Travelwise - A Travel Planning App

UX Designer

Product Designer

UI Designer

Adobe Photoshop

ChatGPT

Figma

Travelwise is a travel planning app that makes it easy and stress-free for users to plan a trip in just 10 minutes. With a simple and intuitive interface and end-to-end process, our app allows users to search for their desired destination, create an itinerary, and book their entire trip with ease. Get started on a seamless journey, and say goodbye to hours of research and planning.

😆But it might take a bit longer if you're the type of person who gets lost in their own house!

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Planning a trip can be stressful and frustrating. This is due to multiple pain points ranging from packing, to budgeting, to organizing trip details with traveling partners. It also involves surfing through multiple apps and websites. Many travel planning apps on the market provide a wealth of information and a complex process that can overwhelm and confuse users. This results in users spending too much time navigating the app and struggling to make decisions, ultimately leading to a frustrating and unsatisfying travel planning experience.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

A straightforward and user-friendly

A product that provides an easy way to plan a trip all in one place.

People should be able to choose a personalized itinerary or create their own.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

A comparison was made between the most popular trip-planning apps to gain a better understanding of their solutions and avoid missing any crucial aspects.

USER RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

Questions Asked –

How often do you travel?

What steps do you take to prepare for a trip?

Are there any apps or sites in particular that you use to plan your trip itinerary?

How long does it take for you to plan for the trip? (With the help of these apps)

What do you like or dislike about these other apps?

What else, besides your flight and accommodation, do you book ahead of time?

What is the frustrating part of planning your travel?

What do you believe would make your travel planning easier and less stressful?

Secondary Research

When it comes to planning a vacation online, there are so many options and resources available that it may be confusing. As a result, most individuals prefer to deal with a travel agency because most online platforms make it more time- and effort-consuming**.**

Research by Expedia suggests that around 60% of travelers begin planning a trip without a specific destination in mind, highlighting the challenge of retaining users who are in the exploratory phase and may drop out during the planning process.

However, with careful planning and organization, it is possible to streamline the process and save time. Additionally, planning your trip online gives you more control over the details of your trip and allows you to customize it to suit your preferences and interests. This can ultimately lead to a more enjoyable and fulfilling travel experience.

The purpose of this study is to understand traveler's actual experiences when it comes to planning a trip online.

User Persona

After talking to users, I came up with a persona that reflects multiple needs and pain points.

FINDINGS

Users often drop out or fail to complete planning their travel itinerary in travel planning apps due to reasons such as

Time-consuming and requires too many steps

Complex and overwhelming interface.

Does not provide consistent guidance or support

Provides no personalized recommendations or suggestions

USER FLOW

I proceeded to create a detailed user flow. This essentially illustrates the various paths that the user can take to complete a task. Creating this flow allowed me to think from the user’s perspective and consider the different options that the user has while using the app.

SKETCHES

Drawing on paper allowed me to experiment with different concepts quickly and discard them if they didn't work out. A first insight into how navigation and logic behind each step could be developed was also provided.

WIREFRAME

I converted the rough sketches to wireframes once I was satisfied.

UI KIT

I created a design system in order to be able to iterate faster and make changes more quickly across the app.

FINAL PRODUCT

After going through all the steps of Design Thinking, I've created an app called Travelwise that streamlines travel planning for busy individuals . Say goodbye to hours of research and planning, and hello to a seamless and stress-free trip planning experience.

💡 These screens provide a overview of an all-in-one travel planning app that covers the entire process from start to finish. Rather than going into detail, they provide an overview of the app's features. The app's demos are intended to showcase its potential and lay the groundwork for its continued development.

1. Splash Screen -

2. Onboarding and Sign Up Screen -

This screen highlights the benefits of our travel planning app, including personalized recommendations, easy booking and tracking. You'll be able to enjoy a hassle-free travel experience with our app.

We provide access to Travelwise without requiring the user's credentials, as only a few of our features require them.

The app now allows guests to join as members.

3. Home page

From the home page, one has the option to create a new trip, join an existing trip with friends, or view past trip itineraries.

All itineraries in Travelwise have a handy download option so that users can access them offline during their travel. This feature ensures that users can have access to their trip details and plans anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. Having access to important trip information such as flight details, hotel reservations, and activity schedules can help travelers stay organized and prepared throughout their journey.

4. Plan a Trip

The next step is to plan customizable itinerary for a trip. The user selects either one or multiple locations along with the date and the number of travelers.

I have added the preferences column (which is optional) to bring more accuracy to the itinerary in order to match the interests of the traveler.

These preferences have very simplified yet crucial options based on which the user can benefit from a personalized itinerary. The user gets to decide from the type and the budget of the places to visit and the categories they would like to include.

5. Packages

Apart from the customizable itinerary the app also curates personalized packages. The package provides all of details with different price ranges and ratings. This gives the users a wide range of options to choose from based on their convenience and interests.

These itineraries are also customizable just to make sure to add certain peculiar interests on certain activities or places.

6. Browsing through different categories of itinerary:

For the purpose of simplifying and making the itinerary as detailed as possible, I have broken it down into three main categories.

Route

Timeline

Checklist

🛣️ Route

The route feature suggests locations and books flights and transport based on the user's preferences. It can be edited easily, so the user can add or remove locations and change dates as needed to fully customize their trip.

The "Floating" button opens a menu with more options, such as creating a new list, adding locations, or finding transport. It keeps the main screen clean and makes it easy to access important features.

⏳Timeline

The time line gives a detailed breakdown of each day along which is totally editable. The booking of flight is made easy as the user can book through the app or just add the details of the ticket to the itinerary. The plan also allows for self-exploration and addition of activities based on user preferences.

📝 Checklist

The checklist feature is designed to not only remind you of everything you need to pack for your trip but also to act as a central hub where you can store all your important documents and ticket details. Additionally, it allows you to add and share expenses with your travel companions, and even add pictures from your trip to capture and preserve your memories.

6. Explore Page

It optimizes location recommendations for users based on their interests, so they can make a more informed decision more quickly. Based on the user's interests and needs, I implemented several categories such as countries, activities based on the mood, popular packages etc. Using which users can find destinations that match their interests.

You can view all of the high-fidelity screens here.

TAKEAWAYS

As a beginner in UI/UX, I encountered several challenges and gained valuable insights during my first project.

I gathered most of my findings and assumptions from user interviews, and understood the 'why' behind every problem faced by users.

One important skill I acquired during the project was the ability to create multiple iterations. Learning how to iterate and refine my designs was a valuable skill that allowed me to continually improve and enhance the user experience.

I made many mistakes and explored various approaches that didn't work for my designs. However, these experiences helped me learn and find better solutions along the way.