Improving travel experiences among traveling planning platforms
This case study explains my design process from Empathizing stage to the design stage.
Introduction and challenges
I was surfing through Twitter when I came across a statement asking why there isn’t a platform where individuals can create a trip plan, and anyone can join in on the fun. I really just glanced past that tweet, but a few days later, I noticed another one stating that people need to be able to compare agency costs and the packages they are offering. Then I remembered the tweet I saw earlier and thought these issues were from the same niche. What if the solutions can actually be embedded in a single location?
Project type: Personal portfolio
Role: Solo UX designer
Tools: Figma, Google forms
Responsibility: Conducting interviews, producing paper-based and digital wireframes, high-fidelity and low-fidelity prototypes, carrying out usability tests, taking accessibility into account, and revising designs.
My Design process
I adhered to the critical design thinking approach to ensure that my design decisions were founded on user research and feedback.
User Research
The goal of user research is to understand the needs, behaviors, and motivations of users.
Recruiting method: The sole need to be eligible for my interview or survey is that you must be over 16, which implies you can travel alone and on a regular basis.
I conducted my research using both qualitative and quantitative analyses.
For qualitative I had an interview via google meet with 10 people that are regular travelers, so they can share with me the problems they face when trying to plan a trip so I can gain more insights. And in the quantitative, I sent out a survey on my social media and I got 20 responses.
Here is the list of questions for my survey that I think might be able to help me understand and know users' pain points and probably align with my goals
- How old are you?
- How do you plan your trip?
- What are the challenges you face when trying to plan a trip?
- What were experiences like traveling through a travel agency?
- What is booking facilities typically like for you?
- How do you enjoy traveling?
- Would you use an app to find a travel buddy?
- How often do you travel?
- What are your safety concern when it comes to traveling alone?
- Do you rely on an app when planning a trip or do you do it offline?
- How do you go about finding an agent?
- Have you canceled a trip because you don't want to go alone?
- If you are to find someone going on a trip would you join in?
- What are the things you would like to see or know about agency packages?
- What are your major concern when traveling alone?
Key findings derived from interviews
- There are few trustworthy travel agencies
- Inability to find travel agencies they settle for what they have
- Traveling alone for some people is super scary
- Traveling alone is quite expensive
- Generally, people enjoy traveling with other people
- The need to see what these agencies have to offer for the money they are charging
- The cost and the security are the top concern for people when going on a trip alone
Quantitative research
More information and a pattern on the commonalities that travelers might or will want to experience are provided by the survey.
Key Insights from quantitative analysis
- 57% Of travelers plan trips on their own because they can't find anyone to plan for them
- 80% of travelers will use an app to find a travel buddy
- 52% of travelers travel 2–5 times in a year
- 55% of travelers canceled their trip because they didn’t want to go alone
- 35% of travelers find booking facilities difficult
Competitor Analysis
Finding any gaps in the market is something that UX designers may do with the help of a competitor study. For instance, you might find a feature in your research that your competitors’ products lack. Imagine you discover a feature that would benefit a market that is underserved. Here is my competitor analysis for this product.
Define
User persona
I was able to deduce from my survey that various people have varied needs. I created two personas using the combination of several insights that I received. But I made the decision to choose the one that meets the majority of the survey respondents’ needs.
Empathy mapping
I utilize empathy maps to connect with our users and comprehend their thoughts and feelings. This is crucial because it enables me to understand and learn the motivations behind their actions.
How might we
How Might We statements helped me turn my observations from users into useful design solutions
Problem statement
How might we create an app that makes it simple for users to plan trips, allow other people to join in the trip and end up sharing the whole cost, and search for and compare travel agency packages to get the most suitable option that also fits their budget?
Ideate
User flows
I created a user flow showing how users interact and navigate the app. Below is a simplified user flow in action.
Information Architecture
Paper wireframes/ Sketches
Starting with sketches the first step to getting an idea is to scribble on paper. They don’t have to look perfect. But the idea is just to start the app flow into something more tangible
Design stage
Low fidelity wireframes
Low fidelity prototype
I linked each screen involved in the main user flow of locating a travel agency and successfully making a reservation in order to produce a low-fidelity prototype.
I received feedback on my designs from actual users regarding topics like button placement and page layout. I listened intently to their comments, and I put a number of their suggestions into practice where they addressed user pain points.
Usability study
I asked 7 participants to assist test the low-fidelity prototype so that I could have a better understanding of the application’s usability before beginning to design the high-fidelity design.
They all performed and interacted with the application incredibly well which gave me the confidence to move ahead to the high-fidelity design. Although they can still use some refinement in future but it solves the problem I am trying to address and it solves them easily
Style guide
Colors
I decided to go with the color purple as my primary color because purple is best used in design when you need to inspire people or create a sense of luxury. And I use black and white as my supporting colors
Typography
Final User Interface ( High fidelity design )
High fidelity prototype
The user flow for the high-fidelity prototype was the same as for the low-fidelity prototype, as there were no changes exactly after the usability testing done on the low-fidelity design. I shared the prototype once again but this time its more visually appealing because it has colors and pictures in appropriate places and that even made it a lot easier for users to navigate
Conclusion
The general conclusion from the usability testing was that the app’s core functionality and user experience were clear-cut and simple, even for a layperson. So based on the feedback I concluded that the prototype was relatively a success.
Thank you for reading my case study. If you want to see more of my work my contact is linked below.
Behance : https://www.behance.net/rukayatsalam
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruqoyaah-salam-3b4117210
