Introduction
A hypothetical travel planner to help users easily access all travel requirements. I created a travel planner app that centralises your travel needs.
role
UI/UX Designer
project type
Mobile app, UI/UX design
project
Personal Project
tools
Figma, Excel
problem statement
What's the problem?
Many travelers struggle to manage and organise their travel necessities in an efficient way. Relying on multiple resources to acquire these requirements it is not only inconvenient but also time-consuming. Streamlining the process into a simple and convenient solution is crucial for optimising time and travel experience.
Why is this a problem?
Imagine you're at immigration, and they're asking you for a document. Where did you download it? Into your Drive, your photos app, or your Files folder? Or perhaps you're really hungry and want to find a good place to eat, but you're picky and want to eat where the locals do. Should you check restaurants on Google Maps, or search endlessly through browsers for the best food?
There are just so many apps and tools you have to open to find what you want. It's time-consuming, frustrating, and ruins the relaxed travel experience.
Whose problem am I solving?
More people are using the internet to research and book their travel requirements. The popularity of using mobile devices for booking travel is also growing.
90%
of young travelers use mobile apps for weather, airlines, and maps when traveling.
74%
use their smartphone to carry out initial research for their holiday, and 66% of Millennials use their phones to finalise bookings
11.8%
growth is predicted for the online travel market industry, reaching USD 2403.22 billion from 2022 to 2030
Why does it matter?
This shift in using mobile devices to research and book travel needs emphasises the importance of mobile optimisation and ensuring a smooth user experience.
research
User Research - Interview
As an initial research, I conducted interviews with people who frequently travel and book online. I found out that users:
Most users used Excel and Sheets to plan their travels. It was difficult to read and navigate the Excel document on their mobile screens.
Documents were saved in different places. Users have trouble remembering where they put their important travel documents and must find it quickly.
Users had trouble deciding quickly where to go or eat when they’re in the city.
Below are some images of user’s itinerary on Excel that they used on their mobile phones.
Competitive Analysis
I looked into some tools that users tend to use to plan for their trip.
I found:
Although apps such as Excel and Notion allowed creative freedom in terms of customisation, they are often difficult to read on a mobile device.
Many of the tools required a steep learning curve, making them complicated to use during trips.
It didn’t offer a local experience.
Due to these reasons, users miss out on many local experiences they had planned. The difficulty in reading the app on mobile devices contributes to this issue. It’s best to have an easy-to-learn app with a simple UI to eliminate any friction.
Personas
Understanding the users' perspectives, I have crafted the following personas.
Lara
25 | Solo Traveler | Destination: Korea
Needs:
Wants to try authentic local Korean food
Frustrations:
Websites show just touristy restaurants that have bad reviews
Wastes time trying to find a good spot to eat and feels frustrated
Can’t find the restaurant name that she saved
Anessa
30 | Travelling with family | Destination: Greece
Needs:
Find important documents quickly
Frustrations:
Has a family of 4 and has difficulty finding all family members documents
Itinerary is messy and can’t find the destination
How will I resolve the issues?
Problem space #1: People use Excel to view their itinerary
People usually use Excel to create their itinerary, but when travel time comes, it is often difficult to view the plan for the day. I want to create a simple and easy-to-follow timetable that will also alert you to your next destination.
Problem space #2: Travel documents are scattered everywhere
Users can store their important documents all in one place and organise them by country.
Problem space #3: Difficulty choosing a place to go, eat or stay
Having trouble choosing a place to eat? An AI chatbot can pick the perfect spot for you, so you don’t suffer from decision paralysis!
The solution
Creating an app that is easy to follow, stores all your important documents, and recommends places to go will create a better travel experience.
design
Wireframe
Visual Identity
Final Design
Onboarding
Travel Bot Recommendation
Travel Bot recommends restaurants, attractions, or hotels based on your preferences for distance, budget, and more. You can also ask Travel Bot any travel-related questions.
Upload file
You can upload files or take photos and save them in folders you create for easy access. These folders can be organized by specific countries.
Itinerary
In the itinerary section, you can create trips and manage your itinerary with features like file uploads and checklist creation.
Settings
Notifications will appear shortly before your activities are scheduled to start.
reflection
Takeaways
This project allowed me to create a mobile app from scratch, including logo design, choosing branding colours, mobile design, and creating new features. This process enabled me to expand my knowledge and experiment with various design assets, such as user interface elements, typography, and interaction patterns. I learned a lot about creating features that meet users' needs and conducting user research to understand what functionalities are essential in a travel app.
If time permits, I would create an interactive prototype to provide users with a more immersive experience of the app and iterate on the design based on feedback. Implementing this design for the web would be beneficial, as some users prefer to organise their itinerary and research material on their desktop. I also want to interview more people to understand if they use other apps besides Excel for their travel planning.