Our client was building a new ride-sharing platform tailored for the Balkans—where informal Facebook groups still dominate local commuting. With a growing demand for more organized, secure transport options, the opportunity was clear—but the product had to reflect real user behavior.
They partnered with Solveo to uncover what actually drives commuter decisions, validate the product concept, and build a positioning strategy grounded in local habits.
The Balkan ride-sharing market is fragmented, heavily reliant on Facebook groups and personal connections. For any new platform to succeed, it had to deliver not just convenience—but trust, transparency, and a real sense of community.
Our goal was to go deep: understand why people used what they used, what they liked, what was missing—and turn those insights into a practical roadmap.
Solveo’s research team took a deep dive into Balkan commuter habits, using a combination of Jobs-to-be-Done methodology and direct user engagement. We conducted a mix of interviews, user observations, and surveying over 222,000 potential users, allowing us to uncover key preferences and behaviors.
Through our research, we identified critical insights that shaped the product’s development:
With these insights, we helped our client design and implement a robust driver verification system, creating transparent profiles and secure payment systems. These features directly addressed the trust issues users faced and provided a much-needed sense of security.
By focusing on trust and security, the client successfully positioned their platform as a premium ride-sharing solution that met the unique needs of the Balkan market.
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