Broke
Designing Accessible Travel for Young Adults. Led the end-to-end design of a travel budgeting app, from research and branding to high-fidelity prototyping
Team
Johanna Lee - Design Lead
Mizuho Li - Team Lead
Amabel Bernabe - Marketing Lead
Nagib Afani - Product Lead
Heinrich Lau - Technology Lead
DELIVERABLES
Product Interactive Prototype
Year
Summer 2023
Role
Product Design Lead
I Introductions
Introduction
During my study abroad program, I participated in the European Innovation Academy(EIA) - a three week startup program in Porto, Portugal, where students from diverse backgrounds collaborate in multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative product ideas.
On the first day of EIA, I teamed up with 4 other passionate travelers to identify and solve problems under "travel accessibility".
Problem Space
While travel is widely desired, financial constraints are the primary barrier for young adults, particularly those from middle to low-income families who deserve these enriching experiences.
How might we make traveling more accessible to middle to low-income young adults?
II Research
Need Assessment
A need assessment, involving 200+ surveys and 17 interviews, revealed young adults' travel accessibility challenges: financial constraints, budgeting knowledge gaps, and limited resource access.
User Insights
Travel Budgeting:
Users struggle to create budgets that align with their specific financial situation and travel goals.Lack of Motivation:
Users often lose track of their spending and saving in real-time, discouraging them from travelingBurden of Currency Exchange:
Users face financial burdens and security concerns when making transactions abroad.
Ideation
We recognized a common aspiration among individuals to explore their dream destinations. The primary insight stemmed from the understanding of financial barriers, particularly for middle to low-income young adults. Target user interviews sparked the idea for a travel budgeting app.
Market Research
My team moved forward to conducting market research, analyzing both budgeting tools and travel booking sites.
Market Opportunity: Existing travel platforms lack integrated budgeting, requiring users to juggle multiple apps, creating an opportunity for a unified solution.
Generic Budgeting Limitations: Current budgeting tools don't cater to travel specifics (currency, travel categories), leaving a gap for tailored expense management.
Travel Context & Insights: Users require budgeting tools that understand travel's unique financial challenges, offering relevant insights and proactive budget management.
Social Budgeting Potential: Integrating social budgeting features for group travel can enhance user experience and address shared expense management.
Mobile & Offline Focus: A mobile-first approach with offline functionality is crucial for on-the-go travel budget management.
Our research highlighted an opportunity for a travel budgeting app.
III Design
Broke
Through the ideation phase, we developed a mobile application designed to address user challenges and improve travel accessibility.
a travel budgeting mobile app that allows users to track expenses, manage transactions, and plan itineraries.
Brand Design System
Drawing inspiration from EIA’s color scheme, I developed a brand design system featuring a vibrant palette of yellow and green paired with deeper blue and purple tones.
User flow & Wireframing
The team came together to brainstorm and sketch out the structure of our budgeting tool, targeting each pain point at a time.
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High-fidelity Prototyping
After iterating through multiple rounds of low-fidelity wireframes and conducting 23 user experience interviews, I crafted a high-fidelity wireframe prototype with design changes.
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Based on user feedback, we introduced a questionnaire to set trip-specific preferences, as travel preferences depend on location and travel group. | We added a friend management feature to facilitate group trip planning and expense sharing, as users expressed strong interest in group travel. |
This prototype was presented to potential investors and program instructors/mentors during the final day of EIA program.
IV Reflection
First End to End Product Design
Embarking on this project marked a significant learning curve for me. It was my first opportunity to independently navigate the entire product design process, from problem space need finding to brand identity development to high fidelity prototyping.
Leveraging Design and CS:
I discovered that my background in computer science not only provided a strong foundation but also facilitated effective communication within a cross-functional team. I found myself articulating ideas in different languages tailored to different teammates. This project sparked my interest in a career path in product design.
