Overview
How might we create an app that streamlines the travel packing process in a structured and time efficient manner?
Team
Nithya Duggaraju, Evelyn Huey, Megan Mok
Role
User Research, Wireframes, Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi Prototypes
User Research
User Personas
Created multiple user personas highlighting frequent and infrequent travelers that would use this app.
Research
We surveyed 15+ people about their travel process and past experiences and created affinity maps. We asked about packing habits for different trips, pain points during travel prep, forgotten items, and more.
Key Insights
People approached packing
using categories and lists.
Destination is an important factor
in the packing process
(weather, activities, etc).
People often forgot key items/airport rules
because they were worried
about forgetting everything else.
Brainstorming/Features
Creating reminders and notifications
Leading up to the trip, the user can create reminders for pre-travel responsibilities. Examples include renewing passports or buying clothes.
Established Item Recommendations
We also added resources to help users remember what is allowed in TSA, and a General Essentials Packing List to recommend items. Users can directly add items from this into their own Trip Page.
Categorized Packing Lists
The packing lists are automatically organized into categories, such as toiletries, clothing, technology, etc.
Activities, Weather, Collaborating With Other Travelers
Fellow travelers can be added and edit the travel page, so people can plan together.
Key info like weather and activities are displayed and taken into account when giving item recommendations.
Initial Sketches
Lo-fi Wireframes
Design Style Guide
We decided to use a familiar blue-based color scheme used in relation to many travel-based applications such as for airports, airlines, and trains.
The accent colors, a brighter yellow and pink are used to pop out and add some unique character to the pages. All buttons are yellow.
Final Hi-fi Prototype
Click below to go through the high fidelity prototype yourself!
Next Steps
For next steps in this project, we want to create more features based on the user testing interviews we did on the low fidelity designs. One topic that came up was financial planning in addition to packing planning, which could expand the scope of this app to a more broad travel aid. Another topic was incorporating a feature to help keep track of suitcase weight, at least providing an approximate number based on what has already been packed. Almost all of the people we surveyed discussed having to repack to fit the weight requirements. Overall, we had a great team experience and we see this being an incredibly useful app for people who are busy and traveling.