TRAVL: A Comprehensive Travel Planning App
Role
Lead Designer
Project
New App
Overview
As an avid traveler, I set out to design an app that would streamline the travel planning process and eliminate common pain points that often arise during trip preparation. The goal was to create a seamless, all-in-one solution for travelers, enabling them to plan their trips without having to switch between multiple platforms.
goals
Design a versatile travel app that caters to diverse traveler types and needs.
Provide an all-inclusive platform so users don't have to rely on multiple apps for trip planning.
Address the main challenges travelers face when planning a trip.
Enhance the user experience of building and managing itineraries.
Research & Approach
To understand the user needs and pain points, I gathered insights through a variety of methods, including:
Customer Interviews: Conducted interviews with 20 individuals from different demographics to identify pain points and expectations.
Rose/Thorn/Bud: A method for analyzing what users liked, disliked, and what could be improved.
Market Research: Analyzed existing travel apps to pinpoint gaps in the market and opportunities for innovation.
Personas & Customer Journeys: Developed personas and mapped out customer journeys to understand their behaviors, motivations, and needs.
Prototyping & Testing: Created low-fidelity wireframes, paper prototypes, and digital prototypes to test and refine design ideas.
Information Architecture & Storyboarding: Organized app flow and features to ensure a logical, intuitive user experience.
User Research Insights
Through user interviews and feedback, I identified four key pain points that most travelers face:
Time-Consuming Planning: Trip planning often involves a lot of effort and can be overwhelming.
Fragmented Information: Users need to gather details from several different sources, which creates friction in the planning process.
Unreliable Recommendations: Users struggle to trust travel recommendations, especially those from unknown sources.
Lack of Personalization: Many existing apps don’t cater to individual preferences, making it hard to find tailored options.
Personas
Based on user interviews, I developed three primary personas to guide the design process:
Persona 1: The Budget Traveler
Age: Early 20s
Occupation: Student / Recent Grad
Goals: Efficient planning, budget-friendly experiences, and making the most of spontaneous travel.
Motivations: Social media inspiration and finding affordable, worthwhile trips.
Persona 2: The Organized Professional
Age: Late 20s - Early 40s
Occupation: Mid-level professional / Manager
Goals: Maximize travel experiences, easy access to trusted recommendations, and streamlined itineraries.
Motivations: Prioritizes work-life balance and is willing to splurge for adventurous getaways.
Persona 3: The Family Planner
Age: Late 30s - 60s
Occupation: Senior-level / Remote work
Goals: Stay within budget, create an all-inclusive itinerary for family trips, and maximize family time.
Motivations: Efficient planning for family-friendly activities, organization, and minimizing stress during travel.
Design Solutions
Personalized Trip Recommendations
Feature: When setting up a profile, users input their preferences (budget, trip duration, interests). The app then populates a list of recommended destinations tailored to these preferences.
Benefit: Saves time by streamlining the destination search process and ensuring users get personalized recommendations.
User Flow: Users select a destination and are brought to an itinerary page where they can add and organize activities for each day of the trip.
Social Discovery & Community Engagement
Feature: The “Discover” feed allows users to view itineraries, photos, and reviews from friends and fellow travelers. This feature taps into the power of social proof, helping users make more informed decisions based on trusted recommendations.
Benefit: Builds a travel community and encourages users to engage with the app regularly, increasing trust in recommendations and offering inspiration for future travels.
IMPACT
The final design of TRAVL provides an easy-to-use interface where users can plan their trips efficiently, discover personalized recommendations, and connect with a community of like-minded travelers. The app addresses key pain points such as fragmented information, time-consuming planning, and unreliable recommendations, all while offering an engaging and social experience for users.
Key Features & Benefits:
Personalized destination suggestions based on user preferences.
Itinerary builder that suggests activities for each day of the trip.
Social discovery to explore friends' trips, reviews, and photos for inspiration.
Comprehensive itinerary management for stress-free travel planning.
Reflection & Next Steps
This project taught me the importance of combining user research, empathy, and design principles to create a solution that truly resonates with diverse user needs. In the next phase, further user testing and feature expansion could make TRAVL a more robust tool for even the most experienced travelers.