Project
Voyager
Timeline
July 2022 - Aug 2022
My Role
UI Design, Research
Overview
The Voyager app helps users who like to travel or have relocated plan out their stay, find local happenings, destinations and meet new people. The app provides personalized suggestions for users as well as a way to get recommendations from other people.
The Problem
Frequent travelers often use extensive google searching to plan out their trip, and even so don't have a way to indulge in local communities. They also struggle to find personalized suggestions for activities and destinations online.
Participants and Method
To best understand the context of this problem, I interviewed 5 people who have traveled frequently in the last year. A majority of participants recruited had used various online tools to plan out their trip and had experience both solo-traveling as well as with other people.
Participants were asked demographic questions, followed by questions about their traveling experiences.
Interview Questions
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Tell me about the last time you traveled to a different city.
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How did you get around the city and find local events?
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What are some struggles of finding events in a new location?
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Did you join any local communities? How did you engage with them?
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Lets say you move to a new city. How would you go about meeting new people?
Key Insights
After the interview, I compiled the key points into an affinity map and listed the insights into what the user feels and needs to have good travel experiences. Users had some expectations for a solution that makes the travel process less complicated in terms of logistics and organization.
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Users found it difficult to maintain a travel log when they had too many activities in mind.
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Users were unsure how they would make connections with people in their new location.
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Users had trouble finding personalized recommendations for activities, food etc.
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Some users were intimidated by a new setting and had concerns about transportation and safety
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Users wanted a more compact way of planning logistics instead of browsing several websites at once.
Competitive Analysis
Interviewees were asked about their preferred method of trip-planning. All of them answered that they used google searches to book flights, hotels and find places within the new city. A majority of the interviewees said they also used travel sites and apps such as Expedia, Tripadvisor, Travelocity, and wanderlog. They claimed that these platforms helped them research the city through readily available information and user reviews. Though, when comparing these platforms I noticed that some of the users' concerns were not fully addressed by these apps and lacked a few features that could potentially enhance the experience of the user.
Some things I noticed,
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2 out of 4 platforms lacked a booking feature, leading users to search elsewhere for flights and reservations.
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1 out of 4 apps had a forums feature that users could use to ask people for recommendations or find information
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Personalized suggestions were rarely offered amidst unrelated articles containing featured guides. Could be distracting for the users and cause navigation issues.
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Difficulty finding city guides such as a map feature to help the users navigate the city.
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Even though all platforms contained a planner feature, too many CTA's cluttered the planning experience. Adding tasks to planner was generally not straightforward.
User Journey
After getting a decent idea of how a day in the life looks like for a user traveling to a different city, I put together a journey map containing all the pain points and potential solutions. From planning to getting comfortable in the new city, the user's emotions vary throughout the process. For example, while travelers may be excited by the idea of visiting a new city and planning logistics, they may feel nervous when they arrive at the destination. A solution to this problem could be a city guide of some sort with step by step instructions. Similarly, a design solution must be created with these fluctuations in mind.
Design Solution
Some possible design features include:
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Forums - I found that users heavily trusted word of mouth suggestions from friends, family, social media etc. A possible feature for this would be a forums feature where users can share experiences and recommendations.
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Travel Itinerary - Though obvious for a travel planning platform, this feature should also include an expenses planner feature to keep track of the user's budget during the trip.
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Personalized Suggestions - Besides a forums feature, the platform gives the user recommendations based on their interests and hobbies, if they so choose.
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Flight Booking - During my competitive analysis, I discovered that other platforms allowed users to add flights to their itinerary, given that they already had booked a flight and had all the information available. This platform will enable users to do that, as well as browse flights as they go if they haven't already done so.
User Flow
The next step was to create a flow for how users will navigate the app. From start to finish, the users can take different routes to access the content they need all within the platform. For example, if a user wishes to browse new flights instead of adding a pre existing one, they have the option to do so.
Wireframes
After sketching out the P&P wireframes, it was time to create a digital version. The main challenge here was to organize the different task flows in a way that users don't have to scroll too far to find content they were looking for. That is, similar content was lumped into categories, while CTA's are clearly visible when the user first enters a page.
Final Screens & Prototype
Now for the hard part. I had to create a design that felt welcoming to the user, while also keeping in mind the user flow and needs. Ensuring that all pages were intuitively designed was the goal here.
Challenges and Takeaways
Here are some challenges I faced while designing this app and what I learned:
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The Scope- Narrowing down the scope of the project was difficult. What started out as an endeavor aimed at a niche user group very quickly started growing in size. For example, the original goal was to design an app geared towards South Asian travelers so they can find traditional events and cuisine wherever they go, but an app that only shows specific suggestions would turn the user away if they wish to try out other local fascinations.
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Add more screens- Time constraints made adding more task flows challenging. To keep up with similar apps in the "Travel" space, more screens will need to be added for specific items.
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Bottom-up design- I hope to keep working on this app, eventually designing a web version for multiple devices. Certain aspects of this app, such as flight booking, may be more usable on a computer.
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Heuristic Evaluations and additional testing- To add more iterations to my design solution, I will need to test it a few more times. Since this is a continual process, testing will be more complex as more screens and devices are added.
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Standing out- When I first started ideating, I wanted the design solution to be "different". I quickly realized that the more important thing to consider is how efficient my design solution makes the user life. When it comes to traveling, the user is always on the go trying to explore new places. Creating an app that has only has quirky features will impede on the task efficiency for the user, which is a huge no-no.