Project Overview

To start the project, we were tasked with creating a travel app for a post pandemic world. After reworking an idea that my partner had for a travel app, JourneySync was born.


The Problem

People are cautious of their spending for travel and what their money is going towards. 70% of our survey participants create a budget for their travel and 78% of them make an itinerary. Our users are using several different apps and methods to plan their travel, which can cause them to go over budget or diverge from their itinerary.

The Solution

Design a travel app that allows the user to plan their total budget, allocate where their money is going, and plan their itinerary all in one place. JourneySync is a travel app created to have your budget and itinerary located in one place.

Role and Responsibility

UX/UI research and designer

Group Members

Michelle Swanner and Kelly Humphrey

Here we discussed what we think the app should focus on and potential features. We also thought about potential competitors.

A google survey was created asking our peers about their travel habits. 27 people completed the survey and below are some of the stand out results. With these results it shows that users do typically make a budget and an itinerary, showing that there is a market for an all in one app.

Tools

Figma/FigJam, Google Docs, Sheets, and Forms

Research

The idea for the app was from my partner’s first project, create a travel app for a post pandemic world. The idea that was pitched had too many features and no direction. We decided to narrow the app down to two key features. Below are images from the brainstorming session.

70.4% make some kind of budget while traveling

  • 65.2% stick to it

  • 77.8% make an itinerary

    • 82.6% stick to itinerary

  • 96.3% would use app

Along with the survey, five user interviews were conducted. The interview was used to gather people’s travel habits specifically with budgeting and itinerary making. The takeaway from those interviews is that most people do try and budget and make an itinerary, and hopefully stick to it, but they don’t have one place they plan it all in.

With the survey and interview results, we made an affinity diagram. The key themes are broken down around budgeting and those challenges, also with itinerary planning. This helped us really see that the most people do for planning is make a spreadsheet or even use pen and paper. This made it even more clear that an all in one app could make people’s travel easier. 


Standout responses

  • Uses pen and paper currently to keep track of everything (budget and itinerary)

  • no way to track expenses currently

  • does math on the fly - no true budgeting

  • Makes an excel spreadsheet

  • pick spot, look at fun things in area, look city calendars for events, make sur there are affordable food options, put it in excel

We made a prioritization matrix of features the app could have. Easy wins were “having everything in one place and calendar.” We added the calendar feature to the app. 


Definition

We created a problem statement that reinforces the need for an app that houses both budgeting and itinerary planning.

Problem Statement

Many travelers have difficulty effectively managing their expenses and plan their itineraries while on trips. This leads to overspending, being disorganized and missing out on opportunities. Existing methods lack the ability to do both budgeting and itinerary planning. As a result, there is a need for a user-friendly app that combines budget management and itinerary planning to help travelers maximize their experiences while staying within their desired budget.



A hypothesis statement was then created based on our user surveys and interviews

Hypothesis Statement

People who are looking to create a budget while traveling are more likely to stay within that budget if they have both their budget and itinerary all within one app.

A use persona was created with the data we gathered iterating who the average user of JourneySync would be. Nicky Hines is in their late twenties, middle class, vacations a few times a year and cannot be bothered with too many apps. They always overspend on vacation and has trouble keeping track of plans.

User Insight

Adults in their early 30’s, like Nicky, who are looking to budget and plan an itinerary for travel, need an app that has both of these features, because these tend to be in different places, this can cause users to go over budget unexpectedly.

Value Proposition

JourneySync is an app to help travelers access their budget and itinerary all in one space.
We’re better because travelers will no longer struggle jumping between several apps or carrying pieces of paper they hope not to lose.
We’re believable because our user-friendly app combines budget management and itinerary planning to help travelers maximize their experiences while staying within their desired budget.

Ideation

Here is a normal task flow for JourneySync when a users is creating a new trip.

Below is a storyboard depicting our user Nicky’s journey.

Competitor Analysis

This competitor analysis shows two of JourneySync’s direct and indirect competitors.

Prototyping and Testing

We started by individually drawing out paper prototypes. When we compared our drawings, it showed us that we had similar ideas about how the app should look and flow

After we combined our ideas we moved on to making a mid-fidelity wireframe.

During our user tests we discovered:

95% of users were able to complete the task flow.

Our itinerary was not an itinerary and was a list.

20% of users were unsure if homepage words were clickable.

40% of users had trouble reading certain font.

Style Tile

Final Prototype

Conclusion

Throughout the creation of this app we quickly learned that this issue was a pain point for many travelers. Our app will be able to keep traveler’s itinerary and budget in one location while ensuring they are able to stay within their budget without the uncertainty of how much they are truly spending.


Further Development

While creating this app we wish time would have allowed for us to further investigate the legalities and mechanics that would go into making this app into a savings app that users could put over a certain amount of money from their banking apps. This would allow the app to come with a debit card that could be used specifically when traveling; giving our users more autonomy over their spending and a safety to ensure there could not be overspending.