Background
This project came from personal experiences with friends who often end up traveling by themselves. They will run into the problem of trying to find someone to go with them. Whether it be because of scheduling or money, Voyage was created to make it easier for solo travelers to always have someone to go with.
My role
UX/UI Designer, User Research, Prototyping
Objectives
It was important to connect users across the country, but also to take into account that everyone is on a different budget and schedule. It was important for me to have this be a platform where anyone can find something whatever their preferences. It’s not just for long distance travel, but for all events such as concerts or local events.
scope
3 weeks
User interviews
From the initial user interviews, I found that most travelers will choose not to travel if they know that they won't have anyone to go with. It is also a safety concern for users if they are going somewhere they're not familiar with. With this insight I knew I wanted to touch on all of these points, yet my priority was to create an app that is user friendly and connects people via the experiences and travels they wish to go on.
competitor analysis
Fortunately there’s a small amount of overall competitors when it comes to this specific type of service. The first direct competitor is Travsolo, although initially it had a lot of traction, long term it looks like they haven’t had much success. It does not go over basic navigation on the home page and no update has been made to stop it from crashing for users.
Indirectly, another competitor found is called Couchsurfing, which advertises the option to “stay with locals and meet travelers”. This site has been around for over 17 years, so it does have a community of people that use it. However, due to the pandemic it lost a lot of those users and the recent increase in prices has users upset.
Testing
&
Feedback
7 Interviews were conducted to obtain feedback on the wireframe navigation. From those interviews I learned that users were wanting more options to search for events and experiences. I also got feedback that there should not actually be an explore option on the login page as people are linked to these experiences and that could potentially be a safety concern. I took this information and created the final prototype.
First Edits
Shown above are the first edits/ wireframes of what the layout would be as well as the user flow. I wanted to include a moose as it represents a trip a friend of mine went on by herself to Alaska. I had been there before and it was where I fell in love with photography. I wanted to honor those trips with this travel app. By adding an animal to the design, it makes the brand itself more memorable and easier to connect with. Any time potential users see a moose they could potentially think about our app. It also keeps the overall design a bit more light hearted.
Final Prototype
Moving on past the general login in screen, I have the user select their favorite hobbies or interests which in turn will create a customized browsing page. This home page will also be a place for others to share their stories and feature local events. If the user sees an event they wish to attend, that event will include the other user that would like to go, the price and the specific location. It will also include the users ratings they’ve received and any additional information about the destination.
Starting with on boarding, I selected SF Pro, a sans serif type face for the main text due to it being a font that is more widely known so the user gets a sense of familiarity from the start. I stuck with the sans serif family for the actual voyage font, I went with archivo black. The images used stayed on theme with warmer tones to bring in the user to feel comfortable in this space while also explaining what exactly Voyage is.
Final Thoughts
The final user tests were successful when testing the navigation and overall layout of the app. I succeeded making an app that was inviting and offered several options on finding events and experiences. Looking back on what I did with this project, I wish I focused more on the safety aspects of this app like I mentioned earlier in the beginning stages. Ideally I would like to have a way to verify users and the events they would be going to. This is definitely something I would like to focus on in future iterations.