The
Metro Musicians
Designing for Fairness, Visibility, and Community in Montreal’s Metro Performance System
Role: Research, UX/UI Design, Prototyping
Timeline: 1 Month
Context
As a former metro violinist in Montreal and Iran, I experienced firsthand the informal and often chaotic process of booking performance spots. Before STM digitized reservations, musicians physically signed up at 6 a.m., leading to competition, conflict, and inequity.
Although STM later introduced an online booking system, it solved scheduling — but not community.
Design Principles
Problem
The current system allows digital booking but does not support:
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Musician visibility (who is performing when)
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Collaboration between performers
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Digital tipping or social linking
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Transparency in scheduling behavior
The result: musicians operate in isolation within a shared space.
Community Before Competition
The system should encourage collaboration rather than intensify booking rivalry.
Transparent & Accountable
Availability, scheduling, and performer visibility must be clear and enforce fair use.
Reduce Friction, Not Expression
Technology should simplify logistics without interrupting the performance experience.
Hybrid Presence
The platform bridges physical metro performance and digital identity.
Solution
Metro Musician introduces three core systems:
1️⃣ Musician Profiles
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Bio, instrument, preferred stations
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Sample audio
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Booking schedule
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Discoverable by genre or instrument
2️⃣ Booking Interface
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View available spots
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See who is performing
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Receive reminders
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Cancel bookings
3️⃣ Collaboration Tools
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Discover compatible musicians
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Connect for joint performances
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Encourage genre-based pairing
Full interface exploration used to test navigation, booking flow, and musician discovery.
Iterative Design Process
I explored multiple interface structures and user flows in Figma to test how musicians would navigate booking, discover performers, and manage profiles.
Beginning with low-fidelity wireframes focused on core functionality, I gradually refined hierarchy, layout, and interaction patterns to improve clarity and usability across the system.