Travel TBD | Bowen Zhou Design

Experience Finding App.

To discover life in other people's shoes

Overview

The Challenge

Find new user needs regarding travel & leisure

Time Frame

5 weeks

Team: 4 people

My Role: UIUX Designer

We split up design works equally among members

Needs Research

Findings

Following others

Most people find experiences by looking at what others have done.

Unified Experience

Users desire to have the experience of finding events and route-finding to be unified in one place.

Users think that would result in a more convenient experience

Personal

Users want more customization in all aspects

Recommendation results
Filters choices

Users want the system to remember who they are so that they don't have to start fresh each time

Local

Users want more local experiences that are not always organized by big organizations.

e.g. Drag show at a bar, Parties...

Features

Users search up "Attractions" on Google Maps to find experiences. This is a potential solution for having a "unified experience for planning & action"

The desire of having customized features is repeating theme

Based on this feedback, the idea of a platform that shows users similar people's travel plans started to emerge.

Business Case Studies

2015:

53% Leisure Travel

27% Friend & Relative Visits, Religious, Health

Unexpected Validation of an Early Concept

The idea of a platform where users post and find travel plans for people of similar interests applies to both the Leisure user group and the religious & Friends user group. ( with their visits often involving group activities e.g. dinner & night out)

Learning from Existing Products

Market Validation

It is easier to gather reviews if the related "transaction" happens on the same platform.

Users feel more engaged when the search output is relevant to the users' habits

Learning from Failed Travel Startups

1/4

Why Startups Failed:

Complicated UX

Travel data is complex, it's hard to keep the User experience simple.

Adaption to Changing Landscape

Consumers have high expectations.

Information is constantly changing

Vulnerable Business Model

When are returns going to be generated?

Volatile Customer Memory

Users don't travel all the time. How does one ensure a high user return rate?

Market Research

Design Goals

Connective - real people, and real experiences

Unified - planning + doing

Personal - Customizable & tailored experiences

Local & within the nation - Discover life right around you

Focused User Segments:

Local explorer

Young single user

Young small group users

City to city travelers

UserFlow

Success Metric

RoughIdeas

Group Discussion
& Design Decisions

Example of Feature Decisions:

On-Boarding Questions & System Memory

a short questionnaire to understand users' lifestyles and interests.
continuously updates the user's interest profile according to recent activities.

Suggested Routes & Experiences on the map

make suggestions visually connected to the map, creating easy access
the map along with main components and would be on the home page.

Flow Chart

Wireframes

UserTest Feedbacks & Changes

Users love Friends' activity feature & seeing others' routes

" I want to be able to see what people I know are doing and maybe join them if I don't know what to do on a Friday afternoon."

" I would go on here just to stalk on what other people are doing."

Users confused about whom the routes on the map belong to and when they were made.

Overall Users feel that there are too many frames

Search location suggestions are too short, and the “refine your search” section is too long

Tackled in 2nd stage Wireframe

Simplifying the Design

• suggestion tab & suggested routes serve the same function

-> got rid of the suggestion tab, which gives us space for filters on the first page. This allows filters to be put on the current location immediately and bring more spontaneous results.