What is Maximus Pro

Maximus Pro, developed by KPIT Technologies, is one of the world’s earliest end to end connected platforms for motorcycles. It combines a handlebar mounted display module with a smartphone app and cloud analytics giving riders distraction free navigation, real time bike diagnostics, safety alerts, and a connected riding community, all in one platform.

The hardware display module was developed in collaboration with Map Project Office, a London based industrial design studio. My responsibility was the mobile app platform the primary interface through which riders planned, tracked, and relived their journeys.

First designer on the project

I joined KPIT as Lead UX Designer the first dedicated designer on the Maximus Pro project. The mobile app had already been built by the engineering team using existing design libraries, with no designer involved. I came in to redesign it properly, improving the experience, interface, and flows, while simultaneously designing new screens for the next version update.

I reported directly to the Technology Head and worked alongside a UI designer, collaborating closely with marketing, development, and engineering teams across the business.

Discovery through validation

I followed a structured design process across the full seven months from validating user needs through to iterating on live feedback post-launch.

Understanding the Indian rider

I led user research across biker groups and conducted a company wide research programme within KPIT a natural advantage given that a large proportion of KPIT employees commute by motorbike and scooter, giving us direct access to our target users across the full riding spectrum.

Pain points were identified across 1200+ bikers spanning 12 cities across India.

User personas and pain points identified across 1200+ bikers in 12 cities

Key pain points identified

Getting lost on unfamiliar routes · Bike health monitoring in bad weather · Timekeeping and ETA management · Group ride and buddy tracking · Stolen bike tracking · Emergency assistance · Staying connected with family and friends while riding

A platform for the complete riding experience

Research findings shaped a clear product vision: a comprehensive, integrated platform covering three phases of the riding experience before the ride, during the ride, and reliving the ride. The MVP was structured around three core pillars.

Redesigning for Indian roads

Working from the existing app, I redesigned the interface with a focus on reducing cognitive load for riders clear visual hierarchy, minimal interaction during rides, and flows designed for one handed use while wearing motorcycle gloves.

I facilitated design sprints, created user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, and design specifications across both the mobile app and the display module feature flows. The design system covered typography, colour, iconography, and interaction patterns.

Full IA flow chart for the mobile app

IA bubble map Rides, Social, Profile, Dashboard

Mood board visual direction, colour palette, typography and iconography

Display module feature flow onboarding, start up, main menu, alerts, settings

Adapting for Indian road conditions

A specific and important challenge was adapting the display module’s navigation interface for the Indian context. The original interface, designed in London, used navigation conventions that didn’t fully translate to Indian roads where signage, symbols, and road types vary significantly across states and are often inconsistent with Western standards.

I conducted research into road signage conventions across different Indian states, identifying the most commonly used and recognised symbols for the Indian biker. We tested these with users and refined the icons and alerts on the display module to reflect what Indian riders actually encounter on the road making the navigation genuinely usable in real Indian riding conditions.

Testing the Add a Stop flow

I personally ran A/B testing on the Add a Stop feature a critical part of the ride planning flow using a controlled group of 40 bikers, including participants recruited near KTM and Harley-Davidson showrooms in Bengaluru.

Low fidelity wireframe screen flows for the mobile app

Low fidelity mockups for the Add a Stop section

Hypothesis

Three hypotheses were tested: whether specific data entry points would improve transaction rate through the Plan a Ride page; whether placing inputs in the lower screen segment would reduce thumb travel time; and whether surfacing Add Stop after destination entry (rather than before) would reduce confusion about whether it was compulsory.

Variation 1 Stop options between location and destination fields

Variation 2 Stop options after destination confirmed (selected)

High fidelity mockup Plan a Ride section, Iteration 1

High fidelity mockup Plan a Ride section, Iteration 2

High fidelity mockup Recommended Rides section

Maximus Pro mobile app key feature screens

Variation 2 was selected users completed the ride planning task with significantly less confusion and the flow felt more natural to how bikers actually think about planning a journey. This finding fed directly into the next development sprint.

Multiple rounds of usability testing were conducted across Android and iOS, in both controlled and real world riding environments using a Lean Agile process of continuous delivery and continuous improvement.

India Bike Week 2017

The BikeWale review published six months after launch on one of India’s leading motorcycle platforms directly reflected the iterative design work done on the app. The reviewer specifically praised the ride planning flow, the via points feature, and the detour functionality: all core UX decisions from this project.

What happened to Maximus Pro

Maximus Pro was developed during a period when KPIT was actively exploring consumer mobility products alongside its core automotive software business. In 2018, following a major strategic restructuring in which KPIT merged and demerged with Birlasoft and refocused entirely on B2B automotive software for global OEMs, consumer products including Maximus Pro were quietly retired. The product never received a formal discontinuation announcement it simply no longer fitted the new direction.

This context is worth noting because it reframes the project honestly. Maximus Pro was a genuine first mover product one of the world’s earliest connected motorcycle platforms built during a window of ambition before commercial realities shifted. The UX work done during this period contributed to a product that reached market, attracted real users, generated press coverage, and launched at one of Asia’s largest motorcycle events. That it was later discontinued as part of a corporate restructuring does not diminish what was built or the rigour of the design process behind it.

What this project taught me

Joining as the first designer on a live, already deployed product taught me to work with inherited constraints rather than against them. The engineering team had built something functional my job was to make it human.

The most valuable lesson was the importance of context specific design. Navigation conventions that work in London don’t necessarily work in Bengaluru. Designing for a specific culture, a specific road system, and a specific riding community required genuine immersion not just pattern libraries.

Working to a fixed launch deadline with two parallel workstreams fixing the live app while designing the next version also strengthened my ability to prioritise under pressure and communicate design decisions clearly to non design stakeholders.