Parco is a mobile parking platform that enables cashless, ticket-free, pay-per-minute parking across hundreds of cities in Germany and Austria. The product operates within complex municipal regulations while serving users in time-critical, high-stress urban contexts.
We focused on translating regulatory complexity into a clear, fast, and trustworthy end-to-end experience.
Lead / Founder Designer
Brand Identity
Marketing Website
Custom mobile design system
iOS & Android app
Most parking apps in Germany looked like corporate utilities. I designed Parco to feel friendly and a little playful, and people noticed: it held a 4.8 rating through its first month.
Parco was fully acquired by Swarco AG in 2024.
Urban parking is defined by:
Most parking systems optimize for enforcement rather than user understanding.
We shaped a parking experience that prioritizes speed, clarity, and user confidence, translating complex municipal parking rules into a simple mobile flow for real-world, time-pressured situations.
Parco user flow
The session screen started as one button. Billing was already per minute, so a duration felt unnecessary. Start when you arrive, stop when you leave, pay for the time in between. To me it was the neatest interaction we could offer, and I expected it to test well.
We built both that version and a dial that sets an expected duration, and put them in front of 20 potential customers and our main stakeholders. Every one of them chose the dial.
Wireframes of the one-button start/stop session flow: before, active, and after
The one-button version: start when you arrive, stop when you leave
Wireframes of the duration dial flow: set, active, and extend
The dial version: set an expected duration, extend or end early
Three reasons came up:
So we shipped the dial, with per-minute billing behind it. You set an expected duration and see the estimate up front, the app reminds you before it runs out, adding time is one tap, and ending early refunds the difference. People got the control they asked for without the overpayment they were used to from meters.
The simplest interaction was not the one people wanted to use. That was worth finding out before we built it.
Parco parking session
Parco start parking
Angelo Wellens, Product Designer
Builds from first idea to launched product
