Kickoff
I had decided that I wanted the demographic for this website to be users between the ages 18-30 and that the travel service would be budget-friendly. I then moved on to conducting a research study to understand user pain points and needs for this product.
What features do users find most valuable in a travel website?
What do users find most frustrating when booking a holiday online?
Following on from this, I decided to do a secondary research study that would inform the content of the website. I wanted to further understand why users travel and where they would most want to go.
Name: Jennifer
Age: 27
Occupation: Personal Trainer
Name: Aaron
Age: 21
Occupation: IT Student
Competitive Analysis
I looked at several potential competing companies, and although none compete directly with IKIGAI, they can still infringe on the business' revenue and popularity. IKIGAI has the opportunity to capitalise on this by providing a menu that focuses on creating clear navigation and providing all the necessary information via the app so that the customer does not need to speak to a human at any point in the process.
The majority of the features between competitors were very similar, however the main differences that I noticed were:
Aaron is a 23 year old Software Engineering student studying at Edinburgh University. Aaron is dyslexic and finds it difficult to process information quickly. Aaron benefits from screen reading technology as he finds it easier to listen in his own time than to read. When Aaron goes out to eat with friends, he is always the last to order and is left overwhelmed by fast-speaking waiters. Aaron tends to avoid ordering on lunch breaks as he has limited time and the process of ordering always takes him too long. Aaron would benefit from a preorder system. Aaron appreciates being able to order separate to his friends through a food menu app but finds that many do not provide screen reader technologies. As Aaron finds it difficult to process information quickly, he would benefit from being able to see clear and accurate images of each menu item, as well as easy navigation and descriptive labels.
Jennifer is a 34 year old personal trainer from London. She is married and has two young children. Jennifer enjoys going for food with her family but finds it frustrating to ask for accurate nutritional information. As a PT the food she consumes is pivotal to her training, and so maintaining her diet when eating out is a must. Her youngest child suffers from a mild peanut allergy; it is vital that Jennifer receives accurate nutritional information to keep her child safe. Jennifer has a busy schedule, so when spending time with family, she tries to be as present as possible. Being able to choose from a favourites tab, would help Jennifer to feel more assured about menu options and provide more time to engage with her loved ones.
Preparing the Journey
I constructed a user flow of what a basic start to finish journey looks like while ordering a food item from the app. This helped me understand ways users interact with the product, as well as to see navigation through user goals.
Iteration
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CHALLENGE 2
A Familiar Experience
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CHALLENGE 3
Staying Focused
The UI consists of a neutral, two-toned black and white colour scheme with the exception of green signifiers. Using colour sparingly throughout the application's interface, allows for the menu items to be the main focus point during user engagement.
CHALLENGE 4
Quick, Simple and Secure
With the payment method and shipping specifics being accessible within a single screen, it doesn't allow for the user to second guess their purchase after the review screen. This design allows for minimal screen usage and a quicker checkout.
CHALLENGE 1
Eliminating Barriers
A key factor when trying to gain a userbase is to create a splash screen void of conflict. If a user wishes to browse the items within the items within the app before creating an account, they might be more inclined to create one later on. Along with the login and register options, "the continue as guest" option allows for that user to browse the app without an account.
Style Guide
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What motivates users to travel?
How important is visual content in influencing travel decisions?
I found the data from the research study to be very useful as it informed me on user needs and familiarity with food menu apps. I created one-person empathy maps and then went on to create aggregated empathy maps to present and organise the data I received into user groups.
