Tripmate-Logo
Easily and safely find your travel buddies who share same values as you.

01 About Project

What is Tripmate

TRIPMATE is a mobile application that facilitates young generation to join a familiar social network and connect with a travel companion who shares the same values and travel goals, enabling a reliable, efficient, and enjoyable travel experience.

Problem

Travel demand surges as Gen Z travelers plan revenge travel to compensate for lost trips due to COVID-19. When traveling,   Gen Z travelers have a hard time finding:  

· travel buddies that  meets their expectations-- Safety, travel budget, destination, time schedule, food preference .  
· ways to coordinate the   various logistics   of the trip.

The voices of travelers
It's disheartening when you're so excited about a trip but can't find the right companion.
- Misaligned travel preferences, style, interestes
- Conflicting schedules
- Compromises frequently occur

Target user

Gen Z-between 18~25 years old

They Value:
Safety
Budget
Unique Experience

Solution

We developed a platform called "Tripmate" that connects young generations to find suitable travel buddies with the similar values to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, and satisfying trip.

Reliability

Effectiveness

Attractiveness

90% of the participants successfully utilizing the functionality of the application.

After conducting a prototype test with 20 participants, it was found that 90% of them successfully utilized the features of the final concept. They were able to find their desired travel plans and companions, engage in a match game, and explore the travel plans of mutual friends. The participants expressed great excitement and anticipation for the application's release, eagerly awaiting its availability in the near future.

Achieved an 85.5 score in SUS testing

To validate the effectiveness of the solution, we conducted two rounds of online user testing. The System Usability Scale (SUS) score significantly improved from 70 points in the first round to 85.5 points in the subsequent round. Furthermore, over 80 percent of users successfully completed the designated tasks without requiring any guidance or assistance. These results indicate a high level of usability and user satisfaction with the solution.

On Boarding

ONBOARDING

Sign in/up

In order to provide users with a safer environment to search for travel companions, users are encouraged to register with their institution's e-mail address when possible.

MATCHING SYSTEM

Matching game

Artificial intelligence will analyze the user's information from the database and recommend the best trip for them based on their personalized preferences.

Homepage

Join a trip

Users can:

· Check the itinerary requirements and travel plans.

· Enhance accurate information exchange among travelers by reviewing travel expectations and dietary preferences.

· Create trusted relationships by checking out travel companion profiles, reading reviews, and checking out mutual friends.

Add Trips

Make a new post

Users can:

· Add detailed information of a trip post such as trip description, requirements for companions, travel plans, wishlists, optional questionnaire, and budget.

· Set the visibility of the post, whether it's public, friends only, or community groups only. Provide users the ability to locate their travel buddies based on the kind of travel they want to engage in

Check new trips

Upcoming trips

Users can:

· Check out the upcoming trips created by them and join

· The trip editor can edit the content of trip posts, manage the members of the group, as well as track and verify the itinerary.

Community

Connect with travel buddies

Users can:

· Join verified groups to ensure safe social connections.

· View friends' travel moments.

· Communicate the travel plans with your travel buddies..

Notification

Application status

Users can:

· Track the application status of my requests to join other people's trips and the status of other people's requests for trips I create.

· Approval of applications to join the trips I create

· Accept invitations to join trips created by others.

Outcome

We conducted two rounds of usability testing with ten participants, each round, users were given a SUS survey to measure the usability of our product.

SUS scores increased from 75 to 87.5, and 80% of users appreciated how Tripmate supports them in finding suitable travel buddies in a safe and fun manner.

02 Synthesis & Analysis

Design Process

Market Analysis

A Growing Market for traveling

· Most of youth travelers in the United States take at least one significant group trip each year without parents, spending almost $10 billion a year.

· 65% of Gen Zers ranked "travel and seeing the world" as the most important way to spend their money.

Gen Z is the main consumer of travel industry

· Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z travelers are planning “revenge travel” to make up for lost trips amid the COVID-19 crisis.

· Safety and having unique experiences also top of mind among Gen Z travelers

Competive analysis + The Gap

We analyzed the most common products for helping travelers find travel companions and determined that most of them aimed at finding travel companions among strangers and took a long time to do so without considering the unique needs of Gen Z travelers.

They could not assist Gen Z in effectively finding safe and suitable travel companions, which became an opportunity for our product to excel in the market.

Competition Type:

Direct competitors/Indirect competitors

Existing problems:
Direct competitors:
- Screening among strangers
- Safety concerns, can't ensure the authenticity of people's identities
- Low efficiency
- No clear categorization of information

Indirect competitors:
- Slow response time
- Low level of information matching
- The information of traveling not clear

Inspiration insights:
- Implementing ID Verification Process
- Private Group for Privacy Protection
- Sharing Travel Experience and Strategies

User Research

56

Survey Responses

12

In-depth interview with users

585

User Data

User quotes on finding travel buddies

Difficulty in Finding travel buddies from survey response

· Don’t have enough options (friends).
· Have no idea of other’s schedule.
· Time and destination are not matched.
· We have different travel preferences.
· The consumption habits.

Impact Factors Map

Traveling experience is influenced by four factors: safety, budget, interpersonal relationships, schedule, and activities. Safety is their top concern surrounding travel plans.

Key insights

We met Gen Z who had trouble with finding suitable travel buddy. We were amazed to realize
1. Users prefer to find travel companions who are similar to themselves and have endorsements from trusted sources. (84 data points)
2. The main reason for finding travel companions is to share travel costs, and the alignment of budgets determines the feasibility of traveling together and significantly impacts the overall travel experience.(78 data points)
3. Once a travel group is established, collaborative trip planning becomes a key objective. (84 data points)
Planner
Take a leadership role and are concerned about finding individuals who are punctual and proactive, rather than those who tend to delay or have poor time management skills.
Personality:
Detail-oriented
Values the budget
skilled at problem-solving
Follower
Let others take charge and are concerned about avoiding dominant and pushy individuals who may try to impose their own preferences on the group.
Personality:
willing to go with the flow
open to different possibilities
values the budget
User’s Pain point
- Lack of sufficient choices (friends)
- Uncertainty about others' schedules
- Unclear about the budget and consumption concept
- Feel unreliable and unsafe traveling with unfamiliar people
User‘ Expectations
- Finding travel buddies who have consistent preferences in terms of budget, travel plans, and activities.
- Aim to reduce user insecurity and enhance safety throughout the process of finding travel companions
- Provide several ways for user to find suitable travel buddies
- Provide efficient way to collaborate and communicate travel details

Journey Story

Journey story

User behavior analysis
- The existing journey of finding travel companions

Hard to do / Pain points
Users often spend a significant amount of time organizing their travel plans and outlining their expectations for travel companions.
Design Opportunities
Provides intuitive tools and templates for creating and managing travel itineraries Integrating social features such as travel companion matching algorithms or forums could help users connect with like-minded individuals more efficiently
Hard to do /  Pain points
Users need to carefully screen multiple details to ensure the feasibility and credibility of potential travel companions.
Design Opportunities
implementing identity verification methods incorporating user reviews and ratings displaying shared connections or friends shared interests and values, increasing the likelihood of finding compatible travel companions.

HMW statement

HMW facilitate Gen Zers to find a suitable travel buddy to plan a reliable, cost-effective, and satisfying trip?

Reliable
Reduce user distrust and enhance the sense of security in finding travel companions
Satisfying
Match users with consistent travel preferences (budget, itinerary, activities, interpersonal relationships)
Efficient
Reduce the complexity of evaluating potential partners and increase the chances of finding a travel companion

03 Design

Information Architecture

Design- wirframe/Design Decision
Diverse Pathways to Connect
Efficient
Reduce the complexity of evaluating potential partners and increase the chances of finding a travel companion
1. Matching System
- Analyze users’s travel preference and build user data base to match the most suitable trip plan
- Tailored Homepage: Personalized Trip Information Powered by Advanced Matching System
2. Discover Nearby Trips with Trusted Connections

- Explore Trips with Your Network and View Friends' Involvement

- Proximity to Your Location
3. Posting a Trip
4. Join Validated Groups
5. Search trips
Elevating Security and Reliability
Reliable
Reduce user distrust and enhance the sense of security in finding travel companions
Clear Travel Details
Satisfying
Match users with consistent travel preferences and align with detail travel plans
- Instant Overview of Key Factors:
Budget, Time, Transportation, and location
- Setting criteria for ideal travel companions
Add requirements and questionnaire
- Wishlist for Cuisine and Attractions
Effortless Trip Communication and Planning
- Connect with Fellow Travelers
- Coordinate Schedules
- Establish a synchronized agenda

Usability Testing + Key Improvements

During the testing phase, we recruited 10 Gen Z participants with a travel demand and conducted 2 rounds of user testing focusing on 3 main tasks. In the low-fidelity (low-fi) stage, our testing goal was to understand if users could successfully complete the tasks. We observed users' behaviors, including their clicks, scrolls, and inputs, while also documenting any problems or difficulties they encountered.In the high-fidelity (hi-fi) stage of testing, we shifted our focus to users' preferences regarding color and visual design.

80 %
Task Success Rate
66
System Problems
75-85.5
results of SUS (Round1-Round2)
Task 1: Matching
Task 2: Find and apply
Task 3: Release a trip

3 major improvements in design

Design System

Hi-Fi

Reflection

Usability Testing

I am grateful for the opportunity to have two rounds of usability testing and to have constant feedback from my professor and users. It was ultimately about making the application truly best for the user, rather than thinking in our way.

Collaborative

During the collaboration process, the lack of unified visual elements and a comprehensive design system at the beginning led to inconsistent visual effects at the high-fidelity stage resulting in multiple re-creations and revisions.

Storytelling

A good presentation does not mean piling up the data; instead, telling a good story requires a balance between showing the extensive research data and demonstrating the critical points of the project.

Next Step

1. Improve the interaction design part of the prototype, add attractive and engaging motion effects, and update the illustration style to make the overall visual style more uniform

2. It is essential to have an effective marketing strategy to promote our products, such as building a market on our website to increase our visitors

3. Provide the developer with a design system to prepare for launching the application in the future.

01 About Project02 Synthesis & Analysis03 Design 04 Reflection