BondBound
Better vacation planning increases engagement in travel.
“Bound to Bond” Kick off a memorable trip and bond deeper with your loved ones.
A new way of planning trips and managing trips with a group of friends and families.
Project Overview
Problem
Poor trip planning can lead to damage in relationships and ruin a great trip.
According to a survey from Topdeck Travel, "40 percent of Millennials prefer to travel with friends or their BFF."
Although traveling with friends and family creates a thrilling experience, more joy, deeper bonds, as well as lower the cost of the trip. However, it often comes with some very tangible challenges that, if managed properly, can ruin a trip, or even break up relationships.
My Role & Methods
UX researcher & UI designer
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Secondary Research
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Primary Research (1: 1 interviews)
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Synchronize Research Data
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Afinity Map
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User Persona
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Ideate & Sketch
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Design & Prototype
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Usability Tests
Objective
Enjoyable group trips
Discover ways we could rehabilitate the family bond and get them to spend unfettered time together on vacation.
Help users create enjoyable trips based on involving discussion and mutual interests.
Research
Affinity Map
- Qualitative Research-
How Were Trips Planned Within A Group?
In order to gather rich insights on how a user’s behaviors relates to their experience, 5 one-on-one interviews were conducted with users who meet our target demographic. Hearing the first-hand information directly from the interviewees also helps us gain empathy for their problems.
- Interview Highlights-
Major problem: Loss of time
Although travel is known for reducing stress level, Inefficiency in trip planning still add to the stress. such as...
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Inefficient communication
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Conflicts of interests
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User Persona &
User Journey
Ideation
User Story
- Design Ideation-
How might we help Meg plan better so she can feel confident planning and make sure everyone enjoys the trip ?
To prioritize my design solutions, I focused on discovering what are the most valuable goals to Meg and her group. They are...
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Align needs, expectations, and interests.
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Collect, review, respond to ideas faster
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Stay on the same page
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Better teamwork
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Transparent communication process
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Be aware of changes
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5 Focused Key Features Developed Based On User Needs - Different Stages of Planning
Initiate Trip
Collect Trip Ideas
Discuss
Plan
During the trip
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Search, Save, and Organize
Save ideas in unified format across platforms and stay organized as you plan.
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Teamwork Makes Dream Work
Get the team involved in discussions and make decisions that are mutual and exciting!
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One-tap Reminder
Let the app helps remind members to respond or send a friendly reminder with just one tap.
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Off-line Accessability
Export the itinerary and stay oriented without wifi.
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Real-time Updates
Simply drag and drop to make any last-minutes changes and give the team seamless updates.
Sketch and Design
User flow : Create a trip
User flow : Collect and save travel ideas
User flow : Assign members a task
Screen Sketches
Sketch and Test
Guerrilla Test and Findings
High-Fidelity Design and
Usability Test
Problem : Hard to collect, organize, and share ideas
It was difficult to review options with team when ideas are from different platforms or in different formats.
User Story:
As Meg , I want to have a place to store all the travel ideas so I can be organized with my planning.
Search, Save and Organize
Save ideas in unified format across platforms and stay organized as you plan.
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Search
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Screenshot an idea
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Save and organize the idea
Usability Issue: Users Skipped
Users didn’t read the instruction message , therefore it was difficult for them to figure out how the button works.
Version 1
Not enough contrast.
Users Skipped
Version 2
Full-screen pop-up to ensure user pauses and reads
Version 3
A better visual hierarchy that’s easier and inviting to read
Improvements
1) Changed the small word bubble to a full-screen pop-up.
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2) Increased color contrast and font size of the navigation bar.
User Story:
As Meg, I want to be able to ask the team to vote so I can make sure we make the best decisions.
Problem : Members are not interested in the activities planned.
Members are not actively involved in planning.
Teamwork Makes Dream Work
Get team involved in discussions and make decisions that are mutual and exciting!
Host Side - Assign a task to the group
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Assign a new task to the team
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Fill up a new task form
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Import saved ideas for team’s review
Guest Side - Complete a task from the host
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Review pending tasks
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Review options for a voting task
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Like and vote
Usability Issue: Scattered Tasks
Users were not sure about which tasks they need to take care of first. It was also hard to tell the difference between completed tasks vs incomplete tasks.
Improvements
1) Changed color schemes to help users prioritize tasks.
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2) Simplified information and elements on the form.
Version 1
Visually Overwhelmed
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Can't tell which one needs work first
Version 2
Changed count-down time to 0 and gray out completed tasks
Simplified the “completed” buttons to a check icon
Version 3
Help users better prioritize tasks
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More breathing room for user’s eyes
Usability Issue: Confusing Buttons
Users were not sure about what each button means. And took them longer time to complete the tasks.
Usability Issue: Hard-to-read Layout
Users were intimidated by the amount of information shown on the form.
Version 1
Users are unsure about these buttons
Version 2
Added labels for buttons
Added “What is this?” to let users know they can get help with more information
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Added more room for the eyes to travel
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Improvements
1) Added labels under each button and created a “help” page to give more details about what the buttons do.
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2) Increased space between elements for better readability.
User Story:
As Meg, I want to spend less time on reminding members to respond so we can get things moving.
Problem: Late Response
Chasing after people’s responses makes planning extra hard and time-consuming.
One-tap Reminder
Let the app helps remind members to respond or send a friendly reminder with just one tap.
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View list of pending tasks and tap “Remind”
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Confirm reminding members
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View details of the task
User Story:
As Meg, I need a copy of our itinerary so I can still lead during the trip without the Internet.
Problem : Members are not on the same page
Members are unaware of the final plan.
Plans got interrupted when no access to the Internet.
Off-Line Accessibility
Export the itinerary and stay oriented without wifi.
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Tap the Export button on the bottom right
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Select an export or a sharing method
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Itinerary Downloaded
User Story:
As Meg, I want to be able to quickly come up with new plans and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Problem: Traditional tools are not efficient for making new plans
The host was unable to make changes or a new plan quickly. It was difficult to ensure members are on the track of new plans.
Real-time Updates
Simply drag and drop to make any last-minutes changes and give the team seamless updates.
Host Side - Make real-time updates on the go
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Drag-and-drop to rearrange event order
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Set a new event time
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Itinerary updated
Guest Side - Receive real-time updates on the go
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Members receive notifications about plan changes
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Review updates
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Everyone is on the same page
Project Recap and Takeaways
Lesson Learned - Not Lean Enough
Although developing a tool that offers the essentials allows a trip organizer to build a plan without switching platforms, we realized with just #2 Teams (teamwork makes the dream work) and #3 Reminders ( one tap reminder) features are all that’s needed for solving the trip organizer’s major problem of inefficient communication and conflicts of interest. Focusing on just testing two features allows more time for in-depth usability testing and more iterations.
Lesson Learned - Expert User Fallacy
Our first hypothesis was that Meg was an expert. However, after testing, we discovered our assumption was incorrect. In actuality, our service caters to Novices, but they were unable to use it. The level of complexity was so high that it doesn’t even come naturally to "Perfectionist Meg." This draws a distinction upon where we should focus on the novice rather than the expert.
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