Justin Tran - Planly

Planly is a design-thinking project focused on user experience (UX), revolving around a travel planning application sponsored by Akasa Air, a startup airline. In this study, I outline the process of conducting user research, analyzing insights, evaluating competitors, and creating user flows, wireframes, and prototypes.

Year Created: 2023

Format: UX/UI, Screen

Typeface: Noto Sans

User
Research

Project Background:

Akasa Air understood that the needs for travel had been tremendously increased. They wanted to promote their affordable flights with a highly accessible, user friendly planning app gearing towards the growing population of the elderly.

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Project Goal:

To understand the pain points of how elderly people plan to travel post-pandemic and learn about their engagement with online planning applications.

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Proto-Persona:

Initially, my assumption of the target audience was the following descriptions:

Interview Process:

I conducted 5 interviews, firstly by recruiting eligible participants, then ask for their availability, and finally had a one-on-one conversation with each of the participants. Each interview averaged around 20 minutes.

The full interviewing schedule was as follows:

- Recruiting period: 12/6/2022 - 12/10/2022
- Interviewing period: 12/11/2022 - 12/13/2022
- Results: 12/14/2022

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Targeted Participants:

Participants were mainly the elderly group, age 60 and above, all genders, races, sexual orientations and religions. We wanted to be inclusive for all elderly people.

Participants who seemed more unhappy or unwilling to plan the trips were better subjects as we want to learn from their insights on why they feel that way.

They must have been able to afford traveling, as it would not have been realistic data if they didn't have the financial requirement to book flights.

Finally, Participants must have met the minimum ability to travel, accessibility assistance included. If they were not physically or mentally able to travel even with extra assistance, then the data would be irrelevant as they could not travel to begin with.

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Notes:

All of them were very comfortable with technology and the Internet. They said they didn’t need a planning app, but all were interested in what it can do. Most of them agreed that accessibility is important, but no one seemed to need it during their travel. They were generic with what they wanted in a desired feature, but when I suggested a few ideas, such as deals finder, location enabler, and virtual helps, they seemed to like them a lot.

User Persona:

From the user research data gathered, I analyzed and revisited the proto-persona earlier to deliver the following description:

User Insight Statement:

Barney Turner needs to find a way to know more information about his flight because knowing ahead gives him comfort for his trip. Based on the user research data, the majority of older users wants to be informed about accessibility support and COVID-19 information as comfort necessity prior to their trips. From there, health safety features on a planning app can be helpful to older people if they can give them relevant COVID-19 situation, accessible traveling information, and tips on how to prepare for these criteria.

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Problem Statement:

It is difficult and sometimes costly for older people to learn about COVID-19 and accessibility support while planning their trip. Not only are these information relevant in today's state of traveling, but they are also educational and impactful for the overall health of the users.

Definition
& Ideation

Feedback & Iteration:

After sending my initial drafts to my colleagues, I gathered their feedbacks and adjusted my work accordingly:

Brainstorming & Feature Prioritization Matrix:

I jumped into the idea-making process by using the "I like, I wish, What if..." format. I also placed red dots on certain ideas to indicate the favorites.

Competitors
Analysis

I conducted a few researches to understand and learn from other apps that may be the direct or indirect competitors for Planly. The three main competitors were: TripIt, TripAdvisor, and Note (app on the phone)