Ruta SV: Bringing Digital Wayfinding to El Salvador’s Bus System

Ruta SV reimagines public transportation for El Salvador by creating the country’s first comprehensive digital wayfinding system—a complete mobility platform respecting the realities of Salvadoran life: limited data plans, cash-based payments, and a transit system built on community knowledge.

As Lead Product Designer, I led research efforts to understand how millions of Salvadorans navigate a bus system that operates more on trust and oral tradition than official schedules, then designed solutions that bridge digital convenience with existing user behaviors.

The Challenge

Unlike major cities with formal metro systems and official route maps, El Salvador’s public transportation operates semi-formally. Routes are identified by numbers and colors, but schedules are approximate at best. There’s no official app, no digital ticketing, and most information is shared verbally between passengers and drivers.

The cash-only payment system means exact change is required, with no way to plan costs in advance for multi-leg journeys. Real-time information doesn’t exist, leading to long waits with no idea when the next bus will arrive. Women especially mentioned safety concerns about waiting alone at night.

The digital divide adds another layer of complexity. While smartphone penetration is relatively high in urban areas, data plans are expensive and often limited. Any solution needed to work efficiently with minimal data usage and provide core functionality even when offline.

Research & Discovery

Understanding the problem required immersing ourselves in the daily reality of bus commuters. Over four weeks, the research team conducted 42 in-depth interviews, 8 focus groups in different neighborhoods, and spent countless hours riding buses and observing behavior at major transit hubs.

The user base was more diverse than initially assumed. While lower-income workers form the core ridership, university students, domestic workers, market vendors, and middle-class commuters all rely on buses daily. This meant designing for vastly different levels of digital literacy.

Affinity Mapping Insights

Through affinity mapping, we identified six key theme areas that encompassed the user experience challenges. These insights directly informed our design strategy and feature prioritization.

Design Strategy & Principles

Armed with research insights, we established core design principles that would guide every decision. These weren’t just aspirational statements—they became the filter through which we evaluated every feature and interaction.

The Solution: Ruta SV

Ruta SV is built around four core user needs: getting from point A to point B, understanding costs, knowing when buses arrive, and reducing travel anxiety. Each feature addresses one or more of these needs while respecting the constraints of the local context.

Testing & Iteration

Testing happened in waves, starting with low-fidelity prototypes and progressing to field testing. Each round revealed insights that fundamentally changed our approach.