top of page
UX
Case Study
Post-Pandemic
Travel App
A travel app that helps people optimize their plans when traveling post-pandemic, stay safe and take back control over their travels.
The problem we wanted to solve
Tutis is designed to help busy travelers optimize their travel plans post-pandemic and feel safe and excited again to travel.
We have observed that travelers are either not motivated to travel post-pandemic or when planning their travels get overwhelmed due to the many travel regulations and their impact on trip time and budget.
How might we reduce their stress, help them have more control over their travels, and make the most out of their limited vacation time?
The Solution
Tutis is a travel app designed around the new needs, goals and pain points that emerged from Covid-19 pandemic.
Enabling travelers to:
-
Filter destination by population vaccination rate, vaccination requirements, PCR tests, quarantine days to choose so they plan their time and budget properly
-
Seeing reviews from other travelers who have visited those cities post-pandemic and able to provide them with real experiences to make an informed and safe decision.
Research
Design Process
We used the design thinking methodology that is a solution-based approach to solving complex problems. It starts by empathizing with the user, defining the problem, creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, then prototyping and testing, finally analyzing the feedback to iterate on the solution and design.
User Research
Research Plan
Coduct User Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Define & Ideate
User Insights
Problem Statement
Value Proposition
Storyboard, User
Scenario, Journey Map
Prototype
Userflow
Wireframes
Interactive Prototype
Testing
Testing Plan
Conduct Usability Testing
Testing Analysis
Iterate Prototype
My Role
Discover
Worked with the team to define research plan and interview questions.
Also, conducted 3 user interviews
Define
Worked as part of a team on affinity map, empathy map, user persona. Individually was responsible for user scenario and journey map
Develop
I was responsible for creating user flows and then designing wireframes.
Deliver
I handled usability testing activities from planning, interviewing to analysis. Then iterating and designing hi-fidelity prototype
01
User Research
To understand travelers' behavioral patterns and attitudes towards traveling post-pandemic, so we can develop a mobile app that can solve their pain points and address their needs when planning their travels.
What do people think about travelling post-pandemic?
How are people planning their travels post-pandemic?
Research Questions
What are the major changes in their traveling mindset post-pandemic?
What role do digital tools play in their travel plans?
Who are our competitors?
User Interviews
We conducted remote interviews with 5 participants.
The ideal interviewees are people who enjoy traveling and regularly use digital tools. These participants will provide insights into how the pandemic affects their travel attitudes and the digital tools’ critical features used in the planning stage.
1
Can you walk me through the process of planning your travel before the pandemic?
2
What is the hardest part about planning your trips?
3
What is the most exciting part about planning your trips?
4
5
How do you feel about traveling post-pandemic?
What are your priorities for your travels post-pandemic?
Quotes
“The expense of these PCR tests, regardless of whether you're vaccinated or not, added additional expense, which we didn't know at the time when we booked the trip.”
“I would like to travel, but now still feel unsafe”
Competitive Analysis
It helped in the understanding of the existing market and identifying good and bad practices. Two applications were direct competitors and one application was an indirect competitor.
One-stop travel site for vacation booking and planning. It includes car rental, flight and hotel booking.
Travelers could compare prices, find deals, book flights, with hidden fares and travel hacks.
Helps travelers organize their travel plans, and forward their travel confirmation emails
-
Grouping Covid-19 flight-related information such us (travel restrictions, quarantine, documents required, etc..
-
Provide access to Covid related documents that need to be filled before traveling.
Strength
.png){kind=small}
-
Busy Design.
-
Covid information is provided as an external advisory.
-
Too many screens for one user path.
Weakness
.png)
-
Provide top filters for easy and quick filtering.
-
Show flight prices directly on the calendar when choosing the flight date.
-
Highlight Covid travel restrictions area by giving it center place and in a different color.
-
Covid information is not directly accessible.
-
The app redirects users to the website to complete registration.
-
Extra step for adding a password.
-
Customized Covid info according to departure and arrival destinations.
-
Provide risk alerts (health, physical harm, theft, etc...)
-
Good use of icons and hierarchy for quick skimming over COVID related information.
-
Covid information is not directly accessible.
-
The app redirects users to the website to complete registration.
-
Extra step for adding a password.
02
Define & Ideate
From our research, it became clearer that people’s attitudes and feeling towards traveling have changed, uncertainty and hesitancy was a recurring theme, while interviewees that have traveled post-pandemic are even more hesitant due to the many unknown factors that they were not aware of.
.jpg)
Affinity Map
Needs & Wants
Ask people who have travelled post-pandemic about their experience
Needs recommendations for traveling post- pandemic
Needs to be informed and reassured before traveling again
Values strict cleaning policies
In planning I enjoy seeing pictures of places and restaurants that I will visit
Pain Points
Long quarantine times make travel difficult
Travel restrictions make it hard to travel
Have safety concerns for post-pandemic travels
The problem with connected flights is the additional Covid testing and waiting time -lineups-
Finding discrepancies between reviews and my experience is a negative thing
Ideate
User Persona
Kristin Planner
Age:
35
Education:
Bachelor’s in Business
Status:
Single
Occupation:
Recruiting Manager
Location:
Toronto
Bio
She currently lives in Toronto, has finished her bachelor’s in business and has been working for the last ten years as a recruiting manager.
Every morning she enjoys a quick jog and then a healthy breakfast. In her spare time, she loves to read and journal. She enjoys dinner and drinks with friends and family.
Brands
I usually love to travel with my friends and family, but I feel uncertain about traveling internationally anymore.​
Personality
Extrovert
Loyal
Organized
Pain Points
-
Feels uncertain and uninformed when it comes to traveling post-covid.
-
The new traveling procedures resulting from the pandemic make it difficult for her to take full advantage of her limited vacation time.
Core Needs
-
Needs to read about other post-pandemic travelers’ experiences.
-
Travel with pets, families, and friends with affordable and COVID-safe accommodation.
-
Wants to plan her travel and itinerary, but needs flexibility.
User Journey Map
Decision
Research
Post-pandemic Travel
Ready to Travel
1) Kristin decides to go on vacation with friends for the first time after the pandemic
3) She starts researching post-pandemic travel and gets overwhelmed
6) She searches for destinations with no quarantine, high vaccination rate and 5 star rating from travelers
8) She starts reading travelers experiences traveling post-pandemic to those two destinations
2) She feels hesitant and uncertain since she hasn’t traveled post-pandemic yet and doesn’t know about the new travel regulations
4) She finds an app called TUTIS. She feels curious and downloads the app
5) She downloads the app and starts exploring
7) The app shows two destinations that match her search
9) After reading real travelers stories she feels safe and excited to choose one of those destinations
03
Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. It not only helped me reflect on what I know but helped me as well reveal what I do not know regarding the user interaction with the product. The prototype is composed of the onboarding experience, Covid filtering feature, in addition to booking flight, accommodation and experience.
The mid-fidelity prototype was used in the User testing phase to validate and explore my understanding of both the problem and solution.
Prototyping
-v2.jpg)
User Flows
Prototype
-v2.jpg)
04
User Testing
Identify any usability problems, collect qualitative and quantitative data and determine the participant's satisfaction with the product.
Goal
During this testing, I wanted to validate whether we have solved the user's challenges and concerns, and if the app's search functionality was easy and intuitive.
Tasks
-
Find a destination that requires no quarantine for fully vaccinated people.
-
Book a flight for 1 passenger to Madrid from 12- 17 Nov
-
Book an experience at the same flight city
Search using Covid-19
related filters
Travelers can search for destinations that meet their specific Covid-19 related criteria, such as maximum quarantine days, If PCR test are required to enter destinations, current vaccination rate, and whether vaccination proof is required upon entry.
Use Covid-19 Travel Filters
Browse Filtered Destinations
-v2.jpg)
View City’s Covid-19
Related Information
Read other travelers
post pandemic travel experience
at the selected destination,
and send them your questions
If the destination fits
your requirements, then it’s time to explore flights, stays
or experiences
.png)
UI Screens
.png)
Test
UI Design
Reflections
Mistakes are your golden currency
During this process, I have learned to become friends with mistakes. In the Design Thinking method, mistakes are celebrated, they are treated as insights and not as a roadblocks.
Assumptions, the good, the bad and the ugly
Although assumptions were important at times, when me and the other designer needed to move forward and had little information. But later on during the design process, the bad kind of assumptions -that can be validated by data- snuck into my process. When that happened I went back to the affinity map and user persona.
Understand the problem
Working on this project, highlighted the value of spending time understanding the problem. The more we spend defining the problem and its root cause, the easier it was to design the solution.
Reflections
Future Opportunities
More testing and design iterations
Time was a constraint, we had only 4 weeks to finish the project, so we were not able to do another round of testing for the high-fidelity prototype. If we had more time I would've liked to get feedback on the fixes, the UI, and interactions. Also, I would define clear KPIs to assess success, such as task time, usability rate, how likely are travelers to use this app compared to other legacy apps.
Social Features
In the future, we will explore the chat with locals feature that didn’t make the scope due to prioritization, and explore more social and community-building features that can support travelers before and during their post-pandemic trips.
bottom of page