Travel BlindBox

In a world where travelers often encounter the complexities and stress of trip planning. As a UX designer, I collaborated with other product designers, graphic designer and researchers in 4 months to transform it into a seamless and enjoyable process. Auto-generate personalized trip plans in 0 effort and help travlers enhance their budget and transportation management.

1.

AI customizes your plan to fit your travel style, ensuring improved budget management for a personalized journey.

2.

When you zoom in on the map by GPS tech, you not only see the real time route but can also edit transportation details and get info on each activity.

3.

Editing any activities or transportation will also showcase budget and transportation changes, giving you a complete overview of your adjustments.

The final usability testing results are

100%

were able to complete the core task of creating a customized trip plan successfully.

90%

thought Travel BlindBox has successfully achieved the goal of helping the travelers plan their trips in an effective, joyful and easy way.

Our journey begins with an in-depth exploration of the traveler's world. Through surveys and interviews, the key insights are:

• Travelers aged 18 to 35 are the target audience.

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• 90% of travelers prefer online itinerary recommendations via phones.

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• Budget considerations are a top priority.

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• Estimating real-time transportation costs & times

is a significant challenge.

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Travelers aged 18 ~ 35 are the target audience.

90% of travelers use phones during trip planning.

Budget considerations are a top priority.

Challenging to estimate transportation times & costs.

User researcher

Our journey begins with an in-depth exploration of the traveler's world. Through surveys and interviews, the key insights are:

• Travelers aged 18 to 35 are the target audience.

‍

• 90% of travelers prefer online itinerary recommendations via phones.

‍

• Budget considerations are a top priority.

‍

• Estimating real-time transportation costs & times

is a significant challenge.

‍

Persona

With the traveler's needs in mind, we crafted the ultimate persona which brings a human face to our data.

Brainstorming

Guided by "The Savvy Traveler," we initiated brainstorming sessions to discover the ideal solution. AI + GPS are the best pair. For these 4 potential solutions, with a strategic focus on market trend and gaining a competitive edge, generative AI + GPS to be the most promising solution.

Competitive analysis

Seeking inspiration from current AI & GPS tech, I delved into competitive analysis, gleaning valuable lessons from our counterparts. Competitors collected user info with questionnaires, but we found shortcomings in addressing budget constraints. Some offered map integration for destination overviews and time estimation.

User flows explorations

With all the research insights as foundation, I began building the user flow to test the product's workflow.The user flow starts with five questions (where, when, who, how, and budget) for a personalized trip plan. Inspired by the initial sketch, the product includes a map feature for real-time timing estimates and route information.

More visual and interaction explorations

After sketching the user flow, I identified numerous opportunities and edges cases for further exploration and improvement.We encountered several critical design considerations that shaped our approach. I decided to delve into these considerations and the questions we explored to guide our design process.

1. What information should be displayed on the initial page before users create a new plan?

  • Explaining: The first impression is crucial. Should users see a summary or dive into plan generated process?

2. Can users save previously generated plans, and if so, is there a maximum limit for displaying them on one page? Automatically saved or need manual access?

  • Context: Balancing convenience with organization.

3. Should saved plans use scrolling or an expand button for interactions?

  • User Experience: A seamless way to provide information.

4. If budget is a concern, should all costs be displayed?

  • Empowering Users: Allowing flexibility while being transparent.

5. Can users only edit transportation methods on the map, or is this feature also available within the itineraries?

  • User Flexibility: Providing multiple access points for edits.

Initial page information:

  • What information should be displayed on the initial page before users create a new plan.
  • Should users see more related info before dive into plan generated process?

Saving generated plans:

  • Can users save previously generated plans, and if so, is there a maximum limit for displaying them on one page?
  • Automatically saved or need manual access？

Displaying costs for budget consideration:

  • If budget is a concern, should all costs be displayed?
  • For international travelers, consider displaying costs in both the local currency and the user's preferred currency.

Editing transportation methods:

  • Can users only edit transportation methods on the map？
  • Or is this feature also available within the itineraries？

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Design iteration

To address the above concerns, we conducted additional research and brainstorming sessions, initiating the 1st round of design iterations. By using servals research methods and UX psychology, the solutions are:

Initial page & Generated history

Using a prioritization matrix, we assessed AI summary recommendations and direct plan generation's pros and cons, focusing on user experience and prioritizing trip planning enjoyment and efficiency. Diving directly is often more user-friendly than offering too many options.

Most AI competitors offer a saved list feature for each generated plan, which we found to be a necessary function for helping users better manage their plans. Based on user-friendliness, generated plan list display up to five plans, staying within the 'magic 7' range for improved user management.

Activities costs display

Cost is one of the main pain points for users. I believe it's necessary to display the cost of each activity in the plan details. Therefore, changes in the cost of each plan activity are also shown to the users.

I designed show costing for each activity, particularly for restaurants where cost estimation might be required. Additionally, a budget bar slider has been added to reflect the cost.

Edit itineraries

Many travel AI competitors don't allow users to edit their plans. The reasons they don't allow editing may be due to concerns about the cost of implementing editing features or their need for more data to analyze user behaviors, making more generated plans helpful.

Our strategy is to differentiate the product from the competition by providing users with more personalized experience. We believe in allowing users to make basic adjustments within the product budget constraints, which we find acceptable.

We designed one approach for changing transportation methods. Since estimating transportation time is also a concern, it's a priority to allow users more options to help them edit.

Usability testing and 2nd design iteration

We believed we were making good progress, but we also highly valued what potential users had to say. During the usability test, we asked potential users to go through the entire plan generation process and identify any confusing or unclear points. Based on the user feedback, we prioritized to edit the necessary tasks which align with our mission.

Add car rental option for better time estimate

60% users mentioned that they usually rent a car during travel.

To ensure users have a more accurate and complete estimate of their expenses, incorporating a car rental option contributes to more realistic timing estimates.

Change destination name display to small pop-up window

95% users mentioned that the destination name shown on the map is unclear.

Displaying destination names in a small pop-up window can reduce visual clutter on the main screen, making it cleaner and more visually appealing.

Epilogue and reflection

I cooperated with three teammates who were from different academic backgrounds (psychology, business, architecture, and graphic design) and wanted to change their future career path to UX/UI design. Since we have different backgrounds, so we saw problems from various perspectives to find the user's problems. And I have learned a lot from them.

I would conduct more round accessibility interviews better to understand our users' experience in the future. Overall, I learned a lot through this design process and really enjoyed the design journey this time.

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