TravelXplorer
A comprehensive travel app that fosters authentic cultural exchanges and connects travelers worldwide through its vibrant community.
Introduction
TravelXplorer is an innovative travel app that focuses on authentic local experiences, cultural connections, and meaningful interactions between travelers. It emphasizes deep exploration and provides a strong community platform that connects travelers from all around the world. With TravelXplorer, users can discover hidden gems, connect with local hosts and guides, share travel tips, and engage in enriching cultural exchanges, making every journey a memorable and meaningful adventure.
My Role
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User Researcher
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Data Analyst
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UI/UX Designer
Scope
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Uesr Research
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Design Thinking
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User Flow
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Wireframe
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Prototype
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Test
Timeline
Around 3 weeks
Tools
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Figma
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Figjam
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Zoom
Curious about design decisions? Jump to
My Objectives:
Define if users need this app (if not — how I can change it).
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Bring ideas how to satisfy these needs.
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Build a prototype to test my ideas.
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Implement my ideas in final project.
I used a design thinking approach for all these steps.
Empathize
Research
My principle is “Start design with Why”, aiming to gain a clear understanding of the users' needs for this app. It involves delving into their goals and exploring how they plan to accomplish them.
I set up interviews’ objectives, target audience, and questions before starting the interviews.
Objectives
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Define the level of interest among users in engaging in in-depth travel experiences, including exploring local neighborhoods, making friends with other like-mind travelers and locals, participating in cultural events and festivals, and engaging in deep cultural exchanges, etc.
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Understand users' interests and willingness to interact with individuals from different cultural backgrounds and foreign nationals.
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Understand the willingness and challenges of professional travel experts, tour guides, and local companions in utilizing online platforms to help potential clients in achieving more customized and local travel experiences.
Target audience
I selected to interview different types of users including adventure enthusiasts and stakeholders like tour guides, local cultural organizations, and individuals interested in cultural exchange.
Questions
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How important is it for you to have authentic and immersive travel experiences where you can explore local neighborhoods and interact with locals?
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What factors would motivate you to seek out opportunities for cultural exchange during your travels?
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How interested are you in participating in cultural events or festivals?
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Are you open to meeting and interacting with individuals from different cultural backgrounds during your travels? Why or why not?
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What barriers or challenges have you encountered in engaging in deep cultural exchanges while traveling?
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What role do you believe technology and travel apps can play in facilitating cultural exchange and connecting travelers with locals?
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What motivated you to establish your media channels or online presence as a tour guide or local companion?
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Are there any specific features or functionalities you would like to see in a travel app that promotes in-depth cultural exchange?
Research summary
I conduct these interviews either in person or through Zoom, and gathered responses from approximately 15 participants.
Key Findings:
Based on the reasons that motivate users to open the app:
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All users strongly desire immersive travel experiences that allow them to explore local neighborhoods and interact with locals.
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The opportunity to try local cuisine and participate in cultural events or festivals during their travels.
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The app's ability to provide them with valuable insights and recommendations from local experts.
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To access firsthand travel advice, tips, and ready-made travel plans.
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Meet travelers and all kinds of people from all around the world.
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To make new friends and chat with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds.
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Based on the obstacles the respondents mentioned the most:
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Language and communication barriers were identified as the main obstacles to engaging in deep cultural exchanges while traveling. Some of them also mentioned feeling shy when it comes to face-to-face communication.
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Users also mentioned a lack of awareness or accessibility to local cultural events and opportunities for interaction with locals.
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About 60% of respondents expressed their desire to become hosts or connect with foreign travelers. However, they mentioned not knowing where or how to find opportunities to meet and interact with travelers. (When not traveling)
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Based on the features the respondents value the most when using a travel app:
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Personalization: Users appreciate the ability to customize their travel experiences and receive tailored recommendations based on their interests and preferences.
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Local Insights: The respondents highly value having access to local insights and recommendations, enabling them to discover destinations like a local.
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Community and Networking: Users appreciate features that facilitate connections with other travelers and locals, providing opportunities for cultural exchange and sharing travel experiences.
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Event Listings: The respondents expressed interest in a comprehensive event listing feature that highlights local cultural events, festivals, and workshops.
Define
Persona
I have divided the primary target audience of TravelXplorer into four groups, including:
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In-depth Travelers
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Tour Guides
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Local Cultural Organizations
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People who love cultural exchange
And created 3 user personas based on the research results to understand user behavior, needs, experience, and goals.
User Persona In-depth Traveler
User Persona-Tour Guide
User Persona-Cultural Organization
Naturally, this also leads to 3 different but closely connected objectives to consider in our ideation phase.
HMW curate trustworthy resources and a convenient platform for our travelers to gather information or connect with local guides to engage in in-depth cultural exchanges?
HMW empower our tour guides to establish their own brand, supporting them in effective self-marketing to reach a wider audience and build a strong reputation as a trusted and sought-after tour guide?
HMW establish partnerships with trusted platforms to enhance the credibility and exposure of Cultural Organizations like Cultura Viva?
Defining and prioritising solutions
Utilising user jobs across our personas to further define our solution scope for an MVP.
Ideate
Creating a powerful community that connects travelers together.
Leveraging our key findings and persona attributes, I understood that the ideal solution must be able to provide a community of travel enthusiasts, connecting individuals to support each other, share information, and create travel plans. This not only fosters user engagement but also offers travel industry professionals a vast platform to reach potential customers."
Design Goals
​Establish a trustworthy resource hub that offers verified and professional local guides, curated cultural experiences, and reliable user reviews
Develop an intuitive and efficient itinerary management feature that allows travelers to customize their plans,easy access to multiple travel plans from other users
Providing a supportive and encouraging community where users can generate content, connecting travelers from all around the world.
Limited resources forced me to re-prioritize the features based on impact and effort
With a shorter time scope and technical feasibility, I decided to focus on features that require low effort but yield high impact with the initial MVP.
User flows
Working through the user flows helped me to map out the paths a user would take. Made me aware of many mistakes that can be avoided before starting the wireframing process.
User flows: Saving a travel plan
Wireframes
After understanding user needs and the app's overall structure, I created wireframes based on the priority of features.
The wireframing process was where things began to fall into place and become more tangible.Trimming down to focus on my MVP was now vital to the completion of this project.
Usability Testing
To validate my designs and test prototypes, I conduct a face-to-face usability test with 8 people. I asked the participants to complete several scenarios:
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Task 1: Create a 3-day travel plan for a solo trip to Amsterdam.
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Task 2: Adding a spot to your plan.
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Task 3: Invite friends to co-edit the travel plan.
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Task 4: Find and save a guided tour with a local tour guide in Tokyo.
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Task 5: Explore the community section and write a post seeking travel companions for a hiking trip to the Swiss Alps.
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Task 6: Use the app's search function to find a cultural workshop or event then add it to Saved List.
Feedback from the participants
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User-generated travel tips were highly valued as they provided authentic and valuable insights into the destinations
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Users appreciate the app's feature of recommending nearby local hosts/guides, making it easy for them to find hosts in any location during their trip.
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Users have expressed some concern about the feature for finding travel companions. They are unsure if they will get along with potential travel buddies or if it is safe to connect with strangers online.
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Users have concerned that some of their friends may not have downloaded the app yet. When they try to share their travel plans with friends for collaborative editing, they wish for a quick and seamless registration process to immediately start planning the trip together.
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One of the participants suggested an interesting idea, stating that when users open the app, it should provide real-time suggestions for nearby places of interest, local cuisine, activities, festivals, local guides, and tips, similar to Google Maps. He believes that this feature would be more helpful for those who have limited time to plan their trips in detail. With just a simple tap, they could instantly get inspired with travel ideas from the app.
The final MVP product-TravelXplorer
Real-Time Suggestions
Authentic Cultural Experiences
Personalized Itineraries
Dynamic Community
Your gateway to authentic travel experiences, connecting you with local guides and a vibrant community of like-minded travelers for unforgettable adventures worldwide.
Real-Time Suggestions
Instantly discover nearby attractions, providing on-the-go travel inspiration.
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Provides personalized tips
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Recommend nearby travel hosts, guides, and travel plans
Authentic Cultural Experiences
Enhancing your journey with genuine local encounters
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Download information in advance for offline browsing support.
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Bookmark articles of interest for later reading.
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​Follow professional guides, travel experts, and cultural organizations, and easily initiate conversations and contact.
Personalized Itineraries
Create your personalized travel plan or customize existing itineraries to make them your own.
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Simply save your favorite itineraries
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Create new travel plans or customize your own from the saved collection.
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Invite friends to collaborate and plan the trip together.
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Share your finalized travel plan with the community.
Dynamic Community
Engage with like-minded travelers.​Make new friends from the comfort of your home.
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Exchanging travel insights, offering advice, and sharing ideas.
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View updates from the tracked travel experts and friends you follow.
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Participate in discussions on various travel activity boards, including photography, camping, skiing, diving, and more.
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Get answers to your travel queries from travelers worldwide.
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Discover potential travel companions.
Looking back and moving foward
A deeper understanding of ideas when 
placed within context, and not just in vacuums.
Through this project, I have come to realize the significance of considering the needs and pain points of our diverse user base. With countless potential users, identifying the primary target audience and prioritizing the development of relevant app features poses a significant challenge. Understanding user needs is crucial, emphasizing the importance of user research and testing.
I am optimistic about the future potential of this project and look forward to collaborating with the development team to bring TravelXplorer to life. The opportunity to explore different perspectives beyond that of a designer and gather input from various sources to iterate and refine the design during the development process is something I eagerly anticipate learning from.