Sometimes your first UX project happens before you even know what UX is.
The original application wasn't really an app. It was a static JPG of Mexico City's subway map. Users could zoom in. Zoom out. And that was the entire experience.
For anyone unfamiliar with the transportation system, the application answered almost none of the questions people actually had while moving around the city.
The opportunity wasn't to redesign the map. It was to redesign the experience of navigating Mexico City.
At the time, our startup had no active client projects. Instead of waiting for new work, the team decided to improve a product the company already owned.
The original goal was modest: refresh the application and explore what mobile technology could offer beyond a static image.
That freedom gave me something invaluable early in my career — the opportunity to experiment.
Nobody asked for user research. Nobody mentioned usability. Nobody suggested interviews.
But as a frequent Metro user myself, I couldn't stop thinking about everything the application failed to answer.
So I started asking friends, relatives and daily commuters simple questions.
Looking back, those conversations became my first user interviews.
| In 2012... | Today I'd call it... |
|---|---|
| Asking commuters questions | User Interviews |
| Sketching ideas on paper | Low-fidelity Wireframes |
| Watching people use the app | Guerrilla Testing |
| Rearranging screens | Information Architecture |
| Trying different layouts | Iterative Design |
| Prioritizing features | Product Thinking |
Every conversation pointed toward the same problems. Instead of organizing features, I organized user needs.
Users could:
The goal wasn't to add features. It was to reduce uncertainty during everyday journeys.
To use the official Metro iconography, we first needed authorization from the Mexico City government.
Rather than pausing development, I began manually recreating the transportation system from scratch.
Using only basic geometric shapes in Adobe Illustrator, I rebuilt the first 10 Metro lines, part of Lines 11 and 12, Metrobús Line 1, and part of Metrobús Lines 2 and 3.
Once official assets became available, these handcrafted illustrations were gradually replaced. What began as a temporary solution became one of my earliest lessons in systems thinking and consistency.
One of the most fascinating discoveries during the project was learning that every Metro station symbol represents a place, a historical event or a cultural reference. Rather than using icons purely for navigation, the application let users tap any station to learn the meaning behind its symbol — turning a transportation tool into a small window into the city's history.
Pino Suárez
A duck references an Aztec artifact uncovered during the station's construction.
Tacubaya
A clay water jug nods to the area's history as a water source for the city.
Observatorio
A telescope dome marks the site of Mexico City's former national observatory.
Rather than adapting a single interface, we designed native experiences for five operating systems. Each platform had different navigation patterns, interaction models and interface conventions. The challenge wasn't making everything look identical — it was making every experience feel native.
Windows Phone introduced Live Tiles, letting information live directly on the home screen. Instead of treating them as shortcuts, we explored ways to surface contextual information:
The experience began before opening the application.
Over time it expanded to include Metrobús, Light Rail, additional transportation systems, and new cities across Mexico. Watching an internal initiative evolve into a product still serving commuters more than a decade later has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.
The product's success led Microsoft to invite our team to develop dedicated experiences for Windows Phone and Windows tablets.
For me, it was the first time seeing an internal initiative grow into a multi-platform product supported by one of the world's largest technology companies.
Years later I learned terms like Information Architecture, User Research, Interaction Design and Product Thinking. But the mindset was already there — curiosity, observation, empathy. More than a decade later, those same principles continue shaping every product I design.