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FAMTRIPS

Streamlining the process of travel planning and enhancing the overall travel experience for families with kids below 12 years old.

Course: User Centered Research and Evaluation

MY ROLE:

Research: semi-structured interviews, speed-dating, surveys, usability testing using think-aloud

Design: concept maps, empathy map, information architecture, storyboards, prototype

TIMELINE:

12 Weeks
Fall 2022

TOOLS:

Figma

Qualtrics

SUS

TEAM:

2 Master's HCI Students

2 Master's Product Design Students

CONTEXT

What is the project goal?

What is the solution?

Enhance the travel planning experience for families with young children. Families face unique challenges in travel, including unpredictable schedules due to children's moods, limited kid-friendly activities, and a lack of reliable family-oriented reviews.

An on-the-go travel application that offers users an enjoyable, hassle-free, and convenient experience. The application offers:

  • Tinder-like interface for personalized travel choices

  • Ability to customize itineraries before and during the trip

  • Complementary website to streamline the booking process

How did the participants react to the solution?

"It's really nice to have the ability to change around scheduled trips. It is a hassle to change plans last minute because of impromptu nap times or temper tantrums."

"The tinder like style is intuitive and I like the experience."

"The information page is good, I can see it it matches my criteria. I would like to go to this destination haha."

Figure: Participants' positive reactions indicating the success of our application.

RESEARCH

Understanding the domain and our users

After conducting thorough research using diverse sources (travel websites, social media, vlogs, blogs, and academia), I creatively connected with people at libraries, childcare facilities, and swim lessons to overcome initial participant recruitment challenges.

To complement our interviews, we utilized a journey mapping activity, where participants shared vacation stories and visually mapped their experiences, offering valuable insights into the planning process and time invested.

15

Literature Reviews

8

Competitive Websites

10

1hr semi-structured interviews

10

30-minutes directed storytelling sesions

Figure: Learning about the system through different lenses

Journey Mapping Activity to gain insights into users' timeline of travel planning by unraveling their stories

Figure: Journey Mapping Activity to gain insights into users' timeline of travel planning by unraveling their stories

SYNTHESIS

New learnings about the domain

Through Affinity Diagramming, we synthesized data, fostering teamwork and uncovering surprising insights about traveling with kids. Our interviews dispelled my previous assumptions, as most participants preferred traveling with their children.

While item grouping, we noticed wives had the primary responsibility for planning activities, highlighting the need for diverse interview participants. To validate our insights, we planned a survey with a larger participant pool.

Extracting insights from a diverse participant pool using a survey

Figure: Extracting insights from a diverse participant pool using a survey

Affinity Diagramming sessions to reach our insights

Figure: Affinity Diagramming sessions to reach our insights

Challenges in Family Travel Planning

  • Time-consuming and stressful due to daily responsibilities.

  • Lack of kid-friendly accommodation filters

  • Inaccurate and incomplete booking information

Figure: Primary challenges encountered by families with young children during travel planning

We discovered that parents seek an all-in-one solution to simplify their travel planning experience. Two crucial factors for them are ensuring flexibility in their travel plans and finding family-inclusive activities during their trips.

During the process, crafting visual models was a significant highlight for me. I created two concept maps that aligned our understanding and guided us through users' experiences.

Concept Map: A trip day - expectation vs. reality

Figure: Concept Map: A trip day - expectation vs. reality

Concept Map: Emotional journey during trip planing

Figure: Concept Map: Emotional journey during trip planing

IDEATION

Rapid Idea Generation

We engaged in dynamic brainstorming exercises like "crazy-8" and "reverse assumptions" to spark creativity and generate diverse ideas. Collaboratively, we compiled all suggestions and used dot voting to streamline the selection process.

During idea generation, I proposed a family scheduler inspired by when2meet.com, tailored for families. However, we realized the need to address the primary problem first, and we narrowed our focus to travel planning for a single family.

 My crazy-8 ideas as part of the brainstorming sessions

Figure: My crazy-8 ideas as part of the brainstorming sessions

Using dot-voting to streamline the selection process of final ideas

Figure: Using dot-voting to streamline the selection process of final ideas

At this stage, we created 15 storyboards (3 per category decided by dot-voting). We conducted a speed-dating activity with 10 participants to gather reactions from a different set of users to our ideas on family trip planning challenges.

Storyboards on accommodation for speed-dating
Storyboards on accommodation for speed-dating
Storyboards on accommodation for speed-dating

Figure: My storyboards tailored for the accommodations category

Our goal was to make travel planning a fun and effortless activity for parents. Inspired by Tinder, we adopted a mobile solution, enabling users to spend small amounts of time each day to create their itinerary seamlessly by selecting or rejecting options.

PROTOTYPE

Developing the information architecture and the prototypes

Before creating low-fi screens, I proposed that we individually craft end-to-end user flows.  Collaboratively, we established the complete user flow, ensuring coverage of all edge cases.

My proposed information architecture for the application

Figure: My proposed information architecture for the application

After finalizing our flow, we created low-fi prototypes and tested them with users. Our testing focused on the following aspects:

  • User's Trust in algorithm and generated plans.

  • App flexibility for on-the-go plan adjustments.

  • User's patience in completing the entire planning process

Once satisfied, we created high-fidelity click-through prototypes and conducted usability tests with 10 participants. They were assigned tasks, asked to think aloud, and completed a post-task questionnaire using the Single Ease Question (SEQ) method.

Final Prototype Screens

Figure: Final Prototype Screens

Usability Test Tasks and feedback from users synthesized on Figma

Figure: Usability Test Tasks and feedback from users synthesized on Figma

IMPACT

Participant reactions

7 out of 9 participants expressed their positive preference for the swipe feature, which enabled them to navigate through relevant options.

7 out of 9 respondents indicated a high likelihood of recommending the application to their friends.

The majority of participants expressed immediate interest in downloading the application and using it for their travel planning.

System Usability Scale (SUS) result indicating the success of the prototypes with the users
System Usability Scale (SUS) result indicating the success of the prototypes with the users

Figure: System Usability Scale (SUS) result indicating the success of the prototypes with the users

REFLECTION

Lessons Learned

Zoom Presentation to CMU community

Figure: Zoom Presentation to CMU community

This project has been an incredible journey for me as a newcomer to UX industry, fostering significant growth as a researcher and designer and providing a comprehensive understanding of the end-to-end design process.

I navigated team dynamics through pre- and post-mortem discussions, improved question-refinement skills, and learned the importance of a well-crafted script in guiding conversations. 

Distinguishing findings from insights and employing rapid idea-generation techniques fueled innovative thinking, with one of my crazy-8 ideas inspired by Tinder shaping our final solution. 

Given the opportunity, I would eagerly refine existing applications or develop new ones, streamlining travel planning for families with young children.

Thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to reach out and stay connected with me. I'm always down for a coffee and a chat!

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