User Journey Map
A visual representation of the user's journey across all touch points of the application to understand where the user experience can be improved
User Flow
After solutions was built for the main problems identified, the next step was to lay out the strategy to implement solutions. The goal was to explore how the user’s would be interacting with these new features to complete key tasks. Firstly, a clear task flow was set up, then progressing into a user flow. The flow was set up to align user goals, based on the prioritization of what was really important to the user and how to place them within the flow, so that the users be able to interact seamlessly with each one of these pages to complete the necessary task.
With this is it was possible to explore three main factors:
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The common scenarios the users would be in as they go through the tasks
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The various routes/ paths they would have to use in order to achieve their goal
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The decisions they would have to make as trying to complete a booking.
Value Proposition
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The Sunny place travel app is designed to help busy professionals who love travel, to solve the issue of complexity in customizations and lack of Support & information
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The innovative features such as Expert chatter, Super customizer, trip evaluator, event mapper and Information generator are the differentiators
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The technology is simple and easy to use, and not only does it plan the best vacation and allows the users to have it evaluated, it also opens them to a world of experts to ensure their safety throughout their trip
Overview
The Sunny Place is a travel app designed for post pandemic travel. The app aims to help its users choose the best destination for their upcoming vacation, based on live reviews provided by other travellers, and also with travel expert support at the destination to make the complete travel experience unforgettable
The Problem
Busy people often end up with frustration while planning a trip because of complicated technology tedious research and lack of know how to build customized trips with crucial safety related information. The shortage of human touch points and suggestions to keep them on the right track with their itinerary aggravates this anxiety furthermore.
Project Duration:
4 weeks
My Role
User research, Paper and digital wireframe, Hi-Fi Prototype, User testing
Tools Used
Story Board
( Swipe to read )
Travel time
Gia, a busy working professional, loves to travel, but she hasn’t travelled in a long time. She thinks it's time she for her next trip, and she is excited.
Need a plan
She hates research and the time taken. From her experiences, she feels her needs are ignored. Safety is a big concern, and so is lack of information.
Help is here
Gia calls her tech-savvy friends, who always have the perfect answer. They tell her about a new app that will take care of all her requirements.
On the App
Gia checks out the app and has everything she needs and more. It has a planner to include all her customizations with activities and events, and safety guidelines and requirements
Bags ready
Gia, is now all set to fly out to Cape Town, and she knows she is not alone even when she gets there. There are experts to chat with and fellow passengers to rely on for reviews
Capetown
Gia, is now in Capetown, safe, equipped with information, worry free and having the time of her life. Thanks to The Sunny Place, travel planning is no more complicated
Prototype
Process
The design process started with the actual sketching on paper, and each item was drafted to ensure that the most essential elements were transformed into digital wireframes. The goal was to use all the information collected during the empathize and define phase to address the pain points. The screen flow was prioritized to achieve a quick and efficient way to help the user book a trip on the app, equipped with all the right details and reviews provided by fellow travellers and arrive at the expert chat page that would complete the process.
Midfi
Lofi
Hifi
Midfi
Once the exploratory sketches were complete, the result was converted into a lo-fi wireframe, to access the look and feel of the final prototype. This process helped the total number of screens that would be required and what call to actions were necessary to move between different screens.
Once the iterations of task flow were completed, the information was then transformed into lofi wireframe sketches to create a vision on how to design these midfi screens. This was the start of designing process to help build a framework on what the actual and completed prototype would look like. This also gave an idea on the screens that would be required for the users to take desired action and complete the process.
Lofi
Design System
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The UI Components were built on Adobe XD using IOS design Kit. The font used for the logo is a combination of VAL and Gistesy and PT Sans for the all the data on the app.
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The Color pallets was selected with an intention of making the app look young, positive and vibrant, everything that helps one relate to a vacation.
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The pallets include Cyan to represent relaxation, Fuchsia to represent playfulness and yellow to represent happiness.
Introducing
the sunny place
Hifi
The final Hifi prototype presented a clearer and smoother user flow to create a completely customized trip. It helped eliminate steps that would not be necessary and add those that would help the user reach the end of the process with exactly the kind of vacation they need. The UI components, design schemes and the colour systems developed were used into the screens, to make it attractive as well as user-friendly.
Signup and Login
The Signup can be done through Email, Facebook, Google or Apple. There is also a skip signup option, that enables the user to explore the app without having to register, and for them to gain the trust that the app is a good fit for their needs. A registered user can simple login, with the same options, by selecting the Login option.
Welcome page
A returning user after login will be directed to the welcome page, from where they are able to get into their existing trip or create a new trip
Adding preference and T&C
With high-end customization being one of the primary USP's the filtration feature accommodates users preferences such category of stay, types of activities, notification on food hangouts and user reviews. The new users directly land on this page, whereas existing users can create new trips starting here.
This leads the user into the next page of accepting T&C and COVID related information.
Airline, Stay and Activities
The user is provided with options of airline, hotels and activities, based on the information filled out by them on the preferences page. The details taken into account are origin and destination, category of hotels opted for and choice of activities selected.
Selecting flights and hotels from this page adds it to the cart, while selecting the activities leads the user into subsequent page that provides more information about each activity
Activities
Selecting the right holiday theme is very essential for most travellers. It's what makes a trip special. While the activities' page allows the user to choose from a variety of activities such as adventure, clubs, relaxation, sightseeing etc, clicking upon any of the activities, allows the user to see detailed information on individual choices. This has been built keeping in mind that some adventure activities are not for everyone, and it is imperative that the user has all the information. Once the user finds what they are looking for, they are able to add these activities into the cart
Itinerary
Once all options have been selected and added to cart, the flights, hotels and day wise activities show up on the itinerary. This page then leads forward to either review cart or goes back into editing the options, if need be.
Cart and Payment
The cart has a delete option in case changes need to be made, and it leads to the payment page, where the user can initiate payment with PayPal or credit card.
The credit card information can be entered either with a card scan or manually. The options to add other modes of payment such as Apple Pay is also available to the user
Profile, Reviews, Chat
The profile page allows the user to store wishlist and other information such as their past, current and upcoming trips and also add pictures and videos of the past trips to share with the community.
Users can also check review on any activity, destination, hotels or specific spots either live or from the past updated by other travellers/ users.
Upon completion of the payment, the user is directed to the chat page with local trip advisor, where they can stay in touch with them throughout the course of the trip to get tips or guidance on places to visit and things to do.
User test
Objectives
The App has been built with the goal of solving a few specific user problems. The Main Objective of the test is to understand, if the obstacles that users face are being overcome with the use of the APP. Based on the user feedback, changes will be made to accomplish that goal. Another important objective is to understand the simplicity of the App. As the user proceeds with the explorations, efforts will be made to understand what hurdles they face, what's slowing them down, what according to them are the good and bad aspects of the app, what complications would they rather take away from the app, and what features would they like to retain.
Results
Key Learnings
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Designing The Sunny Place from start to finish was a great and positive experience. Starting from user research to high-fidelity prototypes taught me so much about user-centric design process and that having a concrete understanding of how users think and feel is essential to make the right design decisions.
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Testing paper prototypes, was a real eye-opener. Even though sketching was not always my forte and I struggled with it, I understood how important it is to transfer everything that is on your mind into a piece of paper, and how that could potentially lead to great designs. It was also key to identifying potential features and improvements without having to spend a lot of time redesigning.
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Moving into low fidelity prototypes with InVision made me understand how to create a journey, and the mid-fidelity prototype designed on Adobe XD helped me understand how to design creative frameworks. Bringing colour theory and design system into high-fidelity prototypes, again with Adobe XD, helped me understand how finer points really contribute to making an app
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Lastly, the user testing phase to get the rules laid back in visual design and navigation filled the gaps. I couldn't have designed a product that users enjoy without the help of the people who actually use it.
Thank you for your time
Research Overview
During the research phase of my project, I interviewed people to gain a better understanding of user challenges and motivations.
Objectives
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Understand how users are currently managing the trip bookings.
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Understand how users create trip itineraries.
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Uncover tools users use to make trip bookings and create itineraries.
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Learn how users feel about each tool, and what are their motivations.
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Learn how users feel during their travel planning process.
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Create a list of actionable objectives to help users with their main problem.
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Understand what are the fears people have while travelling.
Process
The Interview was carried out for a period of a day, with over 5 People. I noticed a trend related to travel safety measures, use of technology, research and planning and the need for more information. I then surveyed 10 people with a Google survey, to see if the pattern is consistent
Research Notes
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Most people look for easy to use apps
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People like good suggestions to be made by apps
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A lot of them are heavy on pre-research
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There is only 50% reliability on apps or websites, a lot of planning is done by themselves, for example with a google search.
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Pandemic has changed the way people think about travel.
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People are expecting apps to suggest safety measures.
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There are a lot of expectations on technology to change with the post pandemic conditions.
Tools Used:
Empathy Map
User Persona
Empathize
Research
Give more information about places, that are safe to visit during this time. Give an alert on places to avoid and advice on vaccination.
DAN
Give more information about places, that are safe to visit during this time. Give an alert on places to avoid and advice on vaccination.
VIC
Apps are too complicated. People think the more complicated, the fancier. I need something to get the job done
DEE
Empathy Map
Through the user interviews, the conclusion was that while people had their own, unique needs and requirements, there were common patterns across what were the most important parts and aspects of a travel itinerary that really mattered to people and how it altered their overall experience when they travel. With the help of an empathy map, I was able to synthesize all the findings and uncover insights and results that helped me into the next process of creating a user persona.
Research
Most users felt that research was the most time-consuming part of the travel planning and Finding the right information needed a lot of effort and the absence of it led to bad planning
Technology
People preferred simple technology and apps that were easy to use. Apps that also provided convenient technological advantages such as live reviews, chat support etc, came out as winners
Customization
For most users' customization was a comfort factor. Not only was it necessary, but it was also one of the most important requirements, that played a vital role in selecting the app
Concern
Across users, concerns were pretty similar. Safety was the first concern and apps that provided the information to take the right precaution was most definitely preferred by the users.
The Pattern
Once the information was put together in the form of a map, there were clearly identifiable patterns that helped uncover essential insights, which further allowed me to deep dive and discover the user’s needs on a more intricate level.
Research
Most users felt that research was the most time-consuming part of the travel planning and Finding the right information needed a lot of effort and the absence of it led to bad planning
Customization
For most users' customization was a comfort factor. Not only was it necessary, but it was also one of the most important requirements, that played a vital role in selecting the app
Technology
People preferred simple technology and apps that were easy to use. Apps that also provided convenient technological advantages such as live reviews, chat support etc, came out as winners
Concerns
Across users, concerns were pretty similar. Safety was first concern and apps that provided the information to take the right precaution was most definitely preferred by the users.
Thoughts and process
Hypothesis
People have very specific requirements but it is not always taken care of in their itinerary. People are also afraid to take unnecessary risks and worry that the plan is not very good. They don't know where to find that information and complicated technology frustrates them.
Goals
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Understand the issues that people face while booking a vacation
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The challenges encountered to create a travel itinerary
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Develop a mobile solution that helps users book their trips, and organize their plans.
Competitor analysis
After the completion of the empathize phase, the top competitors were evaluated to understand their main USP's, features and what sets them apart in terms of the design. This information helped understand the trends across various apps, their unique differences, and why users might choose a particular travel app over another.
User Persona
Using what was learned from both the secondary and primary research, a user persona was created that helped identify who the app was being created for. The persona guided my decisions along the design process to make sure the solution I am designing is centred on our user.
Once the ideal persona was identified, the next step was to define the problem, using the insights and needs gained from research. Firstly an inference was made from all data gathered, and then a POV statement was generated to better understand the problem from the user’s perspective and then the HMW question was developed to arrive at a possible solution for the problem.
Tools Used:
Define
Story Board
Value Proposition
User flow
User Journey map
Inference
During the interview I realized most of the problems are an offshoot of a few common points such as complex technology, improper availability of options, absence of proper support and lack of confidence that the plan or itinerary is good. The problem statement and HMV statement has been derived from this.
Point of view
"I'm Gia a 32 yr old marketing professional and I love travelling, but I'm too busy to plan a trip. I have very specific requirements which often get neglected from my itinerary. I'm worried about unnecessary risk and uncertainty in the post pandemic world and I'm unsure on where and how to find the right information. Complicated technology and lack of proper help frustrates me. "
How Might We
How might we develop something for a busy person, that makes travel planning process simple, quick and stress-free while catering to their personalized needs, making safety related information easily accessible to them and also make it possible to view reviews from other traveller in the know during these uncertain times