FSTA
Helping fuel users find the nearest and most reliable fuel stations, faster, smarter, and with real-time updates.
Clients
Digprom Internship
Timeline
6 Weeks
Service
Mobile app
Tools
Figma, Figjam
FSTA is a mobile application designed to help drivers find nearby filling stations and understand their current fuel availability before making the trip.
The concept was developed around a simple observation: during fuel scarcity, knowing where a filling station is isn't enough. Drivers also need to know whether it is open, whether fuel is available, and whether the information can be trusted.
Rather than creating another navigation app, FSTA focuses on closing that information gap by connecting drivers with filling stations and giving station managers a simple way to communicate their current status.
Role: Product Designer
Platform: Mobile Application
Responsibilities: User Research, Product Strategy, Information Architecture, Wireframing, UI Design, Prototyping, Usability Testing
FSTA was designed primarily for people who depend on filling stations regularly, including private drivers, commercial drivers, ride-hailing drivers, and motorcyclists.
During periods of fuel scarcity, these users often already know where nearby stations are. The bigger problem is knowing whether it is actually worth driving there.
Station managers are the secondary users. They need a straightforward way to communicate whether their station is open and whether fuel is currently available without adding complicated operational tasks to their workflow.
This created a two-sided product challenge: drivers need reliable information, while station managers need a practical way to provide it.
Early conversations and observations revealed that drivers often relied on WhatsApp, social media, word of mouth, and personal knowledge to find fuel.
The problem with these sources was that information could become outdated quickly.
A station reported to have fuel might already be empty by the time a driver arrived. Another station might have fuel but remain undiscovered because nobody had shared an update.
This meant drivers could spend valuable time and fuel moving from one station to another without knowing whether the next stop would actually solve the problem.
The challenge wasn't simply finding stations. It was knowing which information to trust before making the journey.
When availability information was unreliable, the consequences went beyond inconvenience.
Drivers could spend significant time searching, make unnecessary trips, and repeatedly check different sources for updates. During scarcity, even a single unsuccessful trip could mean having to continue searching elsewhere.
For station managers, the opposite problem existed. They needed a way to communicate availability without being expected to manage a complex digital system.
The opportunity was therefore to reduce uncertainty on both sides:
Drivers needed reliable station information.
Station managers needed a simple way to keep that information updated.
The research changed my understanding of the problem.
I initially approached FSTA as a way to help users locate filling stations. However, conversations with drivers revealed that location itself wasn't the biggest gap.
Many users already knew where stations were.
What they didn't know was:
Whether the station was open.
Whether fuel was available.
Which fuel type was available.
Whether the information was recent enough to rely on.
This shifted the product direction from station discovery toward station-status visibility.
The quantitative research reinforced the patterns identified during the interviews.
A large majority of respondents had experienced driving to a filling station only to discover that fuel was unavailable. Many had also spent more than 30 minutes searching for fuel during periods of scarcity.
The research also showed that users frequently depended on friends, social media, and word of mouth for updates, while an overwhelming majority expressed interest in an application that could provide fuel availability information.
These findings validated the central opportunity:
Give drivers useful information before they spend time and fuel getting to a station.
I looked at existing navigation experiences such as Google Maps and Waze to understand how users currently locate filling stations.
These platforms are effective at helping users find places and navigate to them, but they don't solve the specific information gap identified during the research: whether a station currently has fuel available.
This revealed an opportunity for FSTA to complement navigation rather than compete with it.
Instead of rebuilding everything a navigation platform already does, FSTA could focus on the missing layer:
Real-time station status and fuel availability.
The product strategy centered on giving drivers the information they need to make a decision before travelling to a station.
The experience brings together:
Nearby filling stations
Fuel availability
Fuel type
Fuel price
Station status
Notifications
The station-manager experience was intentionally kept lightweight, allowing managers to update essential information such as whether the station is open and whether fuel is available.
The goal was not to build the most feature-heavy fuel platform.
It was to make the most important information available at the right moment.
The home experience prioritizes nearby filling stations and their current availability so users can immediately understand their options.
Search and filtering allow users to narrow stations according to factors such as fuel type, availability, and price.
Rather than forcing users to open multiple screens before understanding whether a station is useful, the interface brings critical information closer to the point of discovery.
This information hierarchy was designed around one question:
"Is there a station I can actually use right now?"
Because the value of FSTA depends on reliable information, station managers are an essential part of the experience.
However, requiring managers to maintain complicated inventories or detailed operational records could make adoption difficult.
The dashboard therefore focuses on simple actions that can communicate the most important status information quickly.
This creates a straightforward relationship:
Station manager updates status → FSTA communicates availability → Driver makes a more informed decision.
The simpler the update process, the more practical it becomes for stations to keep information current.
Usability testing helped identify areas where the concept worked and where the interface still created friction.
Participants were able to complete key tasks with minimal assistance and generally found the experience intuitive. However, testing also revealed that some important elements needed stronger visibility.
In particular, filters needed to be easier to discover, while fuel-availability indicators needed greater visual emphasis.
I responded by adjusting the placement, labeling, and visual distinction of these elements.
This reinforced an important lesson:
Having the right information isn't enough if users can't immediately recognize it.
One of the biggest constraints was the reliability of real-time information.
A more sophisticated system could potentially track detailed fuel inventory, monitor station activity, or integrate directly with station infrastructure. However, those approaches would require significantly more technical infrastructure and partnerships.
There was also a practical concern: not every filling station would have the resources or willingness to maintain a complex system.
FSTA therefore prioritizes a simpler model where station managers can provide essential status updates without taking on a large operational burden.
The simplicity of the station-manager experience is also a trade-off.
The product depends on managers providing accurate and timely updates. If a station fails to update its status, information can become stale and reduce trust in the platform.
However, increasing the complexity of the dashboard would introduce another problem: managers may be less likely to use it consistently.
The design therefore favors simple, frequent updates over complex, detailed management.
This is a deliberate trade-off between information depth and operational practicality.
The final usability sessions suggested that participants could complete the key tasks quickly and with minimal assistance.
Participants generally described the experience as intuitive and expressed confidence in using the platform during periods of fuel scarcity.
While this does not establish a real-world reduction in fuel-search time, it provides early evidence that making station availability easier to understand can reduce the friction involved in deciding where to go.
The next stage would be validating the experience with real drivers and live station data.
The final experience brings together the core insights from the research:
Know the station → Know its status → Check availability → Compare options → Decide where to go.
Rather than asking drivers to search multiple sources and hope the information is accurate, FSTA creates a dedicated layer for communicating station status and fuel availability.
The result is a product concept built around certainty, simplicity, and timely information.
The biggest lesson from FSTA was that users don't always need more features.
Sometimes they need more certainty.
The initial problem appeared to be fuel scarcity, but the research revealed a deeper information gap: drivers often couldn't determine where fuel was available before making the journey.
That changed how I approached the product.
Instead of trying to solve the entire fuel-supply problem, I focused on solving the part a digital product could realistically influence: helping people make better-informed decisions with better information.
FSTA reinforced the value of questioning the obvious problem before designing the solution.
Thank you for your time :)
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