2020: Project Details
Role
UX|UI Designer
Tools
Adobe XD, Miro
Timeline
December 2020 - January 2021
Applied Skills
Affinity Diagram, Ideation, Information Architecture, Moscow Method, User Persona, Prototyping, Storyboarding, User Interviewing, User Research, Wire-Framing
“A fresh pair of eyes can often find problems.”
Intro
I was assigned with designing a new hotel/travel app for my course work at Georgia Tech. Coming from the hospitality industry and having worked for one of the world’s largest online travel platforms, this was supposed to be easy for me — instead, it turned out to be a very humbling experience.
Like Mike Simpson said, I needed to get “a fresh pair of eyes” and a new perspective to identify a problem and deliver a product which users would be able to enjoy.
Problem
From the interviews, I learned that travelers depend on several applications when they’re on vacation, and as a result, they’re often juggling multiple apps which can become inconvenient for them.
My high level goals for this project were to:
Define the users’ travel habits and needs.
Design a solution that solves the identified problem.
Discover a concept that could potentially increase the users’ engagement and add value to their travel experience.
Research & Definition
Interviews
Ideas and facts collected during interviews.
It was important I interviewed the right candidates for this product. I wanted to find users who recently booked a trip on a mobile app and created an itinerary to be able to learn more about their process and what the common trends were amongst users — but that was going to be difficult with the drastic depletion of travelers in 2020. So, I broadened the search to include those who traveled within the past two years. It was imperative that I asked the right questions and kept the dialogue flowing in order to document as much of their experiences as possible for my research.
Affinity Diagram
Categorized thoughts, ideas, facts from user interviews.
The insight I was able to gather from each user was extremely valuable and played a huge part in setting the foundation and direction for Gotra. It guided me throughout the design process and would help me to empathize with the user during the ideation phase.
Survey
74.5%
Created an itinerary for their trips within the last 2 years.
45.7%
Do not find creating an itinerary/agenda enjoyable.
58.7%
Found it important to have itinerary or a plan when traveling.
80.4%
Considers themselves to be organized when it comes to traveling.
Competitive Analysis
Ideation
I Like, I Wish, What If?
One of the tools I used to brainstorm during the ideation phase is the I Like, I Wish, What If diagram because it allowed me to brainstorm different solutions and made me think out side of the box to design a new experience. Many times, it’s hard to invent new ideas when it’s a product that we’re familiar with but this tool pushed me to think forward and envision a new possibility for a solution to the problem.
MoSCoW Method
With the ideas from the I Like, I Wish, What If diagram I sorted them by the business priority and the impact on the user the ideas would have. This stage allowed me to organize the features and ideas into four categories: Must Haves, Should Haves, Could Haves, and Won’t Haves.
Sketches & Prototype
Sketching & Wireframing
The First Sketches
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Version 1.1
High Fidelity Wireframes - January 2021
Version 1.2 (Updated July 2021)
Iterations - July 2021
Side by Side Comparison
FINAL THOUGHTS
What I learned
Below are the points I learned from this case study:
The users’ experience is constantly evolving and changing — from their needs to UI trends, etc.
Iteration is key to design and staying relevant in this fast paced world.
Don’t try to always re-invent the wheel if there’s nothing wrong with it.