The process
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OVERVIEW & DEFINE
Background
Breeze is the greatest, completely free, travel tool for organizing any type of journey, including road trips and group travel. It is also the simplest to use! Make arrangements for your airline, hotel, and rental vehicle, check your itinerary's destinations on a map, and work with friends. The perfect travel app for all your needs, A to Z.
Problem
Currently, there is no free app on the market that allows for free trip planning with ease. Apps either ask for payment plans or are not all inclusive to travelers and globetrotters worldwide.
Goal/Solution
I designed Breeze to allow users to feel confident in trip planning! With Breeze, users can plan trips, use Google translate and check on itinerary's all with a simple click! The app is meant to be a simple and easy travel tool, from us to you.
Role
UX Designer and UX Researcher
Breeze Mood Board
Tools
Competitive Research
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Currently, Breeze's biggest competitors are TripIt and Wanderlog. With 20 million users worldwide, TripIt takes the lead as the most in-demand travel app, followed by, Wanderlog with a total of 3.5 million users. TripIt's easy-to-use layout and convenient save feature keeps users coming back. Additionally, Wanderlog's free version allows for detailed trip planning and scheduling for all events while traveling smoothly. Both TripIt and Wanderlog's best qualities, however, get hindered in quality by their pro versions, which offer much better plans and additional tools for a fun and safe trip.
Interviews
To better understand the needs and desires of consumers, I conducted interviews with dedicated travel planning users. These conversations also assisted me in navigating these users' pain points. The age range I interviewed was between 21 and 35. Inquiries I made during the interview included the following:
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What do you like about travel apps?
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What do you dislike about travel apps?
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What is something you wish travel apps included?
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How confident do you feel about your trip plan when using said travel app?
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What is the most important element when using an app to plan a trip?
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Do you typically rely on travel apps when planning for upcoming trips?
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Processing and analyzing data
I organized my data through affinity mapping and tried to find trends in my data that would help me find solutions to user problems and connect with their needs on a personal, structural level. This allowed for me to find four main themes and address them according within my product.
Key User Insights
Users love having travel apps to help ease their journey when travelling. Specifically, features that allow them to plan their trip ahead of time, view deals and prices and have the ability to have worldwide access to their trip plans.
However, a common trend noted with users in terms of things they disliked or wish these apps included were: access to translation feature on app itself, ability to see budget in real time, and ability to use app at full potential for free. Users also mentioned they would enjoy a way to have peer reviewed feedback for legitimacy when deciding where to go.
IDEATION
Sketches and Wireframes
Low fidelity screens show how we can incorporate user friendly features to the Breeze app. With these wireframes, we see the importance of mapping out the placement of key features and their usage for that we get as much customer satisfaction as possible.
As seen below, on the home screen (far left) I've kept the screen simple with multiple call to actions - either get started on a new trip plan or continue planning. This will allow users for multiple options and engagement within the app.
The budget screen (middle) shows how users can track their budget whilst on their trips and keep track of expenses easily and clearly with detailed explanations of where they are spending their cash.
The itinerary overview screen (far right) shows how easy access was used to quickly go through important details in their trip. With the simple click of a button, users can reach the bottom of the page to view "food", for example, in a time efficient manner.
Implementation of Wireframes
From the wireframes above, we see that Breeze is meant to serve as a fully functioning multi purpose travel app for all. Below, are some implementations of my sketches taking into consideration the analysis of my audience and what they would like to see in Breeze alongside using principles of consistency, continuity, context, and complementary design.
DESIGN
Color Palette
Below is the color palette of Breeze. We aimed for a design that allowed users to feel calm, happy, and excited for their upcoming trip plans. The energy of blue light mixed with the positive energy of orange light call for the perfect combination to the Breeze app.
#000A61
#000A61
#7FB3FB
#FFFFFF
#FF7A00
Inclusive Design
Inclusivity and hearing my users needs was my priority in creating Breeze. I wanted to take user's pain points and eliminate them as much as possible. For this, I decided to make the app simple yet still all inclusive.
The video to the left shows how simple and easy it is to use Breeze translate! With the translation feature, users can type a word in another language, get translation from previously taken images, and even get suggestions on how to respond to the translation!
This feature makes it so users can communicate with locals safely and effectively.
The video to the right shows peer reviewed articles that allow travelers to see what their vacation would be like from the perspective of a foreigners as well.
This feature is immensely effective as it allows users to feel safer and more secure while planning their journey.
Adding to this, users stated wanting an interactive element to a travel app, and this is just that.
Breeze strives to be an accessible app in all meanings of the word. The design of this app is made for users traveling locally or across the globe to feel content and happy with their respective trips at all times. Breeze strives for inclusivity, easily accessible features and reaching their users' every need.
PROTOTYPE
RETROSPECTIVE
After designing Breeze, I learned a lot than I originally thought I would.
Putting the user and user pain points first was always my goal and I am glad I designed an app that kept those considerations in mind. I really enjoyed the UI challenges with this app and learned that improving user experiences has become a distinct passion of mine. Doing this project and thinking about how to elevate something from scratch was incredibly satisfying and enjoyable in a completely unexpected manner. I am thankful that I was able to build upon my knowledge and find gratification in my job as a Designer. I was able to envision how users may experience my product and bring that vision to life in a way that felt inspirational and refined.
All in all, creating this case study was made simpler and more gratifying by clearly outlining the approach in the beginning and carefully following every step while keeping the user in mind. But by employing user-centric design thinking techniques, I stayed true to my desire to create an inclusive and accessible design that many people would enjoy and identify with.
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Designed by Devangi with ♡