Travel App

Isabella Melo
1 de ago. de 2024
4 min de leitura

Atualizado: 22 de out. de 2024

Year: 2023

Project: UX/UI Design

This project was born from the need for a solution that simplifies the creation of accurate, flexible travel itineraries while providing quick access to essential information, such as weather conditions and tourist attractions in destination cities. We identified that last-minute changes to itineraries, often due to unexpected weather shifts, can lead to frustrating experiences, negatively affecting the overall enjoyment of the trip.

Main challenge

The main challenge of this project was to design a simple, intuitive solution that streamlines the itinerary creation process while recommending places and events tailored to tourists based on real-time weather conditions, all with minimal effort required from the user.

Discovery

Desk research was carried out to identify similar solutions as well as to identify points for improvement and positive points in existing solutions.

A survey that contained quantitative and qualitative questions was also carried out. The main results were:

60% of travelers created their own itineraries on their last trip.
Among those who didn’t, the main reasons were a lack of knowledge on how to plan effectively and the perception that creating an itinerary is too time-consuming.
46% have previously used a travel organization app.

Concerns about weather and itinerary changes:

90% of travelers worry about the weather when planning a trip.
81% rely on Google to adjust their plans in case of itinerary changes.
When faced with itinerary changes, travelers often feel overwhelmed and believe they’re losing valuable time.

What I Iearned?

I identified a significant business growth opportunity, as many of the people interviewed do not typically create itineraries. This is often due to the perception that planning takes too much time or is difficult and complicated to organize. Additionally, nearly all respondents expressed concern about weather conditions during their trips and felt that having a solution to help them quickly adapt their plans would be highly beneficial.

The target user profile for this solution is primarily tourists.

What is the problem?

Sudden changes in weather during a trip, which change last minute plans.

Why is this a problem?

Lack of local knowledge can cause challenges when changing your itinerary at the last minute;
It generates anxiety in a moment of relaxation;
it takes a long time to change the itinerary which can negatively impact the enjoyment of the trip

What the user needs?

To create itineraries quickly and easily;
Ease of checking the weather throughout the trip;
Ease of changing plans within the app according to weather indications.

‍‍‍

Thus, the proposed solution should have, in a simple interface, information about the weather, and schedules to include in the itinerary.‍In a few screens, the user should be able to carry out tasks that tend to take more time, as they usually need to navigate through different websites and cross-reference information to be able to create/change itineraries. In addition to the research, other steps were also created that helped in the solution definition process, such as CSD matrix, personas, empathy map, jobs to be done, and HMW.

Strategy

Initially, a brief user journey was created in order to build a solid information architecture network later. This step allowed the creation of wireframes that took into account notions of hierarchy, organization of features, and accessibility, among others.

Site Map

Design

Wireframes

This step was important for design validation, which facilitated the entire iteration process.

Visual Components

Heuristics

All the main heuristics were considered. Among the main ones for this project we have:

Visibility of system status: to facilitate navigability for users, as they need a quick solution to their problem;
User control and freedom: to facilitate last minute changes, cancellation of itineraries, inclusion of new activities, among others;
Recognition rather than recall: since users need an easy and intuitive solution when changing itineraries;
Aesthetic and minimalist design: less information helps the user focus on what matters in an anxious moment when changing their itinerary.

Screens

The home page, as well as the travel pages, are simple and objective, in line with the opinions heard during the research.

Here, it is important that anyone can quickly understand the itinerary dynamics as well as make easy changes according to the weather.

During the research, users reported that they often do not create itineraries because they do not know how to organize themselves and/or find it difficult to place plans on existing solutions, which is one of the main pain points identified.

In this way, the home screen and travel screens are very important for the success of the app and user satisfaction.

So that the user has the main itinerary information on a single screen, a few days before the trip the application is updated to indicate the weather within the itinerary page. These screens were also thought out in detail according to the main objectives of the user.

The solution also aims to act as an indicator of schedules for the user to include in their itineraries, as well as having a dashboard dedicated to the weather.

These screens were also created so that the experience is fluid, taking into account the level of ease to change plans and check the weather throughout the trip.

Final Thoughts

As my first project, this app was instrumental in helping me understand how theory translates into practice. I learned that the design process is not linear, and it’s perfectly fine to revisit earlier steps to refine and improve the solution.

My main challenge was balancing simplicity with functionality and aesthetics. By the end of the project, I had gained significant knowledge about visual design and was able to create well-designed, user-friendly screens.

If I could do something differently, it would be the research phase. Initially, I was a bit hesitant to engage with users, but as the project progressed, I became more comfortable and gained valuable insights from the process.