wheel to be close to the reality of the drivers I design for in ride‑hailing apps.
It’s not about pretending to be a driver for a day, but about living their job: testing the driver app in the conditions it’s built for, experiencing emotions that data can’t show, and using those insights to improve the app while giving my team confidence in what we’re building.
Here are some reflections I’ve taken away from these experiences:
1. Data vs emotions
Metrics provide signals, but they never capture the whole picture. Dashboards show numbers, while real life reveals the human side: the frustration of an unexpected cancellation, the uncertainty of not knowing where to head next, or the relief of hitting a daily earnings goal, and those are just a few examples.
The app we design, and from which we gather data, is only one source of information. Experiencing the work firsthand provides many more inputs: emotions, contexts, rider interactions, and micro-decisions no chart will ever reveal. What I experience in a single day behind the wheel, drivers face repeatedly throughout their shifts. That difference makes it urgent to truly understand their reality.
2. Design in motion
The icon or illustration we design, the flow of a feature, or even a paragraph of explanatory text may feel solid in a design review. But when the app is used in motion, these elements can lose their purpose or, worse, go unnoticed.
A design that looks flawless on a computer can collapse the instant the car starts moving. Testing the app in the middle of the city, in a tunnel without internet or GPS signal, or on a highway at 80 km/h reveals which details are essential and which need to be rethought to truly improve the product.
You can even observe how, once the passenger is on board, the app takes a back seat. What really matters is the human interaction: respecting preferences, making the person feel comfortable during the trip. That human experience is what makes the difference between a user who returns to your service and one who looks for alternatives.
3. Reality check
Real conditions validate the product and strengthen the service. Testing on the ground confirms improvements, reveals errors to fix, and inspires better solutions with impact, giving the team greater certainty about what we’re building. Each time I sit behind the wheel, I learn things no office dashboard could ever reveal. And every issue I encounter once is something drivers face many times a day, solving it becomes essential.
I capture screenshots, record situations, and add personal reflections on how each moment feels. With that material I create a report that I share with my team, highlighting everything I found and possible improvements.
It goes beyond fixing bugs; it’s about giving design, product management, and engineering teams confidence that what we build truly works, matters, and has a meaningful impact on both people and the business. That shared certainty motivates the team, and it’s the reason I do what I do: to be sure we are on the right path.
4. Authentic connection
These experiences open doors to much deeper and more trusting conversations with drivers, because I can honestly say: “I also drive, I know how it feels.”
That simple fact changes the conversation and takes it to another level. Drivers open up more because I speak from experience, not from theory. It’s a step beyond the one-on-one sessions and Focus Groups we also run with drivers in Spain and Latin America to hear firsthand about their concerns, as I mentioned in my previous article, Design with your audience.
An example of these conversations is with an Argentine driver I know, with whom I’ve kept a close relationship: an incredible human being, always willing to help, who also supports other drivers and builds community through his YouTube channel (DonUberto), followed by +130K people.
”Me alegra muchísimo que las personas que trabajan en una aplicación se animen a ver tantas otras cosas que son claves.”
Alex, aka DonUberto, from Buenos Aires
Takeaway
Whether you’re a Product Designer, Product Manager, Software Engineer, or Product Maker, the real lessons aren’t in Figma files or dashboards. Design lives in the wild, on the street, in messy contexts, in the hands of real people. What truly matters is your ability to ship something that users can see, feel, and experience in production.
The field will always teach you more than anything else. If you want to understand your users, put yourself in their shoes, or in my case, behind the wheel.
This post is part of my ongoing reflections on product design in real contexts. I’d love to hear how you approach the field to better understand your users.
Thanks for reading ❤️