Saakh
Saakh
Timeline
Sept 2025 - Feb 2026
My Role
User Interface
User Experience
User Research
Collaborators
Rohit Tambe
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Adobe Illustrator
OVERVIEW
Why was electric freight so hard to adopt?
This project began in 2024 as an academic project at NID, which explored the slow adoption of zero-emission trucks in India. The research pointed to limited financial incentives, weak policy support and a fragmented industry.
Still waiting for
policy push
Many states in India are still silent on policies for electric freight sector.
Largely unorganized
business
Nearly 75% of the fleet is operated by those who have five or fewer trucks.
Lack of financial
incentive
Since 2021, Government aided schemes include minimal support for trucks.
FINDING THE FOCUS
Previous attempt
Back in 2024, I redesigned the e-FAST website to bring information and support to the sector. But industry experts and my design faculty felt I was trying to solve too many problems at once.
1.1
Some questions I had throughout the project.
INTERACTIVE
Choose one problem. Go deeper.
When I revisited the research, dedicated truck incentives had since been introduced. So I returned to fragmentation: what did it mean for the people running the trucks? How small operators could use the support already available. Initial conversations with approximately two industry experts and three operators guided the product direction.
The small operator
The category that occupies 75% of the fleet and have five or fewer trucks.
1
Reaching operators with small fleets was central to the original freight question.
2
Business runs on agent work and credit. Asking them to replace that network would add risk before offering value.
3
Documents, company requirements, government benefits sit in separate systems. Operator has to connect them himself.
One business to keep running, no single route for support
I focused on regional operators with three to five medium trucks. Their vehicle class connected to the original freight problem and the electric-truck scheme, but their immediate priorities were keeping trucks working and money coming in.
Tukaram Mhatre
Runs intercity routes with a small fleet. Finds work through commission agents.
RUNS
4 Trucks
OWNS
3 Trucks
VEHICLE CLASS
9-12 tonnes
HIS PHONE
Budget Android
₹8,000–20,000 device context
HIS READING CONTEXT
Familiar language, short explanations
Limited digital literacy, reads slowly
THE DESIGN TEST
One hand, little time
Clear next step, with room to stop/return.
Tukaram wants to…
01
Keep every truck earning
Track renewals, maintenance and drivers. An idle truck still costs money.
02
Know what is coming in
Wait for payments while covering diesel, wages and tolls. New work must make financial sense.
03
Understand what he's agreeing to
More paperwork and more disclosure can feel like a cost, even when a service is free.
SOLUTION
Useful today, worth returning to tomorrow
Saakh is a proposed mobile extension of e-FAST that brings existing records, benefits and business requirements into actions an operator can take. It has to earn its place in his diesel business before asking him to consider an electric future.
Keep a truck on the road
See what needs attention and how to renew it, or correct the record.
Find value in a parked truck
Understand the metal proceeds and the certificate he can keep or sell.
Be ready for company work
Understand the costs, create the required documents and choose whether to pitch.
KEY CONSIDERATION
We invent no entitlements. We assemble the ones that already exist and make them claimable.
Why this product?
To define where Saakh could add value and which problems were already being addressed, I studied BlackBuck and Vahak to understand who they serve, what they offer and how their business models shape their priorities.
A different job from finding the next load
BlackBuck supports payments, tracking, loads and finance. Vahak connects transporters and shippers for loads and truck booking. Saakh’s role: help operators understand requirements and use existing support, while keeping their current work relationships.
CORE FLOWS
Manage his fleet and be ready for business
Track document deadlines, plan renewals and correct outdated records from the truck’s own page.
Benefit from electric transition without buying a truck
See its metal and scrappage certificate value, then choose whether to keep the certificate or prepare it for sale.
Keep his agent. Open another route to work
Compare monthly costs and requirements, create a bilty book, pitch for a contract and issue the first consignment note.
Onboarding to Saakh
Look up a truck’s records and see what needs attention before choosing to create an account.
PROTOTYPING & TESTING
Exploring interfaces for a late adopter
The first version of Saakh was designed to look affordable. Indian government and banking apps are often plain, which is partly intentional. It indicates financial affordability. Operators saw it differently. To them a bland screen didn’t signify growth. It became clear the old plainness came from weak design, not intent. So the redesign had a second job besides clarity: every screen should make the operator feel their business is moving forward.
A yard that looks like a business
The first home screen was a list of number plates. Now it shows where each truck is, and every problem sits on its truck with a fix.
A record that says what's next
A column of dates that needed to be worked out became days left/overdue. Lapsed document sits on the truck with one action.
Promise only what Saakh can do
The first version claimed to list the certificate for sale. Now it saves a private draft and hands off to the government’s V-Scrap portal.
What it takes, not what you lack
The first version opened with a warning that none of the contracts were within reach. Now each one lists what it needs, and tapping a requirement shows how to meet it.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Organized around his business
The truck is the starting point. Four stable tabs organise the rest: his vehicles, money, work and business identity. A record gathered once can support the next task, with sharing kept under his control.
INSIGHT 01
Show value before asking him to sign up
Registration was useful to the initiative, but why would it be useful to the operator? I moved the first benefit ahead of the first ask: enter a truck number, see its available record and identify anything needing attention. Only then does Saakh offer to save his trucks. Joining the app is separate from later decisions about his business.
Less effort to get started
He can look up any truck, including one he might buy or operate, and spot issues before taking it on. This gives him a reason to use Saakh even before creating an account.
Runs four, owns three
A truck can be operated by someone whose name is not on its registration. The flow captures that distinction and keeps the operating link marked as pending until it is confirmed.
INSIGHT 02
An expired document needs a way forward
For an operator managing several trucks, a missed deadline can mean lost working time. I designed the flow to make urgent issues easy to spot and the next step clear, reducing the effort of tracking paperwork and figuring out how to get a truck back on the road.
Less disruption to his business
He needs to plan for both the fee and time away from work. Location, appointment options and estimates sit together so he can decide before requesting a visit. If he has already renewed, he can correct the record instead.
INSIGHT 03
Explain the commitment before asking him to make it
A company contract gives the operator a reason to consider new paperwork. It can also bring recurring costs and obligations. Instead of pushing him towards tax registration, I made three routes comparable: issue bilties, register for GST, or keep his current arrangement. The comparison brings together monthly amounts, tax responsibility and paperwork. His existing agent work continues whichever route he chooses.
A total is only useful when you can see it’s inputs
Monthly breakdown separates contract income from diesel, wages, tolls and other running costs. This lets him judge whether the estimate fits his own business. An unexplained total would ask for trust the product has not earned yet.
Continue from understanding to doing
Explaining that he needs a bilty, a consignment note for the goods carried, would leave the hardest part to him. The flow explains the document, helps create his first bilty book, then offers a separate choice to pitch for the contract.
INSIGHT 04
Connect him to electric before asking him to transition
Scrappage links an immediate business decision to the original electric-freight ambition. An operator can receive money for the metal and a certificate of deposit. The certificate can support an eligible electric-truck purchase or be transferred to another buyer under the scheme’s rules. That creates a way to participate without requiring the operator to buy an electric truck himself.
Explain the route, offer help along the way
The certificate screen explains the trading steps and keeps the government portal directly accessible. If the operator wants help, Saakh prepares a private draft. Saving that draft does not publish a listing. The handoff makes clear where Saakh’s help ends and the external process begins.
DESIGN SYSTEM
A familiar language, from the first truck to the next task
I chose Mukta for its clear letterforms, approachable character and support for both English and Hindi. The x-height for both scripts is the same, which allows for smooth UI design between the two languages. Blue gives Saakh the calm, dependable tone I wanted from a product dealing with vehicle records, money and business decisions. I also created a custom two-colour icon library to make everyday tasks easier to recognise and reduce reliance on text.
#000000
#647187
#8E8F9D
#F5F7FB
#2F64E2
Primary
#BBD8FF
Secondary
#8E8F9D
#F1F4F8
#FFFFFF
App Icon
Inspired by the Trucker's Knot, the Saakh icon brings a familiar symbol of security and trust to the home screen.
REFLECTIONS
What I learned
Understand hesitation before removing it
I became more careful about treating hesitation as a usability problem. If continuing means recurring paperwork or sharing business information, a clearer choice can matter more than a faster flow.
Be precise about what the interface promises
A confident-looking interface can make an estimate feel guaranteed. I learned to make uncertainty visible, distinguishing what the app knows, what it estimates and what someone outside the app still needs to confirm.
Build consistency around meaning
I started judging my visual system by what users could recognise across screens: how amounts are compared, how attention is signalled and where the next action sits. Reusing a card only helps if its behaviour and meaning remain familiar.