UX Design - Task 2

on

Week 4 - Week 10
16/5/2024 - 27/6/2023
Leong Jiahui / 0353469
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD62104 / DESIGN EXPLORATION

Instructions


Task 2: User Journey Map

  1. Task 2 - Group (20pct) Exercise 1 - User Persona Research
    1. Survey Questionnaire of all responses (pdf)
    2. Analysis of the data and key 4-5 findings. APA style. (docx)
  2. Task 2 - Group (20pct) Exercise 2 - UX Requirements
  3. Task 2 - Group (20pct) Exercise 3 - UX User Journey Diagram

The task for our group project was to design a "personal helper app". Our team got together to brainstorm ideas for a personal services app, but honestly, we had no clue what that even meant. It was kind of a mess at first. None of us had any background in UX design too.

Despite our confusion, we jumped into the brainstorming session as enthusiastically as a bunch of clueless people can be, using Figma to map out our thoughts. We bounced around all sorts of ideas, from health apps to finance tools, trying to make sense of it all. After a lot of back-and-forth, we finally landed on an idea that clicked: a travel planner app.

To make it more focused, we have selected the target market to be solo travellers, prioritizing safety and convenience for them. There has yet to be an app like that in the market as of now too, so it gives us a bit more creativity to explore. The travel planner app would help users organize their trips, offering personalized recommendations, itinerary planning, and real-time updates. It felt like a great fit for what we wanted to create. 

fig 1.1 personal helper app brainstorming

After deciding on a travel planner app that focuses on providing safety and convenience for solo travelers, we jumped into the next phase: user persona research. We were briefed about the importance of getting to know our user personas in order to plot out a good app. 

We started off by drafting out questions about the interests, goals, frustrations, and motivations of solo travellers. We looked into what drives them to travel alone, what kind of experiences they seek, and what safety concerns they have.We wanted to know their pain points and what would make their travels smoother and more enjoyable. With the template provided, here are the questions we prepared. There were initially more questions, but after discussion with the lecturer and the rest of the team, we have cut them down so the survey is more specific, targeted and useful to our research. 

My parts included the pain points/frustrations section as well as the needs and expectation section. I also helped check the rest of the questions for any redundant information and to rephrase confusing parts. We also considered alternative questions for respondents who don't travel solo to answer so their opinions are still valid and relevant to aid our research.

User Persona Research Questions:


After the questions were finalised, we worked together to set up the google form and get it ready to be circulated. Since our app concept is quite complex, we tried to get a larger sample size and gather more responses. Having to do all this in less than a week is crazy, but in the end we did mange to get a total of 20 respondents, which is decent. 

User Persona Research Survey Responses:



This research phase was very eye-opening. We learned that solo travellers value flexibility and spontaneity but also crave reassurance about their safety. They are motivated by a desire for adventure and self-discovery but can be frustrated by the lack of reliable information and resources tailored to their unique needs. Understanding these aspects helped us shape the core features of our app, ensuring it would provide real value to solo travellers. Seeing the problem with a new eye, we started analysing every question and compiled a written analysis of the results. This is extremely important for when we are planning out what features should be included in the app in later phases. 

User Persona Analysis:



From the analysis of our survey results, we identified eight personas that best matched our target market. Each of us took up 2 personas to analyse. Sorting through their responses, we categorized them based on interests, goals, frustrations, motivations, and more. This process was crucial in helping us gain a deeper understanding of our users and the nuances of solo travel. Each persona revealed unique insights that helped us gauge their wants and needs for the app better. This detailed analysis gave us a clearer picture of our users and the broader context of solo travel. It allowed us to tailor our app to address their specific needs and preferences, ensuring it would be both useful and appealing to our target market.

User Persona Research:


With the newfound information from our user persona research, we started to look into the technical requirements and limitations of creating our travel planner app. This involved understanding the feasibility of implementing features such as real-time safety alerts, personalized itineraries, and budgeting planners. We also set up our potential business goals for the app and identified our Unique Selling Points (USP). 

After all that was done, we proceeded to conduct a competitor analysis. This step was essential to understand the existing landscape of travel apps, identify gaps in the market, and ensure our app would offer something distinctive and valuable. The competitor analysis confirmed that our app idea was strong and showed us how we could stand out from the competition. It also gave us useful guidelines for adding features and improving user experience.

With that said, we compiled all of our findings in a slides deck and the provided document. 


Task 2 - UX Requirements


Task 2 Presentation Slides

UX Design Task 2 - Travello by Jiahui Leong

With all things considered, we came up with 8 main features for our app:
  • log-in 
  • itinerary planner
  • budgeting planner
  • translator
  • navigation map
  • community page
  • services 
  • profile page
We planned out the User Journey Flow on Figma. I was in charge of the budgeting and navigation part of the app. 
After consultation, we figured out that we actually did the map wrong, where each box should be a new page and not a new feature. That explanation cleared up a lot for us. after much discussion, we also decided to cut out some of the features such as the translator app and certain functions of the services pages to make our app more streamlined and able to fit into our working timeframe. 

Figma board:


UX User Journey Diagram:

Reflection

Reflecting on our journey from brainstorming to planning our travel planner app, we've learned several key lessons. First, collaboration and open communication are essential, especially when starting with little knowledge. Brainstorming together on Figma helped us transform confusion into a clear idea.

Second, user persona research is SO important. Understanding our users' interests, goals, frustrations, and motivations allowed us to design an app that truly meets their needs. This phase taught us the importance of empathy and user-centric design.

Third, technical feasibility and competitor analysis are vital steps. Knowing what's possible technically and understanding the market landscape helped us refine our app’s unique features and ensured we could offer something different and valuable. We also wouldn't want to design something that another app has already mastered and thriving with it, as it would simply look like a copy and does not provide any motivations for users to switch over to our app. 

Overall, this process highlighted the importance of thorough research, teamwork, and a clear focus on user needs in developing a successful app. I am excited to start actually bringing the app to life. 

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