User Research Plan

View my full User Research Plan document.

Background

The pandemic impacted people in many parts of their lives, including the way they visualize safety, socializing, and their overall lifestyle. These changes have been present in the way they interact with the world around them, and therefore, impact the way they travel. This study is aimed to understand how travel mobile apps should evolve to address the needs and concerns of a traveler post-pandemic.

Research Questions

• How has the pandemic impacted the needs or goals of modern day travelers?

• Where are current travel-related mobile apps lacking in terms of making the planning process more efficient?

• Which tasks are most difficult or take up most time when planning a trip?

• How can we make this app appealing and easy to use for all age groups?

• What type of traveler will benefit most from this app?

Interview Plan + Script

I planned to conduct 5 verbal interviews in order to understand what resources are most important to users when planning a trip. I discovered that recommendations and real experience carry the most weight when making decisions.

View my interview script.

Affinity Diagram Process

Key Findings:

• Interviewees often expressed having to utilize numerous platforms when planning a trip

• Recommendations by word of mouth/ from real people are considered most valuable

• Planning for internal/local travel while on vacation was a common pain point

Take a closer look at my Affinity Diagram FigJam.

Empathy Map

User Insight

Organized traveler who aims to get the most out of their trip needs an efficient method of checking the feasibility of local travel and mapping out destination spots because proper preparation and research prior to the trip allows for a stress free, successful vacation.

Problem Statement

Our application was designed to provide travelers with an efficient all-in-one resource for end-to-end planning and booking vacations. We have observed that our app does not provide an efficient method of mapping out and checking the feasibility of local travel which is causing users to resort to other platforms. How might we improve our app so that our users are more successful based on a decrease in time spent planning internal travel and an increase in return visits to our app?

Story Board

User Flow

Explore my full User Flow FigJam.

Wireframes

Sketches: Key Screens

Digital Wireframes: Key Screens

Prototypes

Lo-Fi Clickable Prototype

Take a closer look at my clickable digital prototype in Figma.

Hi-Fi Clickable Prototype Iteration 1

Check out the transition from digital wireframes to Hi-Fi mockups in Figma.

User Tests

Guerrilla Testing Plan + Notes

Goal: I want to conduct this usability test to make sure the presentation of information during onboarding is effective and is ordered in a way that makes most sense to the user. I want to make sure the layout of my prototype is easy to navigate and each distinct feature is easy to locate.

Tasks + Results:

1. Complete the onboarding process and create an account —> 100% Success Rate

2. Open Jane D’s full post and save it —> 87.50% Success Rate

3. Locate the search engine screen for restaurant reservations —> 100% Success Rate

4. Book a reservation at Armitage Ale House —> 100% Success Rate

Feedback:

1. Users found the onboarding process quick and signup process self explanatory

2. Users understood how to view Jane D’s full post. Only one user had slight hesitation when locating the “Save” icon. 

3. Majority of users resorted to “Menu” icon when locating search engine. However, all were able to complete this task quickly.

4. All users successfully and quickly completed this task. 

Key Learnings From User Test

Iterations Made Based of Findings

Onboarding Screens Before User Tests

Onboarding Screens After User Tests

Final Clickable Prototype

View all Hi-Fi mockups and prototype iterations in Figma.