Group Travel Planning App
G.o. Travel
Eliminate the Stress of planning group trips
%402x.svg)
G.o. Travel
Service:
UI Design
UX Research
UX Research
Timeline:
3 Weeks
Tools:
Figma, Notion
Miro
Miro
B.T.S. GO Travel
Tackling the Chaos of Trip Planning
The process of organizing a group trip became frustrating rather than exciting. Discussions about destinations, budgets, and schedules frequently got lost in endless group chats, leading to decision fatigue and confusion. What should have been a seamless experience turned into a chaotic endeavor. GO Travel was designed to recapture the joy of travel planning.
Challenge
Streamlining Group Travel with G.O. Travel
Planning a group trip should be exciting, yet it often becomes a logistical nightmare filled with scattered communication, budgeting confusion, and coordination challenges. Go Travel is designed to eliminate these stress points by providing an all-in-one platform that empowers individuals, families, and businesses to plan, budget, and execute trips with ease seamlessly.
What G.o. hoped to Achieve
With these goals in mind, GO Travel set out to provide a stress-free, engaging experience that transformed group trip planning from a burden into a seamless, enjoyable process.
- Simplify Communication: Eliminate the chaos of scattered discussions across multiple platforms.
- Enhance Collaboration: Introduce structured decision-making tools that foster group participation.
- Create a Unified Platform: Consolidate itinerary management, expense tracking, and logistics into one cohesive app.
Survey Insights
User Survey
Surveys were conducted with 30 group travelers to understand their needs better. Several key insights emerged that informed the design of our application to address their specific challenges effectively.
70% of participants preferred engaging in group discussions when making decisions. This strong inclination highlights their significant value on collaboration, as they believe that sharing ideas and perspectives leads to more effective outcomes.
The survey revealed that a significant majority—50% of users—had a negative experience planning group trips, with 40% describing it as bad and 10% as very bad. Additionally, 40% were indifferent, leaving only 10% who reported a positive experience.
It was also discovered that group chats and messaging applications have become the preferred method of communication for most people in the planning process. A striking 90% of travelers from the survey report that the majority of their trip planning takes place within a group chat or messaging App.
Unfortunately These platforms can often feel overwhelming due to the excessive clutter and off-topic discussions that tend to dominate conversations. Research indicates that a notable 78% of users express difficulty in maintaining their focus.
Summary
Group chats can be disorganized and cluttered, hindering effective engagement. A centralized platform that consolidates all trip-related information is needed to address this issue. With 70% of participants preferring group discussions for decision-making, in-app collaboration tools, like shared calendars, are essential for enhancing the planning experience. in-app group chats designed specifically for trip-related discussions to keep conversations relevant and engaging would also help keep travelers on track and engaged.
Competitive analysis
Our competitive audit revealed key gaps in existing travel apps that shaped our feature priorities. Competitors like Google Travel and TripAdvisor excel in trip organization and individual planning, but they need more tools for collaboration. Users crave a centralized platform for streamlined communication, collaborative planning, and decision-making.
Trip It
Strengths:
- Expense Tracking feature.
- travel document storage.
- map Integration
- flight status alerts
Weaknesses:
- Limited Integration with Booking
- Complex Interface.
Summary
A centralized platform is essential for organizing travel plans effectively, as demonstrated by TripIt's strengths in features like expense tracking.
Google Travel
Strengths:
- integration with Google Services,
- Comprehensive Trip Organization.
- User-friendly design
Weaknesses:
- Fragmented planning process
- Collaboration is not possible directly within the app.
Summary
A major limitation of Google Travel is the lack of in-app collaboration features, as users must rely on external Google services for group coordination.
Trip Advisor
Strengths:
- User-generated reviews.
- price comparison.
- booking Integration.
Weaknesses:
- Focuses Primarily on Individual Trip Planning
- No Collaborative feature
Summary
A gap in addressing group travel needs was revealed. This insight drove GO to prioritize tools that enable group coordination, collaborative decision-making, and shared itinerary management to cater specifically to group travelers.
Roadtrippers
Strengths:
- Saved trips from other users.
- Group route building.
Weaknesses:
- Limited to road trips.
- The layout is distracting.
Summary
features, like saved trips and group route building, are effective for collaborative trip planning. However, Roadtrippers’ focus on road trips and its distracting layout highlighted opportunities for GO to create a more versatile platform
Competitive Analysis Key Findings
The analysis points towards a strong potential for a travel planning app that focuses on collaborative trip planning, comprehensive integration, and a positive user experience.
- A major weakness across several platforms (Google Travel and TripAdvisor) is the lack of built-in collaboration features. This highlights a significant opportunity for a travel planning app that caters to group travel.
- Complex interfaces (TripIt) and distracting layouts (Roadtrippers) detract from the user experience. A clean, intuitive, and user-friendly design is essential for adoption.
- Several apps offer valuable features that could be incorporated into a new platform such as Roadtrippers (collaborative trip planning).
Market Size and Validation:
The global travel market is enormous, and group travel represents a substantial portion of it.
Growing Trend:
Group travel is increasingly popular, driven by social media trends, the desire for shared experiences, and the convenience of planning together. The global group travel market was valued at approximately 330.16 billion USD in 2023 and is projected to reach 550.0 billion USD by 2032. This indicates a strong compound annual growth rate.
Rise in Post Pandemic travel:
Between January and June 2023, 12 million more group hotel room nights were booked globally than over the same period in 2022, an increase of 18%. This shows a significant rebound in group travel post-pandemic.
User Segments For Group Travel Planning
User Segments For Group Travel PlanningDuring User interviews, it was discovered that G.O. Travel Addressed the unmet needs of various groups and provided a streamlined, user-friendly experience; the app has the potential to become an indispensable tool for group travelers of all types.
Friends' Trips:
Groups of friends planning vacations, weekend getaways, or even road trips can use the app to plan itineraries, share costs, and stay connected during the trip.
Destination Weddings:
Couples planning weddings in exotic locations often require extensive coordination for guests (travel, accommodation, activities) Even local weddings can benefit from a group app for guest communication,
Travel Clubs
Members of travel clubs can use the app to plan group trips, share travel experiences, and connect with other members.
Multi-generational Families
Coordinating travel and accommodations for large, multi-generational families can be challenging. An app can streamline communication, manage shared expenses, and create a central hub for information.
"How might we simplify group trip planning for all to make decisions and save time while reducing stress?"
Collaborative Itinerary Planning
Enable users to build, share, and update itineraries collaboratively, addressing the need for centralized Planning and reducing conflicts within the group.
- Eliminates scattered planning by providing a single platform where all group members can view
- allowing real-time updates and shared access, it minimizes scheduling conflicts
In-App Group Chat
Adding a group chat feature ensures all messages and updates are centralized, solving frustrations with fragmented tools.
- Centralizing all messages and updates within the app
- Facilitates instant discussions and decision-making, keeping everyone in the loop
- Encourages consistent participation by keeping all communication relevant and directly tied to the trip planning process.
Decision-Making Tools
Decision-making tools such as voting systems or polls directly address these pain points by facilitating group consensus.
- Offering a structured way to make decisions.
- Eliminates the confusion and back-and-forth often seen in group discussions, reducing stress
Prototype & User Testing
Testing was important for Indie Box Office to refine its ability to help with quick decision-making, the app should offer a clean, clutter-free design with clear visual cues. This minimizes confusion and enhances the efficiency of the booking process, making it easy to select movies, view seat availability, and make reservations.
User Journey Map
Testing was important for Indie Box Office to refine its ability to help with quick decision-making, the app should offer a clean, clutter-free design with clear visual cues. This minimizes confusion and enhances the efficiency of the booking process, making it easy to select movies, view seat availability, and make reservations.
Flow Chart
The flow chart helped create the most efficient, user-friendly flow between steps, making the app intuitive and reducing unnecessary clicks or actions. Understanding how users would get from movie selection to payment confirmation helped identify important screens and streamline a cohesive path to success.
Wire-Frames
Wireframing was a vital component in the development of the GO Travel App, as it offered a clear and organized visual blueprint of the app's main features specifically designed for group trip planning. This process allowed designers to focus on various essential elements Such as.
- Home Dashboard: A wireframe was created to display the active trip card prominently on the main screen, offering users quick access to the group's itinerary,
- Collaborative trip building Flow: A wireframe mapped out how users would navigate between starting a trip, adding collaborators, picking dates and a collaborative chat.
Calendar Confusion
The calendar confused some users because no actions or plans had been initiated. After reaching the homepage, users needed clarification about what to do next, leading them to spend the most time navigating between the dashboard and trip date selection. Clearer guidance is needed to streamline the user experience.
selecting contacts
Selecting contacts is essential for G.O.'s collaboration features, but users expressed concerns about the ease of scrolling through and selecting contacts. The current method is too slow. Additionally, testing revealed that the date selection indicator needs more visibility, making it difficult for users to identify and select dates easily.
additional features
Some users noted that they would like more than just notifications in the trip dashboard. They expressed a desire for additional features, such as detailed itinerary tracking for a more comprehensive and streamlined trip management experience.
Building a itinerary
A majority of user responses regarding the itinerary function included requests for more detailed information within the calendar tabs. Users felt that the current level of detail needed to be increased and wanted more comprehensive insights, such as specific event times, locations, and additional notes.
Results and Design Solutions
Key Insights
User testing provided valuable insights for enhancing the GO Travel app. Streamlining the contact selection process could speed up interactions, and users want a more visible date selection indicator for better navigation. While the calendar feature received positive feedback, clarity is needed, especially with preset actions. Many users expressed a desire for a comprehensive trip dashboard with itinerary tracking to improve trip planning. Additionally, enhancing calendar tabs with more details about event times, locations, and notes would elevate usability.
Solutions:
- Improve selection mechanisms by adding a search bar.
- Enhance date selection visibility with clearer visual indicators and remove where no action can be taken.
- Prefers Look for a streamlined booking process with minimal steps.
Adding Group Members Faster
A member icon bar has been added to help track individuals who have been added to the group. In addition, a contact selection screen with a search function has been introduced, allowing users to efficiently find and add contacts. This enhancement improves the overall management of group collaborations.
Starting the journey easy
The calendar was removed due to a lack of action or planning, and the "New Trip" button has been made the primary action. This change streamlines the user experience by focusing on initiating new trips directly, simplifying the process for users.
An easy Itinerary
Users requested more information on the calendar tabs, so location, time, and a reiteration of the day have been added. These updates provide greater clarity and detail, enhancing the usability of the calendar for managing events and plans.
Conclusion:
Overall, users praised the app for its clean and user-friendly interface, finding it easy to navigate. Users appreciated the app's ability to centralize trip planning efforts, eliminating the need for multiple platforms; however, there were some suggestions for improvements to enhance the user experience.
Review:
The GO Travel project highlighted the importance of user-centered design and iterative improvements. Intensive user research revealed the need for streamlined communication and collaboration tools to address pain points in group trip planning. This project reinforced the significance of engaging users early and throughout the design process, which proved essential for creating an intuitive and efficient app experience.
