Voyage — Travel Planning & Collaboration App Case Study

PHASE 1: USER RESEARCH

Survey Data:

Qualitative and Quantitative Data was collected as part of this research study. Quantitative Data was collecting by sending a SurveyMonkey survey, linked here, to a targeted group of users, aged 21–33 years old. 37 responses were collected. Here are some of the results:

The above graph demonstrates what users find the most difficult when planning a trip. 48.65% said Determining Budget was the most difficult while Finding a Place to stay was closely following with 45.95%

The above graph asked the respondents from a scale of 1–5 how much they plan their trips, one being not at all and five being I have a detailed itinerary. Most respondents answered with a 4 and many also said they were in the middle.

Interview Plan:

The purpose of conducting this study is to understand how a user will be planning future trips with a group post-pandemic and what are the most important features that would be necessary, nice to have, and not needed so that we can develop an application that will be useful to users of all backgrounds.

• Objective 1: What does the user’s ideal vacation look like post covid?
• Objective 2: What factors are considered when planning a trip with a group?
• Objective 3: What are some features that you use on a travel planning app?

Qualitative data was collected by conducting User Interviews. In this research project, I planned and conducted 6 interviews with potential users to discover how users plan trips and manage itineraries, particularly when traveling with groups.

Transcripts for the interviews can be found here and data can be found here.

“I don’t always book the same way that I browse.”

“I would love something that is more connected with international travel especially when I am not familiar with the area.”

“I just agree to whatever budget and I go from there, because I don’t have the capacity to plan.”

“Don’t want to overbook where you don’t allow yourself to discover things in the moment.”

User Persona:

Based on all research data, the above persona was determined.

PHASE 2: DEFINITION & IDEATION

User Insight Statement:

Young professionals who prefer to plan vacations with a group of friends when they have time off work, need to be able to plan and collaborate with their travel buddies on dates, location, activities, itineraries, and more because they want to ensure that details of the trip can be agreed upon widely by the group.

Problem Statement:

Young professionals who enjoy traveling with friends need a way to plan a group vacation that everyone agrees on. But, scheduling conflicts and lack of planning collaboration tools do not allow group members to exchange feedback on aspects of trip planning including dates, locations, and activities. This makes the planner feel like they are leaving people out of the planning process and that not everyone will enjoy the vacation.

Feature Prioritization Matrix:

Value Proposition Diagram

Story Board:

PHASE 3: PROTOTYPING

Competitor Analysis:

User Flow Diagram

Digital Wireframes:

PHASE 4: TESTING & ITERATING

Guerilla Marketing Plan & User Tests:

I worked with a set of users to test the Voyage Clickable Prototype where I learned a great deal on how a user interacts with Voyage and gathered useful feedback. All recorded tests can be found here.

Objectives:

• Is the user onboarding process necessary/helpful?
• How do you find the account creation/login process?
• Is the process of creating a trip in a good order that makes sense when planning a trip?

User Tasks

1. User Onboarding
2. Account Creation / Login
3. Creating a Trip
4. Navigating to Profile Page

The testing plan used can be found here.

iOS Mockups:

Follow this link to Prototype: Voyage iOS Prototype

Final Thoughts / Conclusion:

User Testing: Coming into this course, I did not realize how truly valuable user interviews and testing sessions are. Users related to the persona used are very accustomed to how the apps they use on a regular basis perform. It is important to acknowledge that although you are not designing the next FaceBook or Instagram, if key features of your new app, like profile setup and inviting friends do not follow a similar process of those apps, users will likely have a more difficult time understanding those process flows.

Iterations: In the future, I will plan to do more basic wireframe iterations before jumping into a prototype. If that would have been completed, I believe this app may have looked different and possibly have a better overall user experience.

Final Thoughts: Overall, I have enjoyed this process and look forward to designing future apps using all of the techniques learned, as well as learning from my mistakes in creating Voyage.

41

- Secure booking and reputable site

- Can view all bookings in one location

- Cannot group experiences together