Planit
UX RESEARCH
UX DESIGN
UI DESIGN
KEY TAKEWAYS
by Lonely Planet
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
TIME
TASK
TOOLS
Seamlessly integrate a new social feature to help expand Lonely Planet social capabilities and help Group members share budget with each other on a deeper level through Planit app.
6 Weeks
Design a new group feature for Lonely Planet
Figma, Miro
A Recommendations feature that allows users to help their friends manage their budget
Ideate
Define
Empathize
Empathize
DEFINE & IDEATE
UI Design
1
2
3
Research
Defining the Problems
High Fidelity Wireframes
How might we help people enhance their group travel experiences with an effective budget planning solution tailored to their needs?
How might we create an pocket app that helps backpackers plan, travel and share their experiences, while staying on budget and connected?
How might we create a digital group budgeting solution that provides a seamless and affordable travel experience for travelers (back-packers), pre, during, and post travel?
Research Goals
Brainstorming
Project Goals
Business Goals
User Goals
Application Map
Task Flow
Low-fidelity Wireframe Sketches
User Flow
Task 1: The user wants to create a group travel budget for the first time but doesn't know how to start.
Task 2: The user knows where to go with his/her friends and wants to create a new group travel budget plan.
Task 3: The user wants to track his/her expenses from his/her existing travel budget plan with friends.
Market Research
GenZ / Alpha Researsh
GEN Z - Travel Behaviors
Alpha - Travel Behaviors
Lonely Planet Products :
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
Empathy Map
User Persona
Insights
Needs
Design Process
To better understand Lonely Planet background, market space, and who Lonely Planet users are, I started by conducting research with the following goals:
Now that I knew who I was defining for, I was able to use the insights and needs gained from research to identify what the main problems are that I am trying to solve. I used those insights and needs to create POV statements to better understand the problem from the user’s perspective and then created HMW questions to come up with possible solutions for these problems.
I started the brainstorming process with mind mapping. Based on the HMW questions, I went through 10 minute rounds for each question and quickly generated as many different ideas as possible. I then went back in for a last round, 5 minutes each, to write down any new ideas or expand on existing ones.
How might Olivia safeguard herself from overspending?
After coming up with different solutions for the main problems identified, I started to lay out the strategy in terms of how these solutions would be implemented. First, I started by clearly defining the project goals to understand what we’re trying to achieve through implementing these solutions.
Now that I knew which solutions I would be moving forward with, I wanted to understand how these new features would fit into the existing architecture of Lonely planet application. In order to get a better understanding of this, I created an application map.
Now that I knew how these new features would fit into Lonely Planet existing structure, I wanted to explore how the user’s would be interacting with these new features to complete key tasks. I first created a UI Requirements document to identify the key tasks based on our user’s goals, and then clearly laid out the specific requirements for each screen in order for the user to successfully complete those tasks.
Using the same key tasks, I created task flows to understand the actions the users would take and the key pages they would interact with to complete those tasks.
Using everything I learned throughout this phase, I then worked on creating lofi wireframe sketches to make informed decisions on how to design these new screens to help our users complete these tasks and meet their goals.
Using Figma, I create high-fidelity wireframes based on my sketches.
Now I wanted to take an even deeper look into the overall user’s journey while interacting with the new features. In order to more deeply empathize with the user, I created a user flow to explore the scenarios the users would be in and the different paths and decisions they would encounter when trying to complete the key tasks defined.
Understand the market trends of the Group Budget planning industry
Identify Planti target market
Identify Planti competitors and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses
Understand the experiences of people with competitors .
Discover goals, needs, motivations, and frustrations of Planti app users
In order to gain more insights on what the current Lonely planet industry looks like, I decided to start with market research. Through market research, I was able to get a deeper understanding of the current trends of Lonely Planet market based on data gathered from secondary research.
Guidebooks, Maps, Epic Guides, Gifts& Inspiration, Language Guide, Lonely Planet Kids, Lonely Planet Guides App, Trips by Lonely Planet,Lonely Planet Audio Phrasebooks, The Lonely Planet Offline Translator apps
In order to understand behavior of Generation Z and Alpha during travel, I conducted a deep research to come up with facts that GenZ more flexible during planning trip and the aim is usuallu to enjoy adventure. On tha other hand, Alpha Generation , they are crazy toward health and wellness as a signficant focus in Travel.
After conducting my market research, I analyzed Planti top competitors to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. This information helped me to understand what the trends are across all competitors, their unique differences, and why users might choose a particular service over another
To validate who the real users are and learn about their personal experiences with budget planning, I conducted user interviews. I interviewed 30 people between the ages of 18-24, 10-15 minutes each, asking open-ended questions to learn as much as possible about Budget planning during travel and their experiences.
Through the user interviews, I found that while many people had their own, unique experiences with travel and budget , there were common patterns across the role money played in their lives socially, how they spend it, and how they planning it during travel. Using an empathy map, I was able to synthesize all of the findings and uncover these key insights.
From the information gathered, I was able to identify common patterns that allowed me to uncover key insights which would help me to understand our user’s needs on a deeper level.
Using what I learned from both my secondary and primary research, I created a user persona that accurately represented who I am designing for. This persona helped guide my decisions along the design process to make sure the solution I am designing is centered on our user. Meet Olivia:
They all want to stay within the budget
Suffering from lack budgeting knowledge and need help with budgeting
Travelers face different financial challenges, from group spending to individual budgeting.
Money tracker of how much you have spent in a day
Recommendations of how much money should have for certain places and days
Give an overview of how much it would cost before travel
Budget-Friendly AI
Recommendations
Plan travel budget
in groups
Know who spends
more in your group
Simplicity
& Efficiency
Splitting Expenses
“ I tend to exceed my budget and use my credit card as a backup. ”
Persona
Key problem
Workarounds
Goals
The Overspending Olivia
Withdraws a set amount for each day to control spending.
Manual tracking of expenses for self-reflection.
Pays in advance to allocate budget for planned experiences.
Wants to make the most of her trips.
Desires a solution that helps her keep track of her expenses
Would like a way to see what exactly is she spending the most on
Tends to overspend and frequently borrows money from her friends during trips.
A1
B1
C1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
4.0
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.5
1.1
1.2
Splash/
Welcome
sign Up/
Log in
Onboarding
Homepage
My Travel
Budget
Expenses
Dashboard
Expenses
Category List
Ask Planit
Buddy (AI)
My profile
Account
Setting
Notification
Setting
About
Logout
Expenses
history
Expenses
Member
Budget Plan
Details
Members
List
Reflection & Next Steps
I faced new challenges during this project that I haven’t faced before - seamlessly integrating a new feature into Lonely planet and designing for a new mobile application that I wasn’t entirely familiar with.
Through this project, I learned the importance of really diving into studying the design and flow of the application to introduce a new feature that looks and feels like a part of Lonely Planet goals Doing research on the background and how the app evolved was also key to identifying the best solutions for the problems at hand.
The next steps I would take this project through from here are:
IMPLEMENTATION
2
Once I’ve re-tested to make sure the changes improved the features’ usability, we would then implement and launch these new features.
To validate the revisions made, I would conduct another round of testing with users.
RE-TEST
1
Clear understanding of the context
Find helpful tool fit parallel with technology
Give GenZ a boost of confidence
Get full plan for travel without exceeding cost
Enhancing their budget planning
Travel as group with less cost
Money tracker tool of spending a day
Recommendations of spending in certain places
Overview of how much it would cost before travel
Health and wellness are likely to be a significant focus for Gen Alpha and their families. There might be an increased emphasis on physical fitness, mental health, and overall well-being from an early age.
They might not have loads of money to spend on lavish vacations, but they’re very likely to return to destinations that offer more value. They also like exploring new destinations, and tech plays a big role in how they discover these places and book a trip.
56% prefer to stay in green or eco-friendly places.
This newest generation are part of an unintentional global experiment where screens are placed in front of them from the youngest age as pacifiers, entertainers and educational aids. This great screen age in which we are all living has bigger impacts on the generation exposed to such screen saturation during their formative years.
60% of the Gen Alpha wants everyone to be treated the same.
93% of the Gen Alpha aged 7 to 9 believe it is important to be “accepted for who you are”
Over half of the Gen Alpha population will earn a university degree.
They are predicted to surpass even Generation Z in education, with more than 90% of Gen Alpha predicted to complete their high school.
Source: McCrindle.
Generation Alpha will have access to more information or data than their previous generations.
With the increasing data on the internet and the easily available information. Due to this, their millennial parents are predicted to indulge them in formal studies at an earlier age.
65% of the Gen Alpha members studying in grade four are not proficient in reading.
According to the latest reports generated by AECF, Gen Alpha is underperforming in reading. Reading being the crucial metric for predicting educational outcomes, literacy of Gen Alpha has become one of the major concerns for today’s educators.
67% of the 6 to 9-year-olds wish to have a career that will help them save the planet.
In a survey conducted by Wunderman Thompson, it was found that Gen Alpha is looking forward to having a career in a field that will help them make a difference on the planet.
59% of the Gen Alpha respondents said they wish to have a career in a field where they can save lives. At the same time, 51% want a career in technology that would help them transform things and make a difference.
Gen Alpha teens prefer to watch movies in theaters 39% more than other generations.
More than 73% of Generation Alpha use the internet.
As stated earlier, the screen time of Gen Alpha is high. As most of the screen usage, like gaming, live streaming, social media, video streaming, etc., requires the internet, most of Gen Alpha is exposed to the internet.
Generation Alpha is likely to be even more desiring of customized vacation destinations and travel experiences than either Millennials or Generation Z. Because of this, the importance of travel agents is going to go up in a way that it has not since its heyday.
This generation is expected to be the most diverse and multicultural generation yet, with a significant increase in mixed-race families and a broader acceptance of diversity and inclusion.
Gen Alpha's parents are often millennials who tend to be more tech-savvy and focused on a holistic approach to education. They are likely to emphasize early childhood education, including interactive learning apps and educational games on digital devices.
Growing up in an era of increased environmental awareness, Gen Alpha is expected to be more environmentally conscious. They are likely to be raised with a focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Gen Alpha will likely witness rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and automation, which could significantly influence their future career choices and the skills they need to develop.
Gen Alpha's education is expected to be transformed by technology. Online learning, personalized education plans, and digital classrooms are likely to be the norm, catering to their tech-savvy learning styles.
Gen Z travelers are budget-conscious. They seek value for their money and are more likely to choose budget accommodations, local eateries, and free or low-cost activities.
6 out of 10 Gen Z travellers indicating that once they arrive, they’ll opt for environmentally friendly options
Gen Zs are flexible when planning their trips.
They are keen on exploring offbeat destinations, seeking adventure, and engaging in activities like hiking, diving, and cultural immersions.
90 % of Generation Z travellers make their decisions based on social media posts.
They are adept at using travel apps and websites to find deals, compare prices, and save money on flights, accommodations, and activities.
With the rise of remote work, Gen Z is more likely to blend work and travel, becoming digital nomads and working from different locations around the world.
Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms significantly influence their travel choices. They are more likely to visit destinations and try activities that are popular on social media.
Gen Z prefers spending on experiences like travel, dining, and events rather than material possessions.
Gen Z heavily relies on peer reviews and recommendations from friends and online influencers when making travel decisions.
They’are booking their accommodations, checking flights, and finding amazing deals on travel with the help of technology.
spend 4+ hours on social media. Social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok that have strong visual elements are the preferred apps, and most of the time, they’ll be spending those hours here.
Climate change is Gen Z’s biggest concern. As such, sustainability is a major consideration for Gen Z.
When Gen Zs plan a trip, the aim is usually to find an adventure. For them going off-the-beaten-path is the work of the day
According to the European Travel Commission, young travelers are more likely to:
- Return and add more value to destinations over time
- Discover new destinations
- Incorporate technology on their trips
- Gain personal cultural benefits and contribute to the places that they visit
When Gen Zs plan a trip, the aim is usually to find an adventure. For them going off-the-beaten-path is the work of the day
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