Travista

Solo trip - meet new friends and go on memorable excursions

Unique vacation - plan a great itinerary for a get together with friends

Weekend trip - refresh and take a trip out of town

Discovery


To understand what made some some trips great and some mediocre, I conducted secondary research, competitive research, structured primary interviews and even talked to strangers.


While travel preferences are varied and deeply personal, most people travel because it generates positive feelings, which can range from wonder, peace, gaining confidence and bliss. Key themes emerged that generate positive feelings while traveling.


  • Novel experiences - being lost in a different world can lead to new perspectives, heighten creativity and generate awe


  • Building connections - whether with new friends, trusted pals or a partner, creating and strengthening bonds generate positive emotions such as calmness, contentment and joy


  • Space to explore - the ability to experience unexpected events can lead to feelings of wonder and excitement


On the flip side, elements of not-so-great trips include overly planned itineraries, unpleasant experiences such as theft, feeling compelled to do things one's not interested in because of co-travelers, and lonely days in solo trips.

UI Design


To build coherence between UI and the app's purpose, I wanted the visuals to be inspired by an element of travel, such as nature, city vibrancy or ways of transportation (e.g., the highway, the sky). After trying may different concepts, I chose the sunset as the inspiration. It is part of life everywhere in the world, and it exudes vibrant colors which would be visually pleasing to users and encourage time on the app. I also wanted travel photos to dominate the UI to attract people to different destinations. I tried different colors from the sunrise on the home screen.

Selected Screens

My Role: UX, UI, User Research, Testing

Process

I wanted to design an app that would make people fall more and more in love with traveling throughout life.

Overview

Prototypes

Arriving in Paris for a solo trip, Kristen wants to experience the city in a unique, exciting way. She searches for planned excursions to meet other travelers, finds new friends, and invites a new friend to see the Catacombs

See Prototype

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Find destinations that are interesting and fit the budget. Follow Kristin as she chooses an affordable destination, invites friends to join, and leverages AI to create and iterate on an itinerary that would best match what they are looking for. Travista also allows friends to communicate with each other on the app as they plan the trip.

Just a few hours away from home could be an unexpected oasis or wonderful adventure. Use Travista to find great places nearby and invite people to join. Follow our protagonist as she explores destinations nearby, invites friends and plans a wonderful getaway.

See Prototype

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1

Data Synthesis


To comprehend the large amount of research, I created an affinity map. Then I made empathy maps to understand the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of 3 user groups. After that, I created personas to hone in on specific user needs, goals and challenges.

2

Ideation


Because traveling is such a broad topic, a large amount of ideas poured into my head, ranging from digital scrapbooking to travel buddy matching to creating wish trips for the future. I grouped and prioritized them based on the core problems identified from the 3 personas.

3

Tiffany

28 years old

Experienced traveler

About Tiffany

She grew up in a small town in Michigan and went on her first trip out of the country in middle school, where she studied abroad in New Zealand. Ever since then, she's caught the travel bug. She is a cyclist and wants to do races at different places around the world. Just this year, she and her ex-boyfriend broke up after a 7-year relationship.

Needs and Goals

Continue to participate in cycling races around the world and follow her passion for traveling while rebuilding her life after the breakup.

Challenges

She has to balance work with self-healing after a devastating breakup. While she still has friends, her social circle has drastically decreased and she has a lot of empty time to fill.

Peyton

32 years old

HR Manager

About Peyton

She grew up in Charleston, NC and went to university at Georgia Tech, where she made a lot of friends and met her future husband. She currently lives in Atlanta and works as an HR Manager at Coca Cola. She goes on 1 or 2 big trips per year and enjoys getting out of town on the weekends.

Needs and Goals

Continue building her career while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and strong relationships with her friends and family. She also wants to find her creative side again through writing and scrapbooking.

Challenges

Her job is taking up more and more energy as she progresses in her career. Her father is starting to have health problems, and she is helping take care of him, so she has less time to herself than ever before. She feels less inspired now to explore while her energy is bogged down by work and personal commitments.

Simon

22 years old

University Graduate

About Simon

He grew up in a town 1 hour outside of Frankfurt and recently graduated from university with a degree in marketing. He does not have a job yet but interns as a social media content creator. He lives at home and has some money saved up. He has not traveled abroad except for going to Disney World when he was a toddler. He is very interested in traveling to become more culturally aware and grow his self-confidence.

Needs and Goals

See the world before starting a full-time job. Gain confidence that he can maneuver through the world as an adult. Meet people from different cultures to gain new perspectives, which would help his growth and career.in marketing

Journeys, Flows and Wireframes


Based on the 3 personas, I created user scenarios to further prioritize which ideas to expand upon and design for. Some ideas served multiple purposes. For example, sharing previous experiences via photos and reels can build someone's credibility while contributing feedback about activities or destinations.


As I continued with the information architecture and wireframes, I saw that features started flowing together. For example, there is a feature to join excursions and another one to chat with fellow travelers. I connected the two, so the user can invite a new friends to an excursion they requested to join. The north star I followed was for the app to be relevant before, during and after the trip. When people are traveling, they would be focused on having a great experience. When they are at home, they could be reminiscing or planning a future trip.

4

Concept Testing


I talked to 10 people for either tree testing or concept testing, and received valuable feedback. A lot of the feedback I heard was related to popular existing apps, which is interesting as it shows the power of mental models.


People appreciated

  • The ability to talk to other travelers and validate credibility - similar to dating apps and LinkedIn

  • Having a consolidated platform to plan trips with other people instead of relying on group chats

  • Build connections that would otherwise not have happened


Top improvement suggestions

  • GPS service would be incredibly helpful while traveling

  • The ability to video call could increase belief in credibility

  • When something can be automatically filled in (e.g., cost info, destination), pre-populate it to reduce user effort

5

6

High Fidelity Design, Final Testing and Iterations


Based on the wireframes and UI inspirations, I created high fidelity screens and connected them to make a prototype, Then I conducted usability testing with 5 people. I heard suggestions for changes as well as brand new ideas. For example, remove unnecessary confirmation pages and make notifications as non-intrusive as possible, which I incorporate in the next iteration.


I learned important lessons during usability testing

  • Focus on function, which means following mental models. For example, the AI chat bot should always be accessible in the planning section of the app, so people feel like they have more control over the AI-generated itinerary

  • Colors should remain consistent unless there is a reason to change colors. People automatically associate a different color with a different action or feature

  • Notifications should be as non-intrusive as possible because people would be in the middle of a different task by then but there should be an easy way to get to the notification's goal

7

See Prototype

Watch on Youtube

Go Back to Home

A lack of time, knowledge or comfort level can stop people from experiencing amazing trips and reaping the immense benefits of traveling. I wanted to figure out how people can get more out of traveling through their lifetime.

Problem Statement

"I can't quite put my finger on why Turkey was so special. It was my first time hearing prayer broadcasted, and it surreal walking through ancient Roman ruins and architecture from the Ottoman Empire. It inspired me to be creative when I came back home"

Cassidy

"My favorite trip was to Italy where I got married to my wife. We had a wonderful 2 weeks staying at different villages"

Chris

"I had a nice dinner with the Tibetans and sang songs under the moonlight. I felt refreshed and invigorated"

Dolly

Challenges

He has a limited budget and cannot spend more than what is in his savings account. He has minimal prior experience traveling abroad, so he feels slightly intimidated about facing unexpected challenges in a different country.

Problem 1



Solution Ideas

Not exhaustive







Problem 2



Solution Ideas

Not exhaustive







Problem 3


Solution Ideas

Not exhaustive






Problem 4



Solution Ideas

Not exhaustive


It can be difficult to find time in the daily grind to research destinations and plan a trip with a great itinerary


  • Use AI to generate itinerary based on personal preferences and interests

  • Collaborate with other people to plan group trip

  • Crowdsource and find out what activities other people have enjoyed

  • Consider location of activities in itinerary



Lack of prior experience traveling can make some people feel nervous about big trips


  • Have real people upload travel experiences in stories, posts and reels explaining their experiences

  • Have certified travel "experts" who users can find in most destinations

  • Ability to ask questions to other travelers in real time

  • Ability to share experiences with others in a forum or chat



For solo travelers, it can be lonely exploring alone


  • Find people you would want to hang out with

  • Filter for people by interests, age, language spoken, etc.

  • Have a way to validate someone's safety and credibility, such as videos, ID checks, history of previous travels

  • Group excursions where people can join and meet others



It can be difficult staying within budget while vacationing at an enticing location


  • Calculate approximate cost of destinations and itineraries

  • Recommend destinations based on interests, personal preferences and budget needs

  • Recommend stays, food and activities based on budget

None of the colors seemed quite right. The above shade of purple seemed a bit tacky. The blue seemed a bit uninviting, and the light pink felt too childish. Then, I noticed that the sunset is comprised of gradients. I started incorporating gradients throughout the app to add liveliness, depth and vibrancy. Finally, to remind users that traveling is supposed to be fun, I created a squiggle asset.