Overview
This project goal is to assist busy modern individuals in creating the perfect vacation plan. We employ an easy-to-manage interface design and engaging language to encourage users to have efficient, personal, and flexible travel experience.
Role
Researching, Ideating,
Designing, Prototyping
Work Type
Personal Project
Project Type
UX · UI
Tools
Figma
Miro
Time
Jul - Aug 2023
(Six weeks)
Outcome
Design Process
Over the course of six weeks, I conducted a comprehensive case study structured around four main stages: Exploring, Understanding, Solving, and Evaluating. I went back and forth with understanding and evaluating in order to get a clear understanding of user needs. After conducting a thorough investigation into user experiences, I obtained valuable insights into the issue and designed a UI solution that effectively addresses the identified problems.
EXPLORING
EXPLORING 01
Secondary Research
I conducted desk research to gather data on the issues faced by Korean travelers during the trip planning process. The findings indicate that the average Korean traveler spends approximately 9.6 hours in planning a four-day trip, with nearly 30% dedicating over 15 hours to research. This extensive time commitment often leads to pre-travel exhaustion, highlighting a significant pain point in the travel planning experience.
Korean people spend
9.6 hours to plan a 4-day trip and 3 out of 10 people research for more than 15 hours.
63% Individuals
believes that taking more time to plan will lead to better travel experience.
61% Individuals
say they don't travel because it's hard to find the right trip among so many.
Insight
Korean travelers desire personalized and thoroughly researched travel plans, but extensive planning often leads to information overload and pre-travel exhaustion, causing some to quite the idea of traveling altogether.
How might we….
create a travel planning solution that offers personalized travel schedules tailored to individual preferences to lighten up the planning process?
EXPLORING 02
Competitive Analysis
During the ideation stage, I conducted a competitive analysis of current AI trip planning services to evaluate the market and enhance ideas. These trip planning applications typically include features for making recommendations, displaying user reviews, and assisting with basic trip organization.
However, I identified significant gaps in personalization and user adaptability. These services, while offering basic customization, could benefit from allowing users more freedom to add attractions and use interactive maps for spontaneous plan changes. Improving these features would significantly elevate the level of personalization and enhance the user experience in AI-based trip planning.
EXPLORING 03
Problem Definition
What is the current problem?
1
EFFICIENCY
Lack of efficiency due to time-consuming research and information overload
2
FLEXIBILITY
Lack of flexibility for pre-planned and real-time adjustments
3
PERSONALIZATION
Restricted personalization method to create tailored travel plan for individuals
Understanding
To make design decisions, user insights and needs in the context of travel experiences were collected and analyzed.
UNDERSTANDING 01
User Interview
I interviewed four people to learn about different travel experiences: two who enjoy detailed planning and two who prefer spontaneous trips. The questions covered travel preferences, past experiences, planning habits, and interactions with existing services. By exploring each stage of their travel journeys, I gained valuable insights into user behaviors, thoughts, and pain points during the trip preparation process.
Duration: 45 minutes
Number: 4 People
Interview Method:
3 people by face-to-face
1 people via Google Meet
Respondents Type:
2 prefer planned travel
2 prefer spontaneous travel
Planning Travelers
Spontaneous Travelers
Main Questions
What is your process when planning a trip?
How long do you plan a 3-night, 4-day trip?
What percentage of your planning involves online resources?
What does your day look like when traveling?
When do you most enjoy during traveling?
Have you ever faced difficulties when you traveled without plans?
When do you enjoy the travel planning process the most?
What is most important to you when you are planning?
Key Insights
Planning Travelers
Planned travelers extensively read through blog reviews to ensure each destination's enjoyment.
“I read hundreds of blog reviews to ensure each place is enjoyable. “
People who are planning to travel can benefit from more convenient and easily accessible travel planning tools.
“I have my plan in Excel or as a Txt file so I can open it easily at the accommodation. “
Spontaneous Travelers
The travelers, lacking sufficient local information, miss opportunities to fully experience their destination.
“I spent the entire day at a cafe because I did not know what else to do.“
Users desire the flexibility to explore freely, yet they also value receiving timely and relevant recommendations to enhance their travel experience.
“I wish I could find right spot at that moment“
Common Insight
Desire for New Experiences and Escapism:
Users seek new experiences and a break from their daily routine during their trips.
Travel distance and Transportation Simplicity:
It is important for travelers to minimize travel distance and ensure simple transportation methods.
Preference-Aligned Travel Experiences:
Desire for travel experiences that closely align with personal tastes and interests.
UNDERSTANDING 02
Affinity Diagram
I organized and categorized the interview findings using an affinity diagram to better understand the pain points and get key insights. The findings were grouped into four main categories: travel pattern, travel plan, travel service experience, and travel experience. For travel experience, I further broke it down into three subcategories: activities, preferences, and impressions.
Common Insight
Importance of Maps and Routes:
Users commonly use maps to determine their routes in the process of travel planning. They often create timetables, noting down places to visit to organize their schedule.
Importance of All-in-One System:
Users experience frustration with using multiple sites for different aspects of travel planning, such as booking hotels and tickets and gathering information from tour sites.
On-Site Decision Making and Online Research:
Some elements, like dining options, are often decided upon after arriving at the destination. Users rely on online resources such as reviews and photos for on-site decisions.
EVALUATING
Think Aloud
I conducted a follow-up study with two users who have different travel preferences. Using the think-aloud method, I observed how they interacted with a travel platform for the first time, recording and note-taking their reactions and behaviors as they carried out a scenario.
Method
Duration: 30 minutes
Style: Moderated
Types of particimants:
User A: meticulously plans trips
User B: prefers spontaneous travel
Scenario & Tasks
Imagine you are going on a 3-day trip to Taipei, Taiwan from October 25th to 27th.
1.
Use the TripIt app’s automatic route creation feature for a recommended plan
2.
If you like the recommended plan, save it.
3.
Add your favorite activities and spots to the saved plan for an unforgettable experience.
USER PAINPOINTS
USER A
(meticulously plans trips)
USER B
(prefers spontaneous travel)
PAIN POINT 1
Users found that the plan used different keywords than the ones they chose. Even after resetting their preferences, the keywords changed again.It made them think that the service suggested well-known tourist spots instead of creating custom recommendations.
“They changed my preference keywords.“
PAIN POINT 2
The user was unhappy because the plan didn't include the places they really wanted to visit. They spent a lot of time on the generating page, trying to make plans with the places. User A ended up deleting the whole plan for the second day and manually created it.
"Why did it include a station tour? I want to go to places I really want to see."
PAIN POINT 3
The user felt difficulty in finding distances in between the spots.
“Where is the distance and time written?”
PAIN POINT 4
The user thought they could click on the map to see the travel route, but it was just a picture, so they kept clicking on it by mistake.
"The map doesn't open even when I click on it."
PAIN POINT 5
The person wanted to figure out if a place they found could be part of their trip and how far away it was. When they clicked on the map, they couldn't see how far the place was until they added it to their plan. So, they had to add and remove places to find activities and locations that worked well and weren't too far.
“This is far away than I thought….”
PAIN POINT 6
User wanted to move a schedule from the morning to the end of their schedule. Not knowing the feature was unavailable, the user had to scroll through the screen repeatedly looking for a duplication feature. The user ended up deleting and then re-adding the spot.
“It's too difficult to change the plan.“
Pain point 1
Users found that the plan used different keywords than the ones they chose. Even after resetting their preferences, the keywords changed again.It made them think that the service suggested well-known tourist spots instead of creating custom recommendations.
“They changed my preference keywords.“
Main Pain Points
The TA revealed areas for improvement: significant inflexibility in schedule generating and map interaction, coupled with a lack of clarity in how user preferences are factored in.
UNDERSTANDING 03
Persona
To better understand user needs, I created personas for planners and spontaneous travelers. Planners prefer detailed information and structured schedules, while spontaneous travelers value flexibility and real-time updates.
UNDERSTANDING 04
Story Board
The storyboard revealed critical touchpoints in the user journey, particularly during the initial planning phase, where users feel overwhelmed by options and uncertain about decisions.
The AI travel planning app should offer a customizable interface that caters to both types of users - with features for in-depth planning and flexibility for on-the-spot changes, all while providing a clear, streamlined path through the overwhelming initial stages of planning an international trip.
UNDERSTANDING 05
Outcome
For easier planning, an AI-powered service has been designed to automatically match travelers with destinations they'll love and create the best routes. This service can make the entire planning process straightforward and enjoyable.
Efficiency
Quick Planning
using AI
Personalization
Customized travel route creation
Flexibility
Change schedule before and
during the travel
Solving
Using the key features based on user pain points and needs, I designed mid-fi and high-fi prototypes with the iOS design system.
SOLVING 01
Medium Fidelity
In the mid-fi design phase, I crafted user interfaces that capture the essential elements and functionality of the app, providing a solid foundation for further development and testing.
SOLVING 02
High Fidelity
Home
How would you like to plan your next adventure?
The planning feature offers users two distinct options, designed to cater to different travel styles and ensure their trip is exactly how they envisioned
1
Plan Right Now: Allow AI to design a complete itinerary from scratch, providing convenience and a ready-to-use plan.
2
Explore My Favorites: Create a personalized itinerary using saved locations, giving users more control over their selections.
Generate Plan
Let’s plan right away!
The instant plan generation leverages two key factors—user travel details and preferences:
1
Uses provided schedules and group size to create an itinerary based on available destinations and activities.
2
User can choose AI-generated travel keywords for further personalization of travel plan. These words are created by analyzing reviews to help you discover your travel preferences.
My Places
Did you have a particular place in mind?
The feature allows users to utilize their saved locations to create a tailored travel plan, ensuring they visit their preferred spots without missing anything important
Dashboard & Plan Together
Make sure this is “Your“ travel!
AI recommends three personalized plans, allowing users to select their preferred plan.
1
Provides a complete travel schedule from start to finish, including flight and hotel bookings, while considering distances between locations to ensure users make the most of their trip.
2
The 'Invite' button allows multiple friends to join and modify the schedule together, creating a seamless and interactive travel planning experience.
AI Insights & Quick Edits
Want to see other options?
1
AI sorts reviews by keywords, helping users quickly learn about a destination and suggesting the best times to visit for an optimized experience.
2
A pop-up window allows users to easily add, edit, delete, or rearrange locations, making it simple to adjust plans anytime.
AI Insights & Quick Edits
Are you traveling?
Need help finding somewhere?
Easily find nearby places along your travel route and adjust your plans with features like viewing nearby places, a location selection tab, and route guidance.
Reflection
This project was inspired by my recent challenges in planning a family trip to the USA. Most people enjoy travel, which allowed me to find four enthusiastic individuals willing to share their passion for travel. During the interview, these four unique individuals shared various ways people approach travel planning and their travel patterns. During my conversations with users, I learned that it's important to broaden my perspective and consider their diverse preferences and needs. It became clear that empathetic engagement with users plays a critical role in creating effective design solutions.