WanderCrew Page

Problem?

As society comes back from a world of quarantining in a pandemic, people (particularly those within the millennial and gen z age groups) are back to planning group trips with their peers, family, and friends. I, personally, have sought websites where I can plan trips with my friends and found most sites to be geared towards large scale events and professional event planning. Therefore, my friends and I had to plan trips over messaging apps, not geared towards trip planning.

Research Goals

1. User Needs

We want to know what users would want in a peer-to-peer trip planning app so that we can create an easy to use platform for planning group trips on a personal level.

2. Existing Platforms

We want to know what existing platforms, websites, apps, and resources are available for small-scale social trip planning.

Competitive Analysis

The initial phase of my research involved conducting a thorough market analysis to identify competitors and their unique strategies. My primary areas of focus encompassed trip planning app and resources commonly used to plan trips with friends.
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The insights gathered provided a valuable foundation for shaping the design approach, including the most efficient and organized way to plan a group trip itinerary.

User Interviews & Surveys

By engaging in a comprehensive interview phase, I delved deeper into participants' pain points, motivations, and behavioral patterns. To cultivate a richer understanding and extract valuable insights regarding user preferences and expectations, I deliberately selected individuals who travel on group trips with their friends.
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The carefully crafted interview questions were strategically designed to unveil users' desires for a group traveling app.

Number of Participants: 9 people

Method: 1 on 1 virtual calls & Google surveys

Participants: Users who travel with friends

Themes:

1. An important aspect to a good trip is fun & memorable activities.
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2. The motivation is to share fun memories with loved ones.
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3. The whole point of planning a trip ahead of time is to keep the trip itinerary organized.

4. The biggest issue is miscommunication between planner & invitees.

5. A large issue was finding a date that worked with all invitees’ availability

6. A deciding factor of whether a participant will go on a trip is whether they can afford it.

Point of View Statement to
How Might We Question

# 1 Communication

I’d like to explore ways to help the social and adventurous trip planner and their friends/family, feel like they are a community with clear communication and input to help support each other.

How might we make communication easier and clear between friends and family?

How might we keep information about a trip itinerary clear for those involved?

#2 Affordability

I’d like to explore ways to help economical and considerate trip planners keep a trip affordable and have as much financial transparency as possible at the start of planning.

How might we create financial transparency between a group of friends and family going on a trip together?

How might we help trip planners and invitees, who are friends and family, make more affordable decisions for a trip?

#3 Availability/ Scheduling

I’d like to explore ways for busy friends and family to be able to coordinate with each other on a date.

How might we make scheduling a date for a trip with friends and family easier and more transparent?

How might we help friends and family communicate their availability to each other?

#4 Efficiency

I’d like to explore ways to help organized people, who are typically the trip planners in a group, create more efficient and effective trip itineraries for themselves and their loved ones.

How might we help people who plan trips for their friends and family create an effective trip itinerary in the most time-efficient way?

How might we help people find interesting and fun activities to add to their itinerary?

User Personas

Type “A” Trip Planner

Carlos likes to plan trips that are affordable and have an organized itinerary. He likes to be in control so that everything goes off without a hitch.

Social Butterfly

Leslie is very busy, but really loves all the people in her life, so she likes to plan trips so everyone can come together and make memories that last a lifetime.

Influencer Invitee

Miguel loves to go on trips with friends so that he can post the trips on his social media. He particularly likes to go on unique and adventurous trips.

Sitemap

The site map visually presents platform navigation, clarifying the arrangement of components and features within their respective categories for a coherent user experience. While some similarities may arise in the final version, it's important to note that adjustments are likely as the building process unfolds.

Low Fidelity Wireframes

Having amassed sufficient information, I embarked on crafting preliminary low-fidelity concepts. Presented below are several preliminary screens:

Home Page

I placed a prominent "Upcoming Trips" section with a large cover photo, while utilizing an icon in the cover photo to indicate unread group messages within that specific trip.

Trip Invite

Beginning with the “Where are we Going” screen, users input data that will be displayed across various lists within the app, such as "Trip Notifications," "Friends' Trips," or "Upcoming Trips."

Trip Itinerary

The trip itinerary provides users with a comprehensive view of the itinerary, invitee list, and budget.

Budget

Users can observe individual spending on shared expenses, showcasing both the total expenditure and the specific cost for each experience or lodging.

High Fidelity Wireframes

After several rounds of iterations I created a user interface that reflected the brand’s image, but still kept the user experience clear and concise. Presented below are several of the screens:

Trip Invite

The trip invite itself adopts a minimalist approach, offering only essential information such as the title, location, date, and a description that fills in additional necessary details.

Trip Itinerary

Collaboration among group members is facilitated through the integrated group messaging feature. To further enhance the user experience, we have incorporated an AI assistant in the top right corner.

Budget - Who to Pay

To facilitate seamless payment settlements, the "Budget - Who to Pay" screen integrates popular payment apps like Venmo and Cash App, making it effortless for users to reimburse one another.

Friends' Trips

I designed a social media-like platform where users can easily view their friends' and family's trips.

Research Goals

Evaluate how easy task flows are accomplished, such as
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1. log in process,
2. creating a trip itinerary
3. editing/adding to a trip itinerary
4. locating expenses
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Evaluate how much time it takes for users to complete each task flow
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Analyze any challenges users faced while completing each task flowReceive feedback on UI

Success Metrics

1. Users are able to navigate platform and complete tasks with little to no errors or confusion
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2. Users are able to complete tasks in under 5 minutes
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3. Users are satisfied with their experience
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4. Users want to use this platform again
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5. Users want to share this product with their friends

100% Success Metric

Improvements

Thoroughly develop the AI concierge messaging feature, enabling users to seamlessly communicate with the AI for trip recommendations and effortlessly integrate them into their itinerary.

Comprehensively refine the group messaging functionality, empowering users within the group to engage with messages by liking and pinning them.

Additional Features

Photo Dropbox
Incorporate a dedicated photo dropbox within each trip itinerary, enabling users to easily share high-quality photos of their specific trip with friends
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Simplified Version
Implement a user-friendly setting that streamlines the user journey, or provide an option for users to text an image of the itinerary. This ensures inclusivity for individuals who may face technical challenges but still wish to engage in the group planning process.

Travel Planning App

WanderCrew

In a nutshell, I've crafted an app that streamlines the entire group trip planning journey into a single, cohesive experience. Through meticulous user interviews, I honed in on crucial aspects: forging a digital realm where invitees commit more reliably, curbing miscommunication pitfalls, and eradicating the irksome cycle of redundant information requests. Notably, the app fosters a sense of financial openness among users, coupled with a simplified process for reimbursing each other.