destination app
MY ROLE
OVERVIEW
Destination app allows travelers to get recommendations from other travelers, connect with travelers through a social platform, and plan activities for their trip - with or without the people they are traveling with.
User Research, User Interviews, User Flows, Information Architecture, Feature Prioritization, Sketching > Wireframes > Prototyping, UI, Testing
The way we make travel plans is changing as technology evolves. I wanted to find out what makes a traveler feel safe on their trip and find a solution to help the modern traveler plan their next trip. With so many details involved with planning travel, my goal was to make planning travel simple, streamlined, and secure. I conducted user research to discover the various pain points people face when traveling or planning travel.
the challenge
With many details involved, my goal is to make planning travel simple, streamlined, and secure. I conducted user research to discover the various pain points people face when traveling or planning travel.
GOALS
EMPATHIZE
User Research
User research is conducted by creating a proto-persona to appropriate the scope of the project and zoom into the target audience. Users are then interviewed individually to collect qualitative data and uncover pain points and insights about our users needs, goals, and behaviors. A survey was administered to learn more about our user and how they behave. With the data from the interviews and survey, notes were taken and put into an affinity diagram. With the observations made through data collection and the affinity map, an empathy diagram was created. WIth the empathy map highlighting the way our user might see, feel, think, and do - we were able to create a user persona to represent our data and bring our user to life.
KEY takeaways
1. Most users felt generally safe while traveling.
2. Users felt safe when traveling with others. Most prefer to travel with others and would be open to traveling with strangers as long as they had similar interests.
3. Recommendations hold the most influence when making travel plan decisions.
Meet Talia Owens
I used the research findings to develop a persona that would help me make design decisions that will best serve users achieve their goals using the app.
DEFINE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Our travelers are feeling stress when trying to prepare for travel because the information they gather through research is scattered.
USER INSIGHTS
I took user insights from my research and created how might we and POV statements to get a clear view of what is needed from the app to help the user.
“I am traveling overseas for the first time and I’m trying to prepare so that I can enjoy myself instead of stress. But because all the information I need is scattered, I’m feeling overwhelmed and anxious.”
- TALIA
How might we help provide Talia with a place to compile her trip information in one place?
1. Give Talia the option to create itineraries based on “destination”
2. Allow Talia to take notes and search recommendations and photos
How might we help Talia find quality recommendations and reviews on her destination?
1. Allow Talia to search recommendations based on destination.
2. Users can post photos and recommendations about particular recommendations.
3. Add social proof by adding “like” buttons to photos and recommendations.
How might we give Talia a way to access people who have been to her destination?
1. Create a social atmosphere by allowing Talia to like, and follow other travelers
2. Give Talia and other travelers the option to post photos and recommendations about their own travel.
USER FLOW
I created a user flow to show the apps start to finish path. I wanted to be sure that users had the freedom to browse the app and explore without feeling lost. I included many ways to navigate back home or to their profile.
IDEATION
Wire Frames
I started building out some wireframes of the product to begin seeing the features of the user flow laid out. It was helpful for me to see how navigation would work throughout the app. I've included the frames of the a few featured tasks.
Final Experience
TESTING
User testing
I conducted three tests including four tasks each. My objective was to learn how I could make action steps more intuitive for the user.
TASKS:
1. Login to the app with a newly created account.
2. Add Belize as a new destination.
3. Create a packing list for newly created trip.
4. Add a recommendation to the Belize trip.
Changes
I wanted to give users an option to "save" recommendations somewhere they could revisit later but also offer a way to "add" it to a trip they were currently planning for. Social proof validates recommendations through adding the number of saves that the recommendation has received.
Through testing, I learned that there was confusion between "adding a recommendation" to your trip destination and "saving" the recommendation for later.
I kept the number of saves to validate social proof but put it over the save button to simplify the design and avoid having two heart icons. I added an "add" icon with a label stating the user can add it to their destination. Additionally, I added drop shadows to separate the recommendations and have them appear more clickable. To further add to the appearance of being more clickable, I also added a different arrow icon and moved it to a more intuitive click location. I also added an additional tab at the top that will allow someone to see their saved recommendations, the ones added to the trip, and recommendations for the destination.