Travelus
2024 UI/UX Design ProjectMade for adventerous college students and traverlers
Introduction
I started this project inspired by the shared experience of missing out on fun trips because of laziness, busy schedules, lack of communication, etc. I wanted to design a streamlined system of trip planning that eliminated the logistical barriers to make these memories. Through general concensus, I discovered the root problem behind the lack of planning is the fear of commiting to significant sacrifices in time and money.
Problem Statement
As college students, some of the most meaningful memories are those spent traveling with roommates, friends, clubs, on retreats, etc. However, just the thought of planning and initiating such a trip gives many students a headache and is a huge deterrent, leaving beautiful memories to be rather undiscovered. To expedite the clunky and overwhelming process, I’ve proposed an app that has everything one would need to plan a trip
Goals
Create an application that streamlines group trip planning by offering personalized budget management, curated destination recommendations, and collaborative tools. This solution minimizes logistical barriers, reduces financial conflicts, and fosters meaningful travel experiences for college students.Research
User Insights
First, I identified the target users for this app–anybody planning a trip solo or with a group and primarily students ages 18-24 in need of inspiration and group trip planning. I found that a major problem with trips revolved around finding top-rated places to visit and planning logistics between a group of people. Starting with asking survey questions to fellow college students, here are some of the insights I found:
Survey Questions
- How do you manage your group trips?
- Do you use any app or do it manually?
- What problems do you face or anticipate to face in planning a trip with a group of people?
- What is the 1 thing that you are looking for in the future when planning a group trip?
Findings
User A - 17 years old
High school senior planned trips with family and for recreational clubs using Google Sheets
- Challenges
- “Travelling with a large group requires catering to a everyone’s different preferences”
- “Dealing with last minute changes”
- Desired feature
- Looking for a more streamlined system that would allow everyone to balance preferences, budgets, activities, etc.
User B - 18 years old
College freshman planned senior trip and trips with family manually
College freshman planned senior trip and trips with family manually
- Challenges
- “Tensions during planning including disagreements in activities, pricing, etc. create uncomfortable energy for the trip and group dynamic”
- Desired feature
- Looking for a way to determine overall group fit and optimal group dynamics.
Themes & Insights
Theme 1
Financial Budgeting Emphasis
Finances and the topic of money creates tensions between friends and groups for many college students. Students are unwilling to initiate trips because of how restricting the topic of money is. Lack of accountability and diffusion of responsibility for money can create interrelational breaks.
Financial Budgeting Emphasis
Finances and the topic of money creates tensions between friends and groups for many college students. Students are unwilling to initiate trips because of how restricting the topic of money is. Lack of accountability and diffusion of responsibility for money can create interrelational breaks.
Theme 2
Exploration and Inspiration
College students are often busy and do not have time to search for interesting places to visit or may be lazy during their trip planning. Creating a peer-reviewed resource allowed them to quickly find places they may find suitable, age-appropriate, and budget-friendly.
Exploration and Inspiration
College students are often busy and do not have time to search for interesting places to visit or may be lazy during their trip planning. Creating a peer-reviewed resource allowed them to quickly find places they may find suitable, age-appropriate, and budget-friendly.
Theme 3
Social Community
People are often influenced and motivated by their peers, meaning having a social community integrated into the trip planning process can allow everyone to be more involved. Students like seeing what other students are up to, which creates more possibilities for initiating travel opportunities. Promotes inclusivity and active involvement group planning.
Social Community
People are often influenced and motivated by their peers, meaning having a social community integrated into the trip planning process can allow everyone to be more involved. Students like seeing what other students are up to, which creates more possibilities for initiating travel opportunities. Promotes inclusivity and active involvement group planning.
Design
Workflow
The app navigation is laid out into four three main pages and highlight the most prominent usability features
Low-fi Wireframes
My first low-fi wireframes were made with pencil on paper in order to sketch out my ideas and easily erase to test out my design vision. The four main pages were derived straight from the workflow, along with a sign up/login onboarding page. The functionality of the pages were far from expansive, yet set in a basic premise of the features and possibilities of the app itself. The main revision was made for the ‘My Trips’ page where I added tabs to toggle between for more functionality.
-
Added tabs to differentiate from pages instead of overboarding the main page
- Created a budget tab with possible feautres
Sign up/login
Explore
Home/landing
My Trips
My Trips - Revised
Style Guide
Since the app name is “Travelus” I created a simple logo trying to incorporate an abbreviation of “travel” into the page with the words “uni” on the top in reference to the apps targeted audience.
Major Design Improvements
Three major improvements based on feedbackFirst Improvement
Removal of Profile Outlining:
Suggested to remove profile picture icons in order to maintain ambiguity and genuinity during polls to ensure unanimous voting and prevent peer infleunce.
Considered User A’s insights and concerns regarding “finding the right crowd” , relating to the activities and habits of members.
Suggested to remove profile picture icons in order to maintain ambiguity and genuinity during polls to ensure unanimous voting and prevent peer infleunce.
Considered User A’s insights and concerns regarding “finding the right crowd” , relating to the activities and habits of members.
Second Improvement
Removal of Colorful UI:
Originally made to create a very blatant visaul demonstration of availability and best fit dates.
Conducted A/B Testing with potential users and found preferece for simpler UI colors with more details, usability, and visiblity.
Originally made to create a very blatant visaul demonstration of availability and best fit dates.
Conducted A/B Testing with potential users and found preferece for simpler UI colors with more details, usability, and visiblity.
Third Improvement
Addition of Group Breakdown:
After both concept testing and blind A/B testing, both parties preferred the option to see the individual member contribution breakdown to put contributors accountable.
This use of positive peer pressure might help diffuse tensions and clearly lay out the group financials.
Despite the risk for becoming a toxic feature, the emphasis on healthy feedback trumps the potential for a risk of embarassment.
After both concept testing and blind A/B testing, both parties preferred the option to see the individual member contribution breakdown to put contributors accountable.
This use of positive peer pressure might help diffuse tensions and clearly lay out the group financials.
Despite the risk for becoming a toxic feature, the emphasis on healthy feedback trumps the potential for a risk of embarassment.
Hi-fi Prototype
More details can be found in Figma
*Many images were sourced from Figma and do not belong to me*
Reflections and Future Improvements
With more time, I would consider adding additional and more complex features such as AI recommendations or algorithmic recommendations based on previous searches and preferences. The app could be more functional with integrated payment systems to transfer money, store money, and ultimately have a feature to store funds within the app itself. Tracking payments could be linked to bank accounts. Another feature could be adding a school network to personalize the experience and have a public network where everyone can see others’ activity within the entire school. Finally, I would love to be able to code a rudimentary version of the app as a live iOS app.