Wanderlust
Step into a world where every travel tale is a masterpiece, intricately crafted and effortlessly shared. Welcome to Wanderlust – not just an app but a revolutionary experience for today's explorers.
Overview:
As an avid traveler, I've encountered the challenges posed by the disjointed digital landscape that hinders the process of documenting my journeys. For my personal capstone project at Northwestern, I fused my passion for travel and journaling with app design to create Wanderlust. The aim is to establish a platform that enables users to intricately capture their travel experiences, seamlessly integrating photos, thoughtful notes, and valuable recommendations into unified digital travel diaries.
Role:
UI/UX designer
Strategist
Researcher
Wire-framing & Prototyping
Team:
Individual Project - Northwestern Graduate School Assignment (IDS 498)
Scope:
UI/UX Design, Sketching, User Flows, Wire-framing, Prototyping, Moderated Usability Testing, UX Research
Tools:
Figma, InVision, Mock-up (iPad), Miro, Google Meets, Notion
Duration:
Jan 2024 - March 2024
Introduction
Behind the project:
As an avid traveler, I faced the challenges of navigating a disjointed digital landscape while documenting my journeys. During my undergraduate studies in London, I extensively explored European cities, leveraging various tools and apps, including a note-taking application for landmarks and recommendations, and my iPhone for navigation using Instagram, Google Maps, Yelp, and more. However, the experience felt fragmented, with memories scattered across different platforms, hindering my ability to relive and share them effectively. This frustration inspired my vision to create a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for travelers, aiming to capture and showcase the enchantment of travel while sparing others from the digital chaos I encountered during my time in London.
Overview: My goal is to create a platform that empowers users to intricately document their travel experiences, effortlessly blending photos, insightful notes, and valuable recommendations into cohesive digital travel diaries.
Why This Solution is Needed: Fragmented documentation across various platforms is a common challenge for today's travelers. Wanderlust addresses this issue by empowering users to intricately capture their travel experiences in one centralized platform. The need for a solution that seamlessly integrates photos, notes, and recommendations into digital travel diaries, with additional features that enhance user experience and privacy, is evident in the evolving preferences of the travel community.
Differentiators:
Wanderlust stands out by offering a unique combination of features, including synchronized travel itineraries, a curated user marketplace for monetizing travel content, and robust privacy controls. The emphasis on creating a community through collaborative features sets Wanderlust apart from competitors, providing users with a holistic and innovative travel documentation experience.
Project Overview
Context
The rise of super apps:
Super apps are a kind of marketplace of services and offerings, whether in-house or third-party ones, gathered under one umbrella.
The most prominent examples of such apps are WeChat, Alibaba, and Alipay — all initially created for Chinese markets.
““A super app is a closed ecosystem of many apps that people
would use everyday because they offer such a seamless, integrated, contextualized, and efficient experience.””
Statistics:
Based on a January 2022 user survey conducted in Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, insights reveal that individuals expressing interest in having all life areas and functionalities consolidated within a single omni-comprehensive super app exhibit heightened enthusiasm for such applications compared to other lifestyle personas.
- Approximately 65% of Convenience-seekers expressed very or extremely high interest in super apps.
In approaching this capstone project, I employed a goal-directed design method that emphasized qualitative research and the formulation of initial key questions. Utilizing a multi-methodology research approach, I delved into comprehending the distinct needs of individuals. My initial step involved crafting HMWs (How Might We), a design thinking tool, to reframe challenges into opportunities for innovation.
How might we...
- Make the centralized digital platform more intuitive and user-friendly?
- Enhance the seamless integration of various travel documentation features within the centralized platform?
- Integrate design options that enhance the visual appeal of travel journals while maintaining a user-friendly interface?
- Encourage and facilitate collaborative storytelling within the app, connecting users with shared travel interests?
- Develop features that incentivize users to participate in the marketplace, promoting a dynamic and engaging ecosystem?
- Ensure a smooth and efficient process for users to seamlessly incorporate photos and videos into their travel journal entries?
HMW’s
User Interview
Survey Overview:
I administered a survey to capture insights on traveler preferences for digital travel journals and memory preservation tools.
With this in mind, there is an opportunity to consolidate all these features and existing apps into one mobile platform.
Translating insights into features
Competitive Analysis
In establishing Wanderlust's market position, I conducted a thorough analysis of competitors, focusing on user feedback to identify potential functionalities. Among the primary competitors – Wanderlog, Polarsteps, and Journi – it became clear that each emphasizes a single key feature, leaving essential elements unaddressed. While Wanderlog excels in itinerary planning and Polarsteps and Journi prioritize photo albums, there is a noticeable absence of certain features, such as Instagram or social media integration. Recognizing the recent removal of Instagram guides, there is an opportune moment for Wanderlust to offer a distinct platform for content creators to promote their travels with a comprehensive set of features.
User Personas
During the second phase of the user-centered approach, it is crucial to construct user personas. This step is essential in guiding the design process and ensuring alignment with the requirements of the target audience. Presented below are the two personas that have been created specifically for Wanderlust.
After completing the initial three stages in the user-centered approach, the subsequent phase focuses on prototyping. The Mobile App Site Map plays a crucial role in software development as an indispensable tool. This map visually outlines the mobile application's features, functions, and content, serving as a guide for developers to craft an optimal user experience by delineating the overall structure and navigation of the app.
Information Architecture - Site Map
I starting iterating the wireframe design by testing it with users. They gave feedback on how easy it was to use, read, and find things in the basic prototype.
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Hi-Fi Wireframes
Now onto the fun part (also my favorite part!)
The onboarding screens introduce the branding and the core features of the app. Users will have options to create a new account via email or integrate their social profiles.
Pain points solved:
The option of integrating social platforms will simplify the sign up process for the users and help build a comprehensive user authentication database for Wanderlust.
Onboarding
Feature #1 - Explore
Users have the ability to explore around the world and search for public guides & templates from other users.
Pain points solved:
Centralized Digital Platform - with features from existing apps integrated into one
Users can add, view, and share current & past trip details. Preset templates exist to expedite the process; however, users have the ability to create from a blank slate.
- Social media sharing integration
- Set your budget
- Add people to your trip/guide (group collaboration)
Pain points solved:
Develop an organized and integrated solution, streamlining the documentation process for a seamless user experience.
Feature #2 - My Trips
Explore Wanderlusts publicly shared community guides from users all over the world. Ranging from free guides to ones you need to pay for (internal marketplace).
Pain points solved:
No dedicated platform to share, explore travel content with friends, family, followers (for content creators).
Feature #3 - Guides
Feature #4 - Profile
View your saved guides and total payout from the marketplace. General settings are accessed here.
Design System
The chosen color palette integrates lively and neon tones, aligning seamlessly with the distinct preferences of our target audience. To enrich the visual appeal, we strategically blend in dark and monotoned colors, ensuring a harmonious contrast that enhances the vibrancy of the interface.
In terms of typography, Gilroy serves as our primary typeface, bringing a subtle geometric touch. Paired with the accent typeface, Regio Mono, these fonts complement each other gracefully, featuring subtle geometric elements that harmonize with Wanderlust's emphasis on organization. This combination allows for flexible contrasts between uppercase and lowercase styles, contributing to a visually dynamic and cohesive design.
As a travel enthusiast, researching and designing Wanderlust was incredibly rewarding. I experimented with some Figma micro-interactions and crafted a more intuitive user experience. Throughout the process, I learned not to be attached with assumptions. While I was fixated on creating a clean UI without reminders initially, the findings showed that users preferred functionality over aesthetics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Iterate, and then iterate again
Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to test my final prototype. Moving forward, I will definitely conduct more usability testings and iterations. There’s still a lot of UI screen i would need to build and iterate on.Incorporating new technologies
Quite a few users proposed incorporating AI and auto sync features. With this in mind, i would need to understand the specific user flow and how the technology would work. This would definitely be something i would need to consult with engineers.Listen to the users
I want to reach out to more users and seek to understand their frustrations and validate my hypothesis with more A/B testing.