Project Scope:
- My Role: UX research, Prototyping Tasks: Background Research, Semi-structured Interview, Affinity clustering, User journey map, Storyboarding, Speed dating, Prototyping, Usability Testing
- Tools: Figma / Tableau / Miro
- Timeline: Sep - Dec 2022
- Deliverables: Sketches, Med-Fi & High-Fi-Mockups, Prototype
- Team: Pat Vaidos, Aradhana Venkat, Manvi Gupta, Dongtao Bi, Nancy Xing
Problem
How might we ease online travel planning for families with children?
Exploring destinations - Families need more trust-worthy and diversified sources of information to explore and decide on destinations for travel plannings.
Booking accommodations - during travel planning, families are sometimes challenged by finding accommodations online that meets their goals.
Time coordination - families are having difficulties in deciding on a time frame for travel that fits everyone’s schedule in the family.
Itinerary management - During travels, families are occasionally having troubles in managing their itineraries - especially when unanticipated situation arises (such as unexpected weather).
Finding activities - exploring kids-friendly activities around the destination that fits everyone’s interest is a struggling and laborious process.
Methods
Define & Ideation: Reverse Assumptions, How might we statement
User Research: Contextual Inquiries, Semi-structured Interviews, Directed storytelling using photos, Travel planning timeline creation, Affinity Mapping
Analysis & Synthesize: Affinity clustering, User journey map
Idea generation: Crazy 8’s, Story-boarding, Speed-dating
Product Design: Experience Prototyping
User Testing: Prototype Testing, Think-aloud Study, Survey report
Define & Ideation
Reverse assumptions
We selected this method since it helped us break away and question our assumptions. It gave us a new perspective on our research questions and user behavior.
User Research
The research phase of our project focused on discovering user behavior and patterns to get a full context of the problem space while identifying critical user challenges, factors affecting travel planning, and their intermediate solution to these problems. Children bring a lot of dynamism into traveling and the planning process, and immersing ourselves in the domain brings numerous insights, limitations, and opportunities.
Conducted 5 semi-structured interviews, each with 2 contextual inquiry models.
Participants were parents of children between the ages 3-12 who have gone on vacation with their families.
Evidence
User Quotes
User Travel Plan Timeline
Analysis & Synthesize
Affinity clustering
Emotional Journey during the planning process
A Day Trip
Insights & Implications
Inaccuracy and incomplete information on travel booking sites lead to uncomfortable and risky experiences.
Flexibility in travel plan is a non-negotiable when traveling with kids.
Distributed modes of research and booking add to the difficulty of travel planning with children
Finding activities that include the entire family is a rigorous and time consuming process
Families rely on recommendations and reviews from close and trusted sources to mitigate unknown risk
Opportunities
Idea generation
We used the Crazy 8’s to each generated 8 ideas based on our ‘why statement’ and insights. We then combined the needs into buckets and within the team voted to rank the needs and identify the top 5 important ones. As a team we then divided the needs amongst us to generate ideas and storyboards.
Need for flexible itinerary
Downtime activities with kids
Having trustable & accurate reviews
Family friendly accomodation
One stop solution for planning
Story boarding & Speed dating
Design Opportunities
Solution
Product concept
Hi-fi Mock-up
Usability Testing
Result Analysis
Future steps
We learned a lot from our usability tests. We aim to incorporate the feedback we received from our participants and reduce the issues they faced in navigating the app. We will work to make the concept easier to understand and improve the UI elements. we can make the concept easier to understand and work on the smaller UI elements.
