Shado3
Your Third Space. In Motion.
A smart autonomous travel companion that stays one step ahead — pairing a mobile companion app with an in-vehicle main experience to help business travelers move through trips with less stress, better timing, and smoother experiences from start to finish.
Individual Project · Figma · After Effects · Photoshop · Hand Sketching · Vibe Coding
Turning wasted travel gaps into a third space
Business travelers lose hours to the in-between moments of a trip — waiting in airports, killing time in hotel lobbies, and hesitating to explore an unfamiliar city for fear of missing a flight. Shado3 reimagines those gaps as opportunity.
It's a smart, autonomous travel companion built across two connected surfaces: a mobile companion app that handles the trip on foot, and an in-vehicle main app that turns the ride into a calm, time-aware third space — so travelers can rest, work, or explore with total confidence that they'll make it back in time.
Reduce travel stress through smarter, time-conscious mobility.
Transform travel gaps into meaningful experiences by creating a "3rd place."
Travel gaps waste time and drain confidence
Business travelers often experience travel gaps where unreliable transportation, time-consuming rental processes, and unfamiliar city environments make it difficult to confidently leave the airport or hotel. Valuable downtime is wasted waiting — rather than being used for meaningful local experiences.
We framed the challenge around three needs:
Confidence in time
Certainty about how much time they truly have — so leaving never risks the flight.
A safe exploration zone
A clear boundary of how far they can roam while still guaranteeing a safe, on-time return.
Less mental load
One system tracking time, navigation, and flight status — so travelers don't have to.
The friction today
Grounded in how travelers actually behave
Secondary research and moderated interviews surfaced a consistent story: travelers want to explore and already live on their phones — but the fear of mistimed logistics keeps them stuck in the lobby.
What travelers value
- Making the most of unfamiliar cities
- Downtime that feels restful, not wasted
- Trustworthy, predictable transportation
- A clear, single view of the trip plan
Pain points
- Time uncertainty between traffic and boarding
- Fear of missing the flight
- No defined safe exploration zone
- Mental overload and travel fatigue
Design opportunities
- Persistent, at-a-glance trip summary
- Time-aware "safe return" guarantee
- Proactive warnings before it's too late
- Autonomous ride as a calm third space
Travel behavior at a glance
Meet Douglas, the frequent business traveler
Douglas
The Frequent Business Traveler- 42 · Product Manager
- Chicago, IL · $200k
- 2–3 long-haul trips / month
- Business + occasional leisure
"I want to explore more and get the most out of my work trips. It feels like a missed opportunity to spend hours in airports and hotel lobbies without experiencing the culture just outside the door."
Pain Points
- Time uncertainty — can't judge how much time he really has
- Fear of missing the flight
- No clear "safe exploration zone"
- Mental overload tracking every detail
- Lack of trust in transportation
- Travel fatigue limits decision-making
A familiar afternoon, wasted
Before Shado3, Douglas's free afternoon follows a predictable, disappointing arc — bored, then overwhelmed, then retreating to safety.
Before check-out, bored in the hotel room. Meetings wrapped early; the TV is on but the afternoon is empty.
Kicked out of the room, out on the street. "I don't know what to do — I'm not familiar with this city."
Retreating to the hotel bar. "I'll just stay here all afternoon — I don't want to get lost or miss my flight."
The full storyboard
One trip, five moments where confidence wavers
Mapping Douglas's downtime — from an early meeting finish to boarding — showed exactly where anxiety peaks and where Shado3 can step in. Scroll across the journey.
Arrival
Lands early, meetings wrap ahead of schedule.
"I've got hours to kill — now what?"
😐 Uncertain · ⚖️ Unanchored- Unfamiliar city
- No structured plan
- Instant trip overview
- Curated nearby options
Hotel Downtime
Checks out, waits in the lobby, second-guesses leaving.
"I don't want to get lost or waste the day."
😕 Restless · 🔒 Stuck- Fear of the unknown
- Downtime feels wasted
- Safe exploration zone
- Low-effort suggestions
The Decision
Weighs exploring against the risk of the flight.
"What if traffic makes me miss it?"
😰 Anxious · ⏱️ Time-pressed- Time uncertainty
- Low trust in transport
- Time-aware return guarantee
- Real-time buffer tracking
In Motion
Rides in the autonomous vehicle between stops.
"I can actually relax and take it in."
🙂 Calm · ✨ Present- Mental overload elsewhere
- Travel fatigue
- Third space in motion
- Rest, work, or explore mode
Return
Heads back to the airport with time to spare.
"Made it — stress-free."
😌 Relieved · ✅ Confident- Cutting it close
- Last-minute scramble
- Proactive timing alerts
- Automatic return buffer
From sketches to a cohesive system
Ideation
Exploring flows, layouts, and the in-vehicle experience on paper before committing to pixels. Tap any image to enlarge.
Design System
A calm, high-contrast automotive-grade system — legible at a glance and tuned for cabin glare, shared across both the companion app and the in-vehicle display.
The companion app, on your phone
The mobile companion carries the trip on foot — flight status, mobile boarding, hotel details, and planning — so the in-vehicle experience always knows where you are and how much time you have. Tap any image to enlarge.
The main app, in the vehicle
Inside the autonomous cabin, the wide display becomes the main event — a calm command center that frames free time as a resource and keeps the safe-return window in view at all times. Tap any image to enlarge.
The third space, in context
What testers asked for, in their own words
Across every remote session, one theme was unmistakable: travelers wanted a single, always-visible source of truth for their trip — and to be warned before, not after, time ran short.
Michael
"I want an overall trip summary, maybe on the welcome or home screen, that stays updated."
Ali
"I don't remember what time it told me I had to be back to the airport… maybe something that warns you."
Barbara
"I need to see what my plan is — right now I have no idea where to find it."
A calmer, time-confident way to travel
Every tester independently asked for the same thing — a persistent trip summary and proactive time warnings — which validated the core bet: the real product isn't more features, it's certainty. Shado3 turns the anxious "what if I miss my flight?" into a confident "I've got time."
Splitting the experience across a phone companion and an in-vehicle main app let each surface do what it does best — the phone for pre-trip and on-foot, the cabin for the calm, guided ride. The clear next step is a longitudinal pilot to measure how much travel downtime converts into real local exploration once travelers trust the safe-return guarantee.
Step inside Shado3
Experience the in-vehicle main app — the trip summary, safe-return timing, and third-space modes — in the interactive prototype.
View In-Vehicle Prototype