Navi Place is a mobile application that helps people find the top tourist destinations while traveling around the world.
My role
UX/UI designer
Tools used
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Scope
Sep. 2022 – proceed
What I did
Competitive Analysis, User Research, Information Architecture, Mobile design, User Journeys & Flow, Card Sort, Sitemap, Usability Study, Product Design
The challenge
I set out to develop a mobile app to help people find and visit top travel destinations around the world.
The Background
The tourism industry, also known as the travel industry, is linked to the idea of people travelling to other locations, either domestically or internationally, for leisure, social or business purposes. It is closely connected to the hotel industry, the hospitality industry and the transport industry, and much of it is based around keeping tourists happy, occupied and equipped with the things they need during their time away from home.
The Industry
The travel and tourism industry continues to be one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with global international arrivals in 2022 set to remain 30% below 2019 levels. Differing levels of border control and variations in vaccine passports will continue to drive tourism trends and make international travel difficult, and companies will come under increased scrutiny to minimise their contributions to climate change.
Free to download, this hospitality and tourism report provides exclusive insight into EIU’s key travel forecasts in 2022. We also examine the challenges facing the travel and tourism sector and the trends to watch for next year. Read our 2022 tourism insights and contact The EIU today.
When working on Navi Place, I have adopted the Double Diamond Strategy which breaks the design process into four stages: Discover, Define, Deliver & Develop. I found this process particularly powerful in validating design decisions, allowing enough space for creative exploration while giving a focus point to come back to.
I conducted a competitive analysis of navigation apps with a focus on UX analysis: to evaluate their navigation, layout and overall usability. This helped me understand what Navi Place had to deliver to differentiate itself from the competition.
Here’s a list of competitors:
HERE WeGo, NaviMaps, MapFactor Navigation and Atlas Navi.
I also did a detailed SWOT analysis of the competition and found their strengths and weaknesses, which greatly helped build Navi Place’s competitive advantages.
It was time to see what touring enthusiasts thought about the competitors. Equipped with the preliminary research discoveries, I conducted 3 user interviews with people who have different levels of experience with navigation apps. My research goals were:
1. To understand the general attitudes and processes.
2. To uncover what (common) difficulties people might face.
3. To discover if they use any apps or websites to help them achieve their goals.
After the Research phase, I reexamined my assumptions based on the insights from the User Interviews. It was clear that:
• People are looking for a reliable navigation app.
• They want the app to be easy and simple to use.
• They want to quickly find the desired destination without wasting unnecessary time.
I revised my hypothesis problem statement to align better with the users’ needs and goals.
Navigation apps’ users need to find the right app for their needs. They expect to get easy access and a simple interface, fast navigation, reliability in the information provided and this to help them achieve their goal.
Informed by each persona’s experience, attitudes & goals, I have created User Journey Maps to outline the processes needed to achieve their individual goals within Navi Place app. This allowed me to focus on possible critical pain points and plan how to address them in the following design decisions.
I set out to map out their User flows. This step helped me keep the design user-centered, by showing me what pages or screens of the app will be needed from the perspective of my user personas.
Before starting to work on initial sketches of each feature, I visualized the Information Architecture of the app into a sitemap, based on the user flows. The first version of the sitemap was tested through an Open Card Sort.
Ones the Sitemap information architecture was decided, I began sketching paper wireframes progressing them.
Focusing on navigation and main features, I designed clickable prototypes for Mobile versions of the responsive web app. It was tested in a usability study, conducted remotely with 2 users. The issues, discovered in the usability test were addressed and fixed.
“I think it would be better if the following functions are added to the home menu: to home, restaurant, hotel and groceries. I have used them in other applications.” – David
“I want to be able to share the current location with other people.” – Galin
Navi Place app has a stylish and practical design that aims to help people use it easily and affordably.
I used the Style Guide as a starting point and developed a more detailed Design Language document. It’s purpose is to ensure consistency and communicate the language of Navi Place app to designers and developers.
When I started working on this project, my goal was to create an app that would help people search for and visit top tourist destinations in the world. The main goal was good menu navigation, clean look, easy access and modern design. I believe Navi Place app has achieved the goals as it has its own distinctive style and branding but also offers an easy user journey for customers and their experiences.