FamTrip
For my first-ever case study, I developed a mobile travel app specifically designed for travelers with small children.
Project Overview
This project focuses on addressing the pain points of travelers who use travel mobile apps to plan and book flights, accommodations, rental cars, and destination-specific events for themselves and their young children. There are already so many travel apps available to post-pandemic travelers with (or without) children. However, for this project, I want to focus on how these options fail to address several key frustrations, concerns, and limitations for parents traveling post-pandemic.
Role & Responsibilities | Team
UX Researcher, individual project
Tools Used
Figma, Paper & Pencil
Timeline & Scope
March 26 - April 25, 2024
In this research project, I planned and conducted 5 interviews with potential users living in Denver, Colorado, Seattle, Washington, and Palatine, Illinois; conducted 4 in person prototype tests; and received feedback from colleagues throughout the design process.
Empathize
• User Research Plan • Proto-persona • Interview plan and questions • Hypothesis statement
Hypothesis Statement
The goal of this case study is to understand the stressors of traveling with a young child and how parents who use a travel mobile app to book their travel plans may find options and solutions better suited to their wants and needs–both for themselves and their children.
Ideate
• Problem statement • Competitor analysis • Value proposition • “I wish, I like, what if” • Feature prioritization matrix • User journey map • Storyboard
"I Like, I Wish, What If"
With this diagram, I organized comments that I received from my interview subjects that fell into 3 categories: what travelers liked about planning family trips; what travelers wished a travel app would help them achieve; and possibilities for planning future trips.
Value Proposition Statement
FamTrip is developing options for synchronizing travel plans and details, curated travel itineraries, access to previous user itineraries and research, lists for planning and packing, and options to set reminders to help parents traveling with young children to solve the stress of planning their next family trip.
We’re better because FamTrip works with users to tailor a trip that fits their needs, their budget, and their level of planning.
We’re believable because FamTrip is committed to collaborating both with users and other established travel apps and resources in order to help travelers with young children access the most accurate, up-to-date travel information and store all that information in one convenient place.
Problem Statement
FamTrip was designed to keep users organized, keep users on time, and help users quickly access all their travel information in one centralized location.
I have observed that many other travel apps only address some of these travel concerns and rarely focus on synchronizing travel data that a user may have accumulated in several different apps. As a result, this causes travelers stress and frustration, which ultimately makes their vacation less than ideal.
How might I design a travel app so that our potential users are successful based on how quickly they are able to research, plan, and book their next family trip?
Storyboard
In this storyboard, my user persona, Lucy, navigates the ups and downs of planning family travel. Ultimately she finds help with FamTrip and feels less stressed about planning family travel.
Define
• User interviews and transcripts • Affinity diagram • User persona • Empathy map • User insight
User Persona
I developed Lucy as my user persona because I wanted to represent the ideal traveler planner for most families. Typically, the person who plans the family trip is the mother of the family. She is good with handling multiple things at once, she pays attention to the details, and she wants to make sure the family trip is successful.
User Insight
Lucy Parsons needs to synchronize her travel research, itinerary, recommendations, purchased tickets, booked accommodation information and other travel plans in an inclusive, accessible app so that she will spend more time with her family and less time worrying while on her family trip.
Prototype
• User flow • User scenario • Sketches • Lo-fi wireframes
User Flow
In this user flow, the user moves from the sign-in page to consider different options for accessing the app: as a new user, or as a returning user. Once the user is logged in, the user is able to search for trips and begin building their ideal itinerary.
User Scenario
This user scenario expands on the emotional journey of the storyboard, but also includes her planning goals: to book airplane tickets as soon as possible, lock-in accommodations, and find memorable events and activities for her family trip to Hawaii.
Sketches
I began the prototyping phase with a few quick sketches of how I wanted to set up the icons, buttons, and menu items.
Test
• Guerilla user testing plan • Guerilla test analysis (priority matrix) • Iterations based on user tests • Lo-fi prototype
Priority Matrix
After testing the paper prototype, I considered tester feedback, especially with regard to what worked and what other options I might consider.
Low-Fi Prototype
Because this was only my first UX project, I only developed a low-fi prototype. The wireframes here are based on iOS app elements and components.
Conclusion & Future Opportunities
Throughout this case study, I tried to focus on a specific demographic–travelers with children–because I believe there is a need for specialized travel tips and options for families. I learned that there is a wealth of great apps and resources to help families travel well and often. Therefore, I also learned that much of my research here only scratches the surface of what could be possible in such a family-focused travel app. I learned that the design thinking thought process has many applications for developing the products and services that we use everyday. Learning how to utilize this process has transformed my understanding of why I like specific apps or websites and it has made me realize design thinking is far more encompassing and compelling than I ever imagined.