interactive travel guide usability redesign

Travel planning tool

by  Dabney  Donigan,  Sylvia  Lee,  Azam  Zafar  

UXDi  General  Assembly  NYCFall  2013

Planning a trip involves a lot of research. People typically search and then stumble onto several websites before they find information that is applicable to them. Most sites are geared toward booking flights and accommodation, but lack a sophisticated and integrated itinerary tool.

THE CHALLENGE WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Wanderant is an interactive travel planning tool that takes the hassle out of planning for travel. It combines a powerful travel logistics engine that optimizes itineraries with guide book style content.

THE SOLUTION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

RESEARCH METHODS

RESEARCH METHODS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

WHAT OUR USABILITY TESTERS SAY…

“I would use it if there were functional changes. I don’t want to go to touristy places, I rather go off the beaten path - and if it's touristy, I wouldn't use it.” !“[There’s] some cool stuff happening, but it's not usable. I'm pretty confused. I find the layout to be confusing, and my eyes are having trouble laying out exactly what's going on." !“Crazy paradox of choice - I have no idea where to click.” !“The photos are captivating.”

BUSINESS ANALYSIS - FINDINGS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

100%

75%

50%

• Users did not know how to browse, resorted to search for every task. • Did not know they can click and drag activities onto the itinerary list.

• Full-screen itinerary looks like an Excel spreadsheet. • Mentioned that they don’t understand what the time lengths are referring

to - “is this how long it takes to get there? How long am I’m supposed to spend there? Does it account for transportation?”

• Experienced technical problems in basic user tasks.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS - FINDINGS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

WHAT OUR USABILITY TESTERS SAY…

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

browse

navigation barglobal navigationbookmarksitineraryfiltersshort descriptioncontentarticles/tipsinteractive mapplannercustomize itemsadd/delete itemscalendar

search bar

City MapperLonely Planet RoadtripperTripadvisorWanderant

Users who travel internationally and use any form of itinerary planning were targeted for interviews.

Five participants were selected, and were asked (1) how they go about choosing destinations they want to travel and (2) how they organize all the information.

USER INTERVIEWS

USER INTERVIEWS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

FINDINGS

Almost all people search for places based on photo, not content. !Some people utilize a geographical map to choose for places they want to travel. !People have a rough idea of where they want to travel based on casual browsing and friends’ recommendations. !People do not use trip planning tools, rather they plan through other means. !!

FINDINGS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

OPPORTUNITIES

Gain quick “feel” of the highlights through in-depth filtering.

Structure search process from macro to micro

List recommendations and tips

Integrate itinerary planning with browsing

OPPORTUNITIES WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Personas and Scenarios

PERSONAS AND SCENARIOS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Alysha Newman The High-Planner Tourist

PERSONAS AND SCENARIOS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Jacob Fisher The Local Wannabe

Max Rhoads The Nomad

Local Attraction

Tourist Attraction

Heavy Planning for Travel

No or Light Planning for

Travel

High-Planner Tourist

Local Wannabe

Traveling Nomad

CONCEPTUAL MAPPING - PERSONAS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

SCENARIOS - PRIMARY USER WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Alysha Newman The High-Planner Tourist

doctor (34)

PAIN POINTS GOALS WISHES

LIKES

Take some time to plan out her trips even though she is busy.

Don’t know where to start or look for activities

Explore all major tourist attractions

Stay at higher-end hotels or Bred & Breakfasts

Include as many activities in her trips.

Photos and brief descriptions of places to go to

A planner that can save her time

“I want to go all the places on my list and spend time with my family.”

After prioritizing features, we made rough sketches of user flows and screens.

SKETCHES WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

User Flows

USER FLOWS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Build itinerary

USER FLOWS - BROWSE FOR PLACES TO SEE WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Landing page Sign up/Sign inAdd Cities/

Accommodation/ Attractions

Plan Trip Build Itinerary

Add bookmarks

Fill gap with recommendations

Share/Export

USER FLOWS - ADD AN ACTIVITY OR PLACE TO THE ITINERARY WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Add an item to the itinerary

Landing page

Option to login/sign up

Search

Do you want to look into this

country more?

Select a country on map

Country page

Page of Attraction

Article

Add to Itinerary

Yes

No

WIREFRAMES

WIREFRAMES WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

WIREFRAMES - FIRST ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

SEARCH FOR COUNTRY

DESTINATION

ITINERARY

SHARE

BROWSE

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

NEW TRIP

add city

add city

ADD +

DEPARTING RETURN

THUR

OCT 17FLIGHT HOTEL

FRI

OCT 26

ATTRACTIONS

search site, museum, burger joint, etc.

BUILD ITINERARY

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Choose actions on side navigation bar

View of locations on the map

Create a new trip to start planning

WIREFRAMES - FIRST ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

SEARCH RESULT

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

Family Trip to Bulgaria

MONDAY, OCT. 17 TUESDAY, OCT. 18 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19 THURSDAY, OCT. 20

SOFIA BURGAS

MONTHWEEKDAY

SOFIA SOFIA

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Looks like you havesome time!

Want some localrecommendations?

Lunch?

Dinner?

RILA MONASTERY

CITY WALK

VILLA ROSICHE

EUXINOGRAD

SOFIA ZOO

SEVEN RILA LAKES

SUNNY BEACH

BOYANA CHURCH

PERPERIKON

A lovely place in Bulgaria that is monumental for the country’s history.

A lovely place in Bulgaria.

A lovely place in Bulgaria that is monumental for the country’s history. It has a lot of very cool lakes and such.

A lovely place in Bulgaria.

A lovely place in Bulgaria that is monumental for the country’s history. This is a pretty building that is known worldwide. This is a great place to visit with your family.

A lovely place in Bulgaria that is monumental for the country’s history. This is a pretty building that is known worldwide.

A lovely place in Bulgaria that is monumental for the country’s history.

20 MINS

10 MINS

1 HOUR

10 MINS

15 MINS

1.5 HOURS 1 HOUR

20 MINS

Lunch?

DESTINATION

ITINERARY

SHARE

BROWSE

1

2

3

2

1

3

Look at itinerary in different view modes

Add/edit activities in the itinerary in calendar view

Look for more activities and places through recommendations

We presented wireframes of our second design iteration to clients. Feedback was less conceptional this time and focused more on minor changes.

WIREFRAMES - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

WIREFRAMES - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

EGYPT EXPLORE

Downtown Cairo

EXPLORE ITINERARY LOG IN

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2 3

2

1

3

Search for places or view itineraries on global navigation bar

Overall view of activities and places of country

Create a new trip to start planning

WIREFRAMES - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

ITINERARY

CREATE TRIP

Family Trip to EgyptMONDAY, OCT. 17 TUESDAY, OCT. 18 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19 THURSDAY, OCT. 20

CAIRO ALEXANDRIA

MONTHWEEKDAY

CAIRO CAIRO

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Looks like you havesome time!

Want some localrecommendations?

Lunch?

Dinner?

GREAT PYRAMID & SPHINX OF GIZA

CITY WALK

MUSEUM OFISLAMIC ART

CITADEL

MIDHAN TAHRIR

NILE RIVER

MARINA

THE TEMPLE OFTAPOSIRIS MAGNA

SHALLALAT GARDENS

Home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years, with three mosques.

Take a stroll around downtown Cairo.

The famed river is the life of Egypt, running straight through the country. Talk a walk by its shores, and see its wonder.

Visit two of the most famous pieces of ancient history in the world. Travel to Giza for this fantastic sight.

The temple was built in the Ptolemy era and dedicated to Osiris.

The name of ancient garden located in Alexandria, Egypt. Shallalat Gardens occupy a big area of Al Shatby neighborhood.

20 MINS

10 MINS

1 HOUR

10 MINS

15 MINS

1.5 HOURS 1 HOUR

20 MINS

Lunch?

EXPLORE ITINERARY Itai

NEW TRIP

BOOKMARKS

SAVE TRIP

1 2

2

1 Create a new trip

Options to share, download, and change settings.

ITERATIONS

ITERATIONS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

PROTOTYPE - FIRST ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Top Travel Trends

Africa

North America

South America

Europe

Hot Deals

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.EXPLORE ITINERARY LOG IN

1

2

1 Search for destinations based trends, deals, and continents.

PROTOTYPE - FIRST ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

GET INSPIRED

AFRICA EGYPT

C A I R O

GIZA

TOP TENHIGHLIGHTS

RECOMMENDED CITIES SITES FOOD OUTDOORS

See the wonder of Egypt’s capital, spanning from the beginning of civilization to modern day.

EXPLORE ITINERARY

MARKETS

LOG IN

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Highlight photo, short description of a country

Filter bar

High-quality photos of different activities and places of the country

PROTOTYPE - FIRST ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

Search Destination, Attraction, Etc.

ITINERARY

CREATE TRIP

Family Trip to EgyptMONDAY, OCT. 17 TUESDAY, OCT. 18 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19 THURSDAY, OCT. 20

CAIRO ALEXANDRIA

MONTHWEEKDAY

CAIRO CAIRO

8

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

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9

10

11

12

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10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

Looks like you havesome time!

Want some localrecommendations?

Lunch?

Dinner?

GREAT PYRAMID & SPHINX OF GIZA

CITY WALK

MUSEUM OFISLAMIC ART

CITADEL

MIDHAN TAHRIR

NILE RIVER

MARINA

THE TEMPLE OFTAPOSIRIS MAGNA

SHALLALAT GARDENS

Home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years, with three mosques.

Take a stroll around downtown Cairo.

The famed river is the life of Egypt, running straight through the country. Talk a walk by its shores, and see its wonder.

Visit two of the most famous pieces of ancient history in the world. Travel to Giza for this fantastic sight.

The temple was built in the Ptolemy era and dedicated to Osiris.

The name of ancient garden located in Alexandria, Egypt. Shallalat Gardens occupy a big area of Al Shatby neighborhood.

20 MINS

10 MINS

1 HOUR

10 MINS

15 MINS

1.5 HOURS 1 HOUR

20 MINS

Lunch?

EXPLORE ITINERARY Itai

NEW TRIP

BOOKMARKS

SAVE TRIP

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2

3

2

1

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More actions in navigation bar- add bookmark, add new trip, and save trip

A photo and description of added activity or place

View of itinerary in week format

PROTOTYPE - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

1

1 Changed the title from “Itinerary” to “Plan Trip”

PROTOTYPE - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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1 Added filters based on different options

PROTOTYPE - SECOND ITERATION WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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1 Changed the layout and colors of the itinerary

KEY SCREENS

KEY SCREENS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

KEY SCREENS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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Instructions on how to use Wanderant through a pop-up screen

A view of a map to locate a country

Quick overview info- rmation of a country

KEY SCREENS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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Pop-up screen to add into itinerary

Relevant photo thumb- nails of activity or place

Sugestions of similar activities or places

KEY SCREENS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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Create a new trip

Enter in attractions within the chosen destination

Quick animations from one destination to another on the map

KEY SCREENS WANDERANT | TRIP PLANNING TOOL

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1 Removed “Save Trip” from the side bar navigation

Incorporated thumbnails of bookmarks

THANK YOU

SYLVIA LEE | HELLOIMSYLVIA@GMAIL.COM

DABNEY DONIGAN | DABNEY.DONI@GMAIL.COM

AZAM ZAFAR | AZAMZAFAR@GMAIL.COM