My Role
Product Designer
Team
Individual project
Timeline
8 weeks
Tools
Figma
Adobe Phototshop
User Interviews
This is a passion project that I started after facing challenges traveling solo. This inspired me to design a product to help solo travelers
Just before the pandemic, I went on a solo trip to hike in the mountains. That single trip certainly taught me a lot and changed my life. Traveling is a huge part of my life and finding unique places to travel has always been challenging for me. Even if I find a unique experience, it’s almost impossible to find a travel partner for some adventures.
INTRODUCTION
PROBLEM
Solo travelers struggle to find unique travel experiences and like-minded travelers to accompany them.
Most millennials and Gen Z solo travelers don’t like crowded and touristy places and look for unscathed travel experiences and adventures. These places are difficult to find and often need long hours of browsing or recommendation from fellow solo travelers. Moreover, even if they are able to find a unique place or adventure, finding someone to accompany them in the adventure is equally challenging.
How might I help solo travelers find unique travel experiences and like-minded travelers to accompany them?
DESIGN CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
Explorr : A social travel app that helps travelers find unique travel recommendations by other travelers.
Browse recommendations from other travelers, create their own plans, or join plans created by other travelers.
The users can browse recommendations added and reviewed by other travelers.
If none of the plans created by other travelers work for them, they can create their own plan which is published on the app to allow other travelers to join. The users can also share the plan with friends.
How did I get there?
I first started with market research to gauge the need, I then conducted interviews to understand users’ needs and pain points. I then conducted a competitive analysis to analyze current products followed by ideation and design. I went through two rounds of iterations, one at low-fidelity and one at mid-fidelity prototype to come to the final design.
Solo travel has risen by a massive 761.15% and 58% of millennials prefer traveling alone.
MARKET RESEARCH
To validate if the problem faced by me is actually a real problem, I conducted market research. I discovered that there has been a massive increase in the number of solo travelers in the past few years. Millennials are more than excited to pack their bags and hit the road alone. Solo travel is not only known to instill a sense of independence but is also preferred to improve mental health, especially after the pandemic. This research made it clear that there is a huge potential in this industry and helped me narrow down my target population to the millennials.
USER RESEARCH
This revealed 3 pain points faced by solo travelers
I conducted 6 interviews with millennials who had traveled in the past or wish to solo travel in the future to understand their journey, needs and pain points. After synthesizing the data collected, I created a journey map of solo travelers’ experience and identified 3 main pain points.
Have to spend a lot of time finding unique experiences
☹️
Solo travelers spend a lot of time researching to find unique traveling experiences which are mostly found by browsing or recommendations.
“I seldom find good travel recommendations and when in need I am never able to find them“
☹️
Don’t like going on guided tours or trips planned with a lot of people
Millennials like to be independent and in control. They don’t like guided tours and prefer going on places that are unique, not very crowded and less travelled.
“I like to take my time on spots I like, and explore around. I hate being on a schedule or time limit to visit specific locations or do specific activities”
☹️
Find it difficult to find a travel partner for some adventures
Solo travelers often find it difficult to find travel partners who would like to go on the same adventure at a time convenient to both of them.
“I can’t go on some adventures alone as they may get risky at times, but finding someone to travel with at a time convenient to both is exhausting“
Aha! The pain points paved a way to design opportunities
1
Have to spend a lot of time finding unique experiences
How might I help the travelers in discovering unique experiences more efficiently?
2
Don’t like going on guided tours or trips planned with a lot of people
How might I allow the travelers to have more control on their plans while traveling?
3
Find it difficult to find a travel partner for some adventures
How might I make it easier for travelers to find other travelers interested in the same activity?
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
Existing products work great for traditional travelers but do not support independent travelers who like to be in charge.
There are several products that have tried to attract solo travelers and provided a platform for the travel community. I researched and analyzed three types of products - one that focused on solo travelers like Meetup and Wanderlog and products that provide some features that attract solo travelers. The third type is Instagram which is not specifically designed for travelers, but interviews revealed that it is one of the major sources for discovering and connecting with travelers.
Pros: Airbnb uses User rating that creates trust.
Cons: Experiences are paid, and planned by hosts. They feel like guided tours.
Pros: Great for bringing together people with similar interests.
Cons: Focuses on a wide variety of events that are mostly local.
Pros: Helps users by recommending best sellars
Cons: Experiences are paid, and planned by hosts. They feel like guided tours.
Based on the insights from users and competitive analysis, I identified features for Explorr that would help solo travelers.
01
How might I help the travelers in discovering unique experiences more efficiently?
SOLUTION
Interviews revealed Solo travelers love sharing their experiences so that others can benefit from it. Recommendation features leverages this motivation to create a trustworthy community.
Explorr showcases recommendations that are added personally by the travelers along with rating system
02
How might I make it easier for travelers to find other travelers interested in the same activity?
Explorr allows the users to discover travelers who are interested in same activities and can join their plans if interested.
SOLUTION
03
How might I allow the travelers to have more control on their plans while traveling?
Explorr offers users the ability to create their own travel plans that other travelers can join.
SOLUTION
Another round of usability tests revealed concerns about safety and trust.
CHALLENGE
Solo travelers often travel to new countries and Safety and Security was one of their top concerns as they travel to places that are unfamiliar or do not speak their language.
How might I build trust between the travelers who are planning to go on a trip together?
DESIGN OPPORTUNITY
Explorr could do this first by allowing the users to sign up using their existing social media account.
Secondly, it would also allow the users to review other travellers.
SOLUTION
Now that I had addressed the pain points from users point of view, I also wanted to look at the product from Business point of view. How can I ensure it grows and benefit the business goals?
PRODUCT STRATEGY
01
Explorr could showcase sponsored Content and Partnerships
Explorr could collaborate with travel-related businesses, such as airlines, hotels, travel agencies, and tour operators, to promote their offerings within the app.
Sponsored content, featured listings, or special offers can be displayed to users, providing them with personalized recommendations and generating revenue through partnerships.
Explorr could add a sponsored tag to each listing, keeping the trust of the users.
Oh wait, but Explorr can not do that untill it has a large user base to make an impact.
To grow its user base -
02
Explorr could draw the users to the app through notifications
Explorr could send notifications whenever a new plan is created for a place liked by them. In addition, they can also encourage the users to write a review if the user has joined any plan. This will help Explorr to increase its user base and inturn generate revenue.
NEXT STEPS
The next step would be to conduct further user testing and iterate the designs.
Analyze user behavior (power users and new users) to prioritize impactful features and develop product strategy.