Voyager
Social mobile application
Voyager is an innovative social app designed to connect users with unique destinations worldwide. Create image-based posts as you travel, allowing the community to see your experiences and plan their own adventures accordingly. The Voyager platform features a curated collection of geo-located photographs, showcasing the best-hidden gems and experiences contributed by a global community of explorers. Seamlessly search and explore landscapes, cuisines, and hiking trails with precision filters, personalized itineraries, and complete route information. Share, discover, and plan unforgettable getaways with friends, all within a vibrant community of fellow adventurers.
Summary
Roles: Researcher, UX Designer, UI Designer
Tools: Figma
Timeline: 4 months
Challenge
Designing an engaging platform that facilitates seamless connections between travelers seeking unique destinations and experiences worldwide while fostering community engagement and collaboration.
Solution
Voyager tackles this challenge by delivering an intuitive social app interface that facilitates seamless connections among travelers seeking unique destinations and experiences worldwide. Through visually engaging image-based posts and interactive features, users can effortlessly share experiences and plan adventures within a vibrant community. Leveraging curated geo-located photographs and precise filters, the platform offers a visually stimulating exploration of landscapes, cuisines, and hiking trails. Voyager offers a user-centric experience, empowering individuals to discover and plan unforgettable getaways with ease.
Design Process
User Needs
The Voyager social app caters to the unique user needs of modern-day explorers by providing a seamless platform for discovering, sharing, and planning unforgettable adventures worldwide. With a focus on connecting users with unique destinations and experiences, Voyager prioritizes intuitive navigation, engaging visual content, and personalized itinerary planning features to inspire and facilitate exploration within a vibrant global community of fellow adventurers.
Competitive
Research
During a competitive analysis, I examined three primary competitors of the Voyager social app: Facebook, Instagram, and AllTrails. This investigation delved into their platform's structural organization, design aesthetics, color palettes, use of visual elements, and the overall user experience journey.
What did I find?
AllTrails functions more as a trail-sharing and review platform rather than a social networking site.
Instagram stands out as a widely adopted platform renowned for its capability to uncover new destinations and brands, facilitate the sharing of experiences among users, and serve as a platform for individuals to cultivate their personal brands or grow businesses.
Facebook is predominantly perceived as a platform for personal networking purposes.
Instagram's user-friendly interface and captivating visual aesthetics render it the preferred choice among users, contributing to its widespread popularity.
Guarantee the app boasts captivating visuals and effortless methods for sharing experiences, akin to the dynamic 'stories' functionality found on Instagram.
Quantitative
The research encompassed an examination of the key performance indicators and visitor demographics for Facebook, Instagram, and AllTrails, providing valuable insights for the Voyager social app case study.
What did I find?
The demographics of Instagram reveals that nearly 17% of its active users globally are males aged 18 to 24. Half of Instagram's global user base is aged 34 years or younger with over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
Facebook's user demographic is notably diverse, encompassing individuals across different age brackets and geographic regions. Notably, the largest audience segment on Facebook comprises men aged 25 to 34 years, constituting approximately 17.6 percent of its global user base
Demographics of the AllTrails app reveals its popularity as the third most downloaded health and fitness app. It boasts an even gender distribution, with both men and women actively engaging with it. The majority of users fall within the 18-44 age range, in their 20s and 30s, highlighting its appeal to a youthful and active demographic.
Qualitative
Qualitative research held significance by offering valuable perspectives on human behaviors and attitudes. Through survey administration, we acquired insights from our intended demographic, which were subsequently integrated into empathy maps and user personas. This comprehensive grasp of user requirements and drives effectively informed our design choices.
What were the key takeaways?
Findings reveal that users express a strong desire for accessible photo editing tools while uploading images to their feed.
Analysis reveals that a considerable number of potential users are inclined to share their upcoming travel plans, thus enabling others to glean inspiration for their own future adventures.
A significant number of potential users express interest in automating their posts, seeking a sense of security regarding their whereabouts while traveling.
Prospective users express a desire for enhanced algorithmic functionalities and increased privacy controls.
User Personas
Two unique user profiles were crafted, each encompassing the diverse array of traits and actions within our desired audience. This customized strategy promotes a design process that is more personalized and empathetic, effectively aligning with the varied requirements and inclinations of our users.
User Experience Design
User experience design involves crafting digital products, services, and environments with a deep understanding of user needs, behaviors, and preferences to ensure seamless and meaningful interactions.
Information Architecture
A user-friendly site map was crafted to seamlessly guide users through the menu structure, ensuring an intuitive browsing experience.
User Flow
A user flow was thoughtfully designed to enhance user journey efficiency, guaranteeing a seamlessly navigable experience across the Voyager app.
Sketches
Basic sketches were utilized across mobile and web interfaces to promptly conceptualize and refine ideas, prioritizing the development of the product's fundamental framework during the iHerb website redesign process.
Wireframes
I developed wireframes allowing for a comprehensive visualization of the application's layout on both mobile and desktop interfaces. By stripping away color schemes, typography, and imagery, the focus remained solely on structural elements, ensuring clarity and precision in the design process.
Moodboards
User Interface Design
Mood boards were crafted to explore a diverse array of color palettes. My investigation journeyed through various social platforms, uncovering prevailing color schemes dominant within the digital realm.
Style Guide
After a color palette was selected, a detailed guide was made to show how the Voyager app should look throughout all digital elements. It covers things like fonts, colors, pictures, and logos to keep everything looking the same across the brand. This guide helps make sure the brand stays consistent.
Final Product
In the final stages, the original wireframe concepts underwent significant refinement, incorporating invaluable input, and a meticulously chosen color scheme was adopted. The ultimate version of the product was meticulously tailored to prioritize the requirements and inclinations of its users.
