Travel app for nerds
Overview
When Geeks Travel is an app that showcases the physical location of various fandoms like where Star Wars was filmed or the inspiration for a Harry Potter location from the book or film.
My Task: Create an app that embodies geek culture and locations while allowing the geek community to contribute to the findings.
Personas
Akua Harris -
Cosplay & Comic Book Guru
Interest & Values:
Akua values her work & her hobby equally. She loves to travel monthly. Having seen every comic book movie, owner of Marvel Comics app subscription & attended many conventions nationwide, she's the ultimate fan.
Technology:
Along with being crafty & artsy, Akua is versed in flight tracking, Apple products, & booking hotels with amazing deals.
Goals:
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Wants to know all the geeky locations
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Wants to feel closely connected with each geeky audience or fandom
Desires:
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Wants to travel to destinations because it's connected to comic books
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To expand her travel lifestyle
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Get deeper & learn more about various fandoms
Pain Points:
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Limited amount of time to plan a geeky trip due to the stress of her job & hobby
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Wants to quickly plan the agenda without having to visit a bunch of different websites
Matt Lando -
Accountant & Husband
Interest & Values:
Matt loves his job & spending time with his family. He loves exploring hobbies as well as new experiences with his family. But he & his family don't always share the same interests. He's seen the movies, never read the books, and hasn't finished Game of Thrones
Technology:
While he's great with Microsoft products and apps like Uber — he doesn't spend a lot of time using his phone outside of phone calls & emails.
Goals:
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To travel & create new experiences
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To fill each trip with wonder, memory, & activity for everyone
Desires:
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To be a good father & husband
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To make memorable moments
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Provide for the family
Pain Points:
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Visiting a geek landmark is more for him but he has to turn it into a family activity so it's less of a priority
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Between tending to his 3 kids & working he doesn't have time to dedicate time to looking up geek landmarks
Strategy
The purpose of this app is to help geeky travelers find things to do that pertain to their interest within minutes. Knowing that travel is already stressful enough our goal is to seamlessly integrate their fandom into their travel plans.
Ideation
With the pain points and design requirements in mind, I started to think of potential flows of the app. After careful consideration about the tools travelers use, the need to have information condensed, this seemed to best flow for the app.
Information Architecture
I drew inspiration from traveling apps that tell users what is close by. Once I created the information architecture to help with quick searches I started the paper prototype. The paper prototype is based on interviews and usability tests to make the app as efficient as possible.
Based on the Information Architecture the paper prototype was created to test usability and weed out the unnecessary or confusing parts. This is conducted by requiring users to execute a list of instructions with little to no help. Using the feedback I was allowed to create a Wireframe.
After several critiques on the wireframe, I moved on to creating a high-fidelity mockup of the app. The motivation for the design is to pop. It’s fashioned after a passport.
The passport cover is the first image. The colors are to replicate the color of a passport. The design won’t overshadow the functionality and purpose of the app.
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Create Login – A place to sign up to keep track of bookmarked places
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Profile – A view of your new profile in full effect
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Guides – A place for users to view all the geeky locations organized by country.
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Feed– A place where users can see where other people are going, have been and what they thought about the experience
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Suggest – A place for users to suggest new geek locations to share with others using the app
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Search – A place to search for locations based on fandom
Adding a place where users can see other places people have visited came a bit later in the design. It’s for the undecided who use visuals and testimonials to make decisions.
Running through this design via a market research group allowed for flaws to be exposed and improvements to be made. The visuals and color choices improved, making it feel more personal.
Reflection:
I realized that this project could get complicated quickly if the information isn’t organized correctly. For example, allowing people to search for it instead of suggesting ideas and having a search option. Within the design process, I learned that I shouldn’t get caught up in the aesthetic details during the ideation and prototype phase. A few more tests and interviews from people could have saved me from designing a few screens without an immediate way to get back to the menu.