Lakbay (lak·báy) is a collaborative travel planning app that allows do-it-yourself travelers to collaborate on their trip plans real-time and set a budget for their trip.

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Overview

Background

This was a hypothetical project for General Assembly UX Design: come up with your own UX design challenge. I started with something I care about — traveling. I did my research to see which problem I can solve and came up with a travel planning app that doesn't exist yet in my choice of market and demographic.

My Role

I served the role of Product Designer and UI/UX Designer. I was the sole designer and worked on all tasks of the project individually: project/product management, research, synthesis, sketching, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, and iterations.

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Problem

Filipino travelers need a better way to streamline collaborative planning and computes rough estimation of travel expenses because it’s challenging to plan an itinerary with companions who have different wants, needs, and budget.

Solution

The need for a travel planning tool with a budgeting feature was identified to improve the overall planning for travelers who have different wants and needs, and help them be well-prepared by bringing enough budget during their travels.

Process

1. Research & Analysis

2. Concept & Ideation

3. Testing & Iteration

4. Visual Design

Research & Analysis

Research methods: Secondary Research, User Interviews

Analysis tools: Affinity Mapping, User Personas

Through secondary research and 5 user interviews, I found out that Filipino travelers were generally satisfied with how they plan their trips with the tools at their disposal (web-based word processors) because they already get so used with it. They also have never tried any travel planning tools before.

There was a resounding pattern of what users wanted to see in their travel planning experience. Through affinity mapping, main ideas collected were organized and found that users were looking for better ways to plan and agree with their trip mates who have different needs, and allocate enough budget for their trips.

Concept & Ideation

Competitive & Comparative analysis methods: Plus/delta, Task Analysis, Feature Inventory

Ideation tools: User Flows, Card Sort, Sitemap

To assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of existing travel planning apps and possible competitors, I conducted competitive and comparative analysis.

Enlarge and view competitive & comparative analysis

Most competitors solely focus on providing guides and only two competitors has a budget feature. The biggest pattern was that almost all tools were not that inclusive when it comes to off-the-beaten-path locations, only shows the popular tourist destinations, and don’t have options to input a location that doesn’t appear in their system.

I decided on one MVP to test and iterate. I focused on how a user would interact and navigate through the app in order to map out her upcoming travel plans.

Testing & Iteration

UX tools: Prototyping, Usability Test

Due to the fact that this travel planning app will be the first local one to be introduced in the Philippine market, I want to make sure that this product is intuitive and functional. The faster the ideas can be tested in the real world, the faster it would be to discover what works and what doesn’t — so I first started sketching our low-fidelity designs, then created the mid-fidelity versions and tested it twice with 5 usability testers for each test.

Visual Design

Method: Art Direction, Brand Identity System

Design tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator

Our usability tests and iterations led us to a high fidelity prototype.

First, I came up with a moodboard to get the look & feel that can encapsulate the concept of traveling while still sticking to Filipino colors to signify that it is an app made by Filipinos for Filipinos first. Then, I created a brand identity system for the app. I went for the term “lakbay” which means travel or journey in Tagalog.

View clickable Figma prototype

Outcome & Reflection

Filipino travelers are now going to be able to plan their trips collaboratively and compute their travel expenses, which meets the need of the user (agree on final itinerary with their companions and be prepared financially for their travels).

In future iterations, Lakbay should implement tips upon signing up to guide early adopters and add a messaging feature so companions can chat in the same platform in order to encourage casual and genuine conversations while deciding on final travel plans.