September 2023

Solo Project

DIMEDASHER DESTINATIONS

How might DimeDasher Destinations help users travel on a budget?

Research

Proto Persona

Timeline: 2 weeks

Travel app homepage on a smartphone showing options for trips, budget, and favorites, with a search bar and images of American cities.

“Getting everyone’s budget and making sure it’s aligned [is the most difficult part of planning a vacation].” Kristen, 34

Survey Data

Ideation

My Role: UX Researcher, UI Designer

Your favorite budget friendly travel app

Interview Plan

I created an interview plan with 38 questions to ask potential users. For this project, I found users while working in various local coffee shops. I sat a sign by my laptop asking to speak to those who enjoy traveling and interviewed five travel lovers who would be interested in planning a budget friendly vacation.

“How important is it for you to stay within a budget?”

“Which features would you like to see in your ideal travel app?”

Pie chart showing responses to who people travel with when they do not travel solo, with 33.3% indicating friends and 66.7% indicating family.

Affinity Diagram

“What are your general goals when traveling?”

Bar chart showing how many times respondents travel per year. 1 time: 6 responses, 2 times: 13 responses, 3 or more times: 27 responses.

Value Proposition

Tools: Figma, Miro, Google Slides

User Journey Map

Group of hikers walking on rocky terrain in a desert landscape during sunset

A colorful infographic with sections titled Demographics, Says, Thinks, Goals, Pain Point, Does, Feels, and a central photo of a young woman with curly hair and glasses. The Demographics section indicates travel enthusiasts aged 23-45. The Says sections include statements about travel affordability and meal timing. The Thinks section mentions continuing travel despite expenses. Goals focus on finding good deals, local favorites, and interest. Pain point highlights money and time. The Does section notes traveling at least three times a year, liking travel with friends, creating itineraries, researching deals, and organizing. The Feels section includes overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted, excited, frustrated. The central image depicts Olivia, a girl with curly hair wearing a light-colored shirt, standing outdoors in front of a fence and plants.

User Persona

Definition & Ideation

User Insight

Due to the rising cost of goods and services, travelers are seeking efficient and cost effective trip planning solutions. This is because travelers want to aim to avoid overspending, which can cause financial strain as a result from the planning, execution, and aftermath of a trip.

Problem Statement

Due to the rising cost of living, Olivia is seeking efficient and cost effective trip planning solutions as a way to avoid overspending and financial strain related to a trip. How might DimeDasher Destinations aid Olivia in traveling on a budget with friends?

Collection of colorful sticky notes and black text blocks on a white background, including phrases about travel preferences, research, planning, and viewing options.

Idea Cluster

Color-coded sticky notes on travel planning, goals, and budgeting, with categories like travel goals, planning process, app goals, flights and accommodations, and budgeting.

Dot Voting

Survey Responses

Colorful sticky notes organized into categories related to travel goals, planning process, app goals, flights and accommodations, and budgeting.

Feature Prioritization Matrix

A quadrant chart with four sections labeled 'DO IT NOW,' 'DO IT NEXT,' 'DO IT IF/WHEN THERE'S TIME,' and 'DON'T DO IT,' featuring colored sticky notes with various notes about travel planning and activity organization.

My app, DimeDasher Destinations, is a new collaborative and interactive travel app focused on developing ways to help travelers affordably and effectively plan their next trip with ease and organization.

DimeDasher Destinations is better because my app makes planning your next trip easy, affordable, and fun from start to finish.

We’re believable because DimeDasher Destinations makes planning your next trip affordable, efficient and fun for travelers of all budgets.

Table with sections on journey steps, feelings, thoughts, and internal ownership related to trip planning app, featuring grayscale illustrations of women working at desks and a woman standing with a bag.

Prototyping

User Flow

Competitor Analysis

Hi-Fi Prototype

Mobile app screen showing travel destinations with the title 'DimeDasher Destinations' and the tagline 'Travel Affordably'. A blue 'Continue' button is at the bottom. The background includes a world map, airplane model, train ticket, and passport.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Pie chart showing responses to how many people do you typically travel with, with segments labeled Solo, With one other person, and Group (3+), and corresponding percentages of 15.6%, 46.7%, and 37.8%.

Bar chart showing age distribution of 45 responses, with the majority aged 30-39, followed by 18-29 and 60+ age groups.

Bar chart showing responses to the question: Do you prefer to plan your activities in advance or go with the flow? The largest group, 84.4%, try to balance planning and spontaneity. 13.3% prefer to plan as much as possible, and 8.9% tend to go with the flow.

A collection of colorful sticky notes arranged in clusters on a white background, detailing travel preferences, plans, goals, and budget considerations. The notes are in yellow, orange, pink, and purple, with handwritten text about travel habits, destinations, budgeting, and travel frequency.

Empathy Map

Flowchart divided into three sections: onboarding process on the left with pink background, user dashboard in the middle with gray background, and hamburger menu on the right with purple background.

Comparison chart for three travel booking apps: KAYAK, Troupe, and Wanderlog, displaying features like free access, guest view, collaborative tools, price sorting, price comparison, itinerary capability, budget ability, offers/packages, date options, expense split options, and user guides.

Wireframe Sketches

A series of handwritten notes and sketches on lined paper related to planning a trip, including steps such as selecting destinations, signing up for the trip, estimating costs, and setting a budget.

Lo-Fi Prototype

Screenshots of a mobile app interface for Dime Dasher Destinations trip planning. The app has steps for signing up with email, choosing trip details, selecting trip dates, and confirming trip dates. The screens show options to enter email, date of birth, password, and confirm password, with buttons for creating an account and signing up with Facebook or Google. The interface allows selecting destination, arrival, and departure dates with dropdown menus, and adding friends. Navigation icons at the bottom include back, home, and forward buttons.

Screenshots of a travel budgeting app showing sections for total budget, budget overview, cost estimation, and trip summary for Ireland from January 1, 2024, to August 1, 2024. Includes dropdown menus and buttons for navigation.

A smartphone screen displaying a travel app with a background image of stacked suitcases. The app is titled 'My Trips,' showing an upcoming trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands, scheduled from January 25 to February 12. The trip details section includes a photo of traditional Dutch houses along a canal.

Mobile app menu screen with options listed: Home, Budget Blog, Personal Budget, My Trips, My Favorites, Account, Accessibility, and Log Out.

Screenshot of a mobile budget blog app showing a hand holding a calculator, with blog articles on travel budgeting, and a bottom navigation menu including Home, Blog, Budget, Trips, and Account.

Mobile app menu screen with options: Home, Budget Blog, Personal Budget, My Trips, My Favorites, Account, Accessibility, and Log Out.

Being that this was my first project as a UX/UI student, I thought it went very well. I am proud of the way that the overall project turned out. This was a great learning experience as someone who is a first time designer.

Given more time, I would love to continue to iterate upon my design. For example, creating a curated feed based on your travel interests that were selected in the account portion of the app. I would also like to test out the hi fi prototype to gain more insight into things that can be added, removed, or improved upon for a final iteration.