Plannit
Plannit is an app for people looking to travel internationally. It helps travellers research and track the travel restrictions in all the countries in their itinerary. During the last 2 years, it has become extremely stressful to travel internationally - not just due to the health risks but also due to ever-changing Government mandates on border restrictions and entry requirements.
I worked on this digital solution to help reduce the stress of traveling internationally and, bring back the sense of excitement that comes with planning a trip to see your loved ones or the send of adventure that comes with planning a trip to a foreign country.
Project Overview
A part of the UX Design Diploma Program at BrainStation included an individual capstone project. We were given the freedom to choose a problem space and then apply the UX skills and processes that we learnt in class, to research, develop and build a unique digital solution.
Project Type: Academic, BrainStation Diploma in User Experience Design
Role: UX & UI Designer, UX Copy writer
Designed for platform: iOS mobile
Tools: Figma, InVision, Whimsical
Design Methodology
While working on this project, I used the Human Centred Design Methodology in order to ensure that real human problems were at the centre of my solutions. This methodology is often non-linear in nature, which I experienced first-hand. As I moved from one phase to the next, I learnt things that caused me to move back a stage.
RESEARCH
Secondary Research
Primary Research
Problem Space Refinement
DEFINE
How Might We Question
Persona
Experience Map
IDEATE
User Stories & Epics
Task Flow
UI Inspiration Board
PROTOTYPE
Sketching
Wireframes
Prototyping
TEST
User Tests
Design Prioritization Matrix
Re-design
REFINE
Branding
Final App Design
Marketing
RESEARCH
Secondary Research
To get a better understanding of my chosen problem, beyond my own personal experiences and those of my clients who I was planning trips for, I started reading through articles and studies that talked about the current behaviour, pain points and motivations for people looking to travel.
Here are some interesting findings that I came across:
A. Motivations
87%
of Canadians agree that international travel has provided them with some of their most cherished life memories.
78%
of Canadians said as things get back to normal, international travel is one of the things they're looking forward to most as countries re-open to tourists.
of Canadian said they have more of a desire to travel internationally than ever before.
55%
B. Pain Points and Behaviours
88%
of Canadians said the pandemic has kept them from travelling internationally as much as they normally would.
75%
of Canadians said health and safety concerns amidst the pandemic have made them less interested in travelling internationally.
24%
of Canadians, which is less than a quarter, said they are currently planning an international trip within the next six months.
Despite it being important to respect countries’ travel advisories to prevent the spread of COVID-19, avoiding leisure travel for the past 2 plus years has led to a significant impact on our mental well-being and loss of jobs across the tourism industry
Countries with easy and clear visa and other pre-entry requirements, are experiencing a quick recovery in their travel and tourism sector. On the other hand, travellers are hesitant to travel to countries with unclear entry requirements or complicated visa processes.
C. Some additional findings that stood out during my secondary research:
Primary Research
After establishing my assumptions and constraints, I followed the decontextualized methodology of research. I first sent email surveys to find participants who fit my participant criteria. I then conducted interviews with participants who met my participant criteria.
The interviews allowed me to have a one-on-one discussion with my audience, which helped me get a better understanding of their behaviour, motivations and frustrations when it comes to international travel. I also used my interviews to collect attitudinal and qualitative data in order to check my assumptions and consecutively update them based on my interview findings.
Here is the participant criteria I followed for my investigative interviews:
Participant has traveled internationally in the last 6 months
I added this criteria as I wanted to speak to people who had traveled during the pandemic and understand the challenges and frustrations they faced. I also wanted to learn about the tools they used to conduct their research so I can recognize the gaps in the market.Participant normally travels internationally atleast once a year.
I wanted to speak to peope who are frequent international travelers, so they can share insights with me based on a wide range of personal experiences. This would provide me with a greater opportunity to identify current gaps and frustrations.Participant normally researches and books their trips independently (not through a travel agent)
I wanted to speak with participants who had gone through the research and planning process themselves.
Assumptions
Most Canadian travelers are still worried about the health risks of traveling during the pandemic.
Easy access to information on visas and other pre-entry requirements makes international travel less stressful.
Trying to keep up with the constantly changing pre-entry requirements is discouraging people to travel internationally.
Most people who traveled internationally during the pandemic are seasoned travellers.
My secondary research helped me get a better understanding of my problem space. I then proceeded to make a plan for my primary research. I started by recognizing my own assumptions and the potential constraints.
Constraints
Travelers may not have internet connection when they are traveling.
Countries have been changing their entry requirements every couple of weeks, during the pandemic. There may be limitations in terms of available resources and technology to keep the information up-to-date at all times for all countries.
Not everyone feels safe traveling yet. There are stil a lot of people choosing not to travel as they are concerned about the health risks of traveling during the pandemic.
The research I conduct will be focussed on data collected from Canadian travellers, due to the geographical and financial limitations of my research resources.
A lot of Canadians are still anxious about traveling internationally. Two main reasons for this are the media’s role in shaping public perception about the role of travel in spreading COVID-19 and the strict travel restrictions adopted by the Canadian Government during the pandemic. In a survey conducted last year, 82% of Canadians perceived either a large or moderate risk by taking a vacation - that was the second highest rate for any country in the world.
During my investigative interviews, I asked the participants a mix of general and specific open-ended questions that allowed me to extract as much information and insights as possible. Through my general open-ended questions, I tried to gain an understanding of the type of travel the participants enjoy, who they normally travel with and how much time they normally spend pre-planning for an international trip. Through my specific open-ended questions, I tried to understand the impact that the pandemic, visas and other travel restrictions had on the travel experience and decisions of the participant.
My investigative interviews brought to light a lot of great insights and recurring themes. I first organized my interview data into key pain points, motivations and behaviours.
Key Pain Points
Hard to keep track of entry requirements and restrictions, as they are constantly changing.
Having to check multiple website and sources to get all the information needed for up-to-date COVID entry requirements.
Key Motivations
Love to travel and explore new countries and cultures.
Love meeting like-minded people and people from different backgrounds while traveling.
Key Behaviours
Check multiple sources for latest travel requirements - airline, government website and google.
Their most stressful international trip was the one they took during the pandemic.
Key Theme and Insight Statement
Key Theme: Finding clear information on entry requirements.
All of the participants I interviewed, told me that their most stressful international trip was the trip they took in the last 6 months, because they had a hard time finding clear information on entry requirements.
This is the reason, I chose the above theme and will be focusing on the below Insight Statement:
Travellers are feeling overwhelmed and confused when searching for information on pre-entry requirements because there is no centralized place with all the information and it is hard to keep up with changes in requirements. They also find the tone and language, that is used on a lot of official Government websites, very confusing.
Problem Space Refinement
Based on my research findings, I refined my problem statement to the below:
A lot of travellers looking to travel internationally find it overwhelming and confusing to find clear and concise information on pre-entry requirements for their country of destination. This includes information on visas, vaccine requirements, pre-entry COVID test results, pre-entry forms and an individual’s travel history.
In addition to this, during the pandemic, governments have been constantly changing entry-requirements and restrictions for travellers, which has added further confusion for international travellers to find clear and up-to-date information to plan for their travel to and back from the country.
Even with countries re-opening their borders to travellers and travel being considered safe again, 75% of travelers from USA and 50% of travellers from Canada are looking to travel only domestically for the foreseeable future. This shows that a lot of people are still apprehensive or don’t feel confident to travel internationally.
DEFINE
HOW MIGHT WE QUESTION
How might we keep international travellers informed about current travel restrictions and pre-entry requirements for several countries in their itinerary, in order to help travellers be more confident and excited their international travel plans?
Based on my research findings and key insight statement, I moved to my Define stage where I was able to start uncovering insights and opportunities for design. In this stage, I developed my How Might We question, persona and experience map.
PERSONA
Tying together my interview findings and secondary research, I created the persona of Alfi to represent the travellers for whom I would be designing.
EXPERIENCE MAP
After building my persona, I worked on an experience map. By identifying each task and recognizing what my persona, Alfi, was doing, thinking and feeling. Based on this, I was able to identify design opportunities.
Based on my Experience Map, I identified design opportunities to alleviate some of the stress and frustrations for people planning trips.:
Creating a tool that travellers can use to find entry requirements for several countries in one place.
Creating a tool to notify travellers about any changes or updates to the travel requirements in the countries included in their itinerary.
Creating a tool to find COVID clinics, with hours and cost of services, in cities across the world.
IDEATE
After recognizing my design opportunities, I started authoring my user stories. I then generated the below epics from my user stories:
User Stories
RESEARCHING
PLANNING
STAYING UPDATED
I have decided to focus on the “Planning” epic for my initial Task Flow. I will also be looking for a way to incorporate a part of the “Staying Updated” epic into this task flow.
I have made the assumption that the Planning epic, with the Staying Updated epic incorporated into it, provides the most impactful solution to my How Might We Question. This assumption is based on the insights I collected from my primary and secondary research. All of my interviewees mentioned that they felt overwhelmed and confused when searching for information on pre-entry requirements. This is because there is no centralized place with all the information and it is hard to keep up with changes in requirements. My interviewees also mentioned that they found the tone and language, used on a lot of official Government websites, very confusing.
TASK FLOW
From the Planning epic, I have decided to create a Task Flow based on the below User Story:
As an international traveler, I want clear and concise information on all pre-entry requirements (for COVID and visa) for all the countries in my itinerary, and also get notified if any of these countries change their requirements; so that I can be well prepared for my trip to Europe this fall.
My digital solution will also provide Alfi the option to explore countries by their travel restrictions, provide information on traveling with pets and, a work as a platform to store details of her upcoming trips. However, these additional features would fall under separate Task Flows, and are not shown in the above flow.
Once I finished working on my task flow, I started putting together my UI Inspiration Board. I took inspiration from travel apps like Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia. I also looked at websites that provide information on visas and travel restrictions such as Sherpa travel and the official Government travel websites of Canadian, UK & USA.
I was especially looking for inspiration for design components on the screen where the user would enter their trip details, when they are traveling to multiple countries.
UI Inspiration Board
Sketching
Once I had finished building my UI inspiration board, I started working on some initial sketches. I mostly experimented with the screens that I will be using to get information from the users.
I knew that my app would require the user to provide me with a lot of information, in order to pull all the relevant travel restrictions and requirements that would be applicable for the user. This is why, I wanted to ensure that I was being mindful when designing these first few screens in my flow. I was conscious that my users may feel frustrated or confused about providing all the information.
PROTOTYPE
Wireframes - First Iteration
After my initial ideation, I started working on grayscale wireframes. I noticed my designs taking shape and starting to get refined once I started working on my grayscale wireframes. I ended up changing the design of the Trip Details screen, once I started creating it on Figma.
User Tests
As part of my design process, I conducted 2 x rounds of usability tests with 5 x users each. These tests helped me obtain practical, real-time feedback that I incorporated into my designs in order to create an optimal user experience.
I started by creating a Usability Test Plan that included a Testing Script and Scenario. Below are a few tidbits from my Usability Test Plan:
Scenario and core task for the usability tests:
You are going on a Euro trip in fall, and you are looking for clear and concise information on the pre-entry requirements (for COVID and visa) for all the countries in your itinerary. You would also like to get notified if any of these countries change their requirements.
Sub-Tasks and Prompts:
Home Page: You already have your trip itinerary and would like to check the information for all the countries.
Personal Details Page: You are a Canadian citizen, and you are fully-vaccinated.
Trip Details Page: Here is your itinerary:
You are traveling from Canada to France on 7 Oct 2022
You are traveling from France to Germany on 7 Nov 2022
You are traveling from Germany to Canada on 7 Dec 2022
Travel Restrictions Page: You would like to read the France requirements in detail.
Updates Page:
What do you think this update feature is?
You would like to get notified for all 3 countries.
First Round of Usability Test
Overall, my 1st round of usability test results show that my app design and navigation were fairly user friendly. All Users were able to complete their task without getting too confused or lost in the app. I did, however, find a few design flaws and usability issues:
Home Screen: The “Planning” section is not clear. Some users thought they could book a trip if they clicked on “New Trip”. I believe that this was a major flaw in my design and it came about because I used inspiration from other travel apps. This made my Home Screen look too much like an app where you can book travel services.
Trip Details page involves a lot of clicks, and I should I find a way to reduce the number of clicks.
Travel Restrictions page has a lot of text.
Users would like more options on how they get notified about changes in Travel Restrictions.
Wireframes - Second Iteration
After my first round of usability testing, I created a Design Prioritization Matrix. I then used that design matrix to make updates to my app design.
Second Round of Usability Test
Overall, my 2nd round of usability test results showed that my app design and navigation improved considerably after my design changes. I arrived at this conclusion, based on the below observations:
Home Page: Ambiguity statements reduced from 4 out of 5 users to 1 out of 5 users
Trip Details Page: Ambiguity statements reduced from 4 out of 5 users to 1 out of 5 users
Travel Restrictions Page: All users completed this task quicker compared to the first round of testing (as I fixed the expand button). Ambiguity statements reduced from 5 out of 5 users to 3 out of 5 users.
I did find a few serious issues that weren’t fixed with the re-design:
Travel Restrictions page still feels very busy.
On the Updates page, not all users understand what “push notifications” means.
Wireframes - Third Iteration
After my second and final round of usability testing, I created a new Design Prioritization Matrix and then made the second round of updates to my app design.
REFINE
Branding
Once I completed my third iteration of low fidelity wireframes, it was time to bring my design to life with colour. I started this by first developing the brand of my product.
I began my brand development by creating a list of adjectives and a ‘More A than B’ List.
COMFORTING, HELPFUL, RELIABLE, INSPIRING, CONCISE, HOPEFUL
More helpful than pragmatic.
More inspiring than daunting.
More reliable than uncertain.
More precise than confusing.
More concise than overwhelming.
More hopeful than serious.
Moodboard
My users are people who are looking forward to exploring our beautiful world, which is is why I used colours and textures that remind one about our planet Earth. Being in nature also gives people a feeling of comfort, which is in line with my brand identity and the emotion I am trying to generate.
Colors, Typography, Photography & Icons
I used my brand identity and Moodboard to then develop the colours, typography, icons and also to pick the images used in my mobile app.
Typography
Colours
Bottom Navigation Icons
Photography & Icons
For my loading pages, I used travel pictures to inspire my users and help them get excited about their upcoming trip.
I also used icons throughout the app to bring some playfulness and make text-heavy screens looks less overwhelming and busy.
Wordmark and Application Icon
Finally, I used my brand identity and Moodboard to develop my Wordmark and application icon for my app.
Wordmark
Application Icon
High-Fidelity Prototype
After I completed the brand development, I was ready to start injecting colours and a sense of brand identity into Plannit. I used the brand colours to the icons and buttons, to make them stand out for the user as well as to bring in an element of visual identity into the app.
Key Features
This feature is for travellers who already know their itinerary. They can enter their trip details in the app to find latest travel and health restrictions for all the countries included in their trip.
Plan
Explore
This feature is for travellers who have decided that they would like to travel, but don’t yet know where they’re going. By using the Explore feature in Plannit, they can view entry restrictions and COVID-19 travel requirements for countries around the world. They can then choose their destination based on their research.
Get Notified
Users can save their itinerary and opt to get notified in case of any changes to entry restrictions or travel advisory for the countries in their itinerary. They can also choose to get notified by push notifications or email or both.
Marketing
Finally, it was time to create a marketing website for my app. I designed a responsive marketing website. When designing the flow, I took inspiration from Slack, Semplice and Sherpa Travel. When I was looking at UI inspiration, I liked the concept of having a big and bold typeface/hero image at the top of the page. I included demo videos, a brief description of my key features as well as testimonials in my website.
NEXT STEPS & KEY LEARNINGS
Next Steps
For my next steps, I would like to design, test and launch my app for devices with larger screens like iPad, tablet and desktop to provide my users with more options to use my digital solution. Due to the nature of the product, some people may find it hard to read all the information on a mobile phone screen. Therefore, designing Plannit for larger screens could help make my product more accessible.
I would also like to explore liaising with the Tourism Boards of countries whose economies depend heavily on the tourism sector, but haven’t experienced a recovery in that sector yet. I believe that the “Explore” feature in my app could provide opportunities to promote countries that need an extra hand in the recovery of their tourism sectors.
Key Learnings
This project helped me experience first hand that Human Centred design is a non-linear process. As I moved from one phase to the next, I learnt things that caused me to move back a stage.
Another key learning moment for me occurred during my first round of usability tests. I realized that a lot of my users thought that they could use this app to book travel as well as check travel requirements. I believe this was the case as I had taken inspiration for my copy from other travel apps like booking.com and AirBnb. This was an important learning moment for me, as a designer.
Working on this project as well as this case study has been a hugely gratifying as well as humbling experience. It has made me grow as a designer, as it has helped me understand my strengths as well as my weaknesses as a designer.