Oslo deserves a better bike app

The client came with a clear brief: build a bike app for Oslo that does more. Oslo Bysykkel is functional — you can find stations and check availability — but that's about it. There's no cultural context, no weather integration, no swimming spots on your route.

The vision for Ride was an app that makes cycling in Oslo genuinely enjoyable and informative, not just logistically useful.

Too many apps, not enough integration

Users who cycle in Oslo regularly are juggling multiple apps: one for bike availability, one for weather, one for sightseeing tips, another for swimming spots in the fjord. Younger users especially are getting tired of this fragmentation.

The core problem: no single app addresses the full cycling experience. Ride was designed to consolidate all of it.

What the competition gets right — and wrong

Oslo Bysykkel was the primary benchmark. It does one thing well: showing station availability. But it offers no recommendations, no weather, no cultural layer, and no way to plan a scenic route.

International bike apps like Strava and Komoot offer planning and tracking, but they're sport-focused. None of the existing options serve the casual urban cyclist who wants to have a good day, not log a PR.

The key finding: there's clear whitespace for an app that combines utility with discovery.

From wireframes to accessible high-fidelity

Wireframes were sketched out early to establish the core navigation structure: a map-first interface with a bottom sheet for details. The wireframing phase was deliberately rough — the goal was to validate the information architecture before investing in visual design.

Accessibility was central to the design process from the start. Color contrast was checked at every stage using the Contrast by Marrk Figma plugin and contrast-ratio.com to ensure WCAG compliance. All interactive elements were designed to meet WCAG AA at minimum.

Blue for familiarity, clarity for trust

The color palette was intentionally anchored in Oslo Bysykkel's established blue. The rationale: Oslo cyclists already associate that blue with the city's bike infrastructure. Using it in Ride creates an immediate visual connection that makes the app feel familiar from first launch.

From there, the palette was extended with lighter, airier tones to give the app a sense of space and ease — appropriate for an app designed to make cycling feel enjoyable rather than stressful.

A cycling companion for the whole day

The final prototype enables users to:

• Locate nearby bike stations and check real-time availability
• Discover cultural sites and points of interest along their route
• Check current air temperature and water temperature at nearby swimming spots
• Plan a route that incorporates all of the above

The result is a bicycle app that treats cycling as a lifestyle, not just a transit option — and that makes Oslo feel like a city worth exploring on two wheels.