TRAVELMATE
TravelMate is the ultimate all-in-one travel app that transforms how users plan, document, and share their adventures. It empowers users to act as their own travel agents, effortlessly organizing trips, sharing experiences, and drawing inspiration from a vibrant community of fellow travelers.
PROJECT INFO
TOOLS
Figma, Microsoft Teams
TEAM
Nia Montgomery
Leah Brown (myself)
Destiny Dewitt
Jhayden Poole
Luz Cruz
ROLE
UI Designer, UX Designer
TIMELINE
January 2024 - April 20204
METHOD
Goal-Directed Design Process
PROCESS
KICK-OFF MEETING
We began with a kickoff meeting where we discussed initial ideas and refined our approach. After considering various options, we decided on creating an all-in-one travel app to address common challenges people encounter when planning a trip.
LIT REVIEW & COMPETITIVE AUDIT
Planning a trip involves several key steps, and the article I used for my literature review provided valuable insights into prioritizing features for our app. This resource helped us identify the essential components users expect in a travel app while inspiring us to exceed those expectations. Its detailed and comprehensive guidance allows us to offer users a step-by-step trip-planning process that addresses all their needs.
For the competitive audit, I focused on Expedia, a popular platform for trip planning. While Expedia is a go-to for many travelers, it has notable shortcomings that affect user experience. My task was to analyze these flaws in detail and identify areas for improvement, ensuring our app is more user-friendly, intuitive, and effective than Expedia. This approach will help us create a superior alternative tailored to modern travelers' needs.
INTERVIEWS
After completing our study, we transitioned to the modeling phase. During this stage, we developed detailed user personas to identify and understand our users' end-of-life goals. These personas, fictional characters grounded in user data and research insights, are a vital tool in our design process. They provide a deeper understanding of the target audience, enabling us to tailor solutions that meet their specific needs and expectations.
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SAFETY
A safety map in TravelMate offers real-time information on potential hazards, empowering users to make informed decisions and avoid risks. It enhances trust in the app, provides peace of mind, and prioritizes user safety, making TravelMate a reliable travel companion.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Adding a social media feature to TravelMate would enrich the user experience by facilitating community engagement, enabling users to share experiences, tips, and recommendations with fellow travelers. It fosters a sense of belonging and inspires others, while also serving as a powerful marketing tool to attract new users.
AI CHAT
Introducing an AI chat generator feature in TravelMate simplifies itinerary creation by offering personalized recommendations based on user preferences. It saves time, provides tailored suggestions, and continuously improves based on user interactions, making trip planning effortless and efficient.
KEY FEATURES WE DECIDED ON AFTER REQUIREMENTS PHRASE
FrameWorks Phrase
Refinement and Usability Testing
We conducted two usability tests in the Refinement phase to get feedback on our app's advantages and shortcomings. The only feedback we got were some layout and prototyping issues. Otherwise, our tester appreciated the app.
Problem
Vision
The current state of travel planning has focused primarily on promoting the most popular travel options. Existing products/services fail to address individuals efficiently planning a trip based on personal needs or preferences, i.e., not everyone desires an extravagant trip or vacation. Our product/service will address this gap by allowing users to be their own travel agents.
TravelMate will help users achieve goals of taking charge of their own travel arrangements, recommend trips, budgeting, researching safety, and tracking transportation by allowing them to create, follow, and manage a detailed itinerary that can be shared, view and receive notifications within price range, verify the safety of destinations, and track public transportation options. With greater structure, convenience, usability, and efficiency this will solve problems of time consuming trip planning, navigating through multiple apps, experiencing harmful situations, and overspending that may occur with current travel experience. This application will dramatically improve travel satisfaction and will encourage more people to use our app to plan trips.
MODELING & REQUIREMENTS PHRASE
Research
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Personas
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Let the writing speak for itself. Keep a consistent tone and voice throughout the website to stay true to the brand image and give visitors a taste of the company’s values and personality.
Context Scenario
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Let the writing speak for itself. Keep a consistent tone and voice throughout the website to stay true to the brand image and give visitors a taste of the company’s values and personality.
