Travlry
Product Description
I set out to design an app that will ease the stress inexperienced travelers experience when creating travel itineraries that cater to their personal interests.
Rationale
Studies show that new and diverse experiences are linked to enhanced happiness, improved mood, and increased brain activity. Having the opportunity to go to new and different places makes people feel happier. However, the act of planning for a trip or vacation can bring on new stress and is often time-consuming. There are so many choices and “must-see” locations that a person may become overwhelmed while planning their trips. It is also important that people's travel plans are based on their own personal interests.
By addressing this problem in the form of an app, I could potentially relieve the stress new travelers feel when planning a trip. Hopefully, this will increase the benefits of traveling and save people time and effort.
My Roles
Research
Persona Creation
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Research and Analysis
Persona
I looked into the different ways people like to travel and focused on new travelers ages 20 - 35. These travelers often travel with friends and occasionally take solo trips. I created a persona to represent a generation of young workers who may not have a lot of time to plan trips.
Design
Wireframes
After coming to understand the target audience, I created wireframes to form the structure and basic layout of the app. The mobile app was to feature articles, surveys, and premade itineraries to aid travelers in planning their trips. These wireframes proved to be helpful in planning out the later iterations of the mobile app. I tested the wireframe with three potential users. With the feedback I received from them, I was able to omit the banner from the profile page and change the order in which the trip photos and descriptions were displayed when I design the first prototype.
Original Sketches
Digital Wireframes
Mockups
I converted the mid-fidelity wireframes into mockups to further explore ways to help new travelers with planning their trips. I wanted there to be a social aspect to this app, so I added profile pages and the ability to add a travel buddy to a trip. The orientation survey was changed into a travel quiz to add a fun aspect to exploring travel. The original wireframes were lacking in the travel planning features, so I added more ways a user could gain information about traveling and a more robust trip planning feature. I wanted the app to be both useful and reliable while also providing fun and entertainment.
Prototype and Usability Testing
I gained feedback from my colleagues on ways to improve my high-fidelity mockups. I made small changes to the mockups based on their suggestions and then proceeded to use Invision to create a clickable prototype. I conducted in-person usability tests with three individuals to ensure the app was of high quality. The participants expressed their delight in the app and were able to easily navigate to different locations in the app. However, the testing gave me many insights into ways to improve the app further.
Future Improvements
The Travlry app could be improved by ensuring there are multiple ways to navigate to the important features, such as planning a trip, or finding different locations. Another improvement would be to make the plan a trip icon more recognizable and more centered on the navigation bar. Finally, ensuring that the swipeable features are clearly indicated would improve the user experience.
Check out my prototype below or see it on InVision.
Lessons Learned
I learned about the importance of usability testing and feedback. There were aspects I wouldn't have even considered problematic and needing of change if they weren't pointed out to me by colleagues and testing participants. While designing I realize how important it is to take every step in creating the product. Skipping sketching, wireframing, and creating mockups could be extremely detrimental to the end products. Slowly building up the application structure is beneficial in the long run.