An AI-powered travel application, Gous offers a seamless solution for planning and experiencing personalized trips. Specifically for international students who studying in the USA, Gous serves not only as a comprehensive trip planner but also as a platform for fostering meaningful connections.
ADVISOR
Abby Guido
ROLE
Visual + UX Designer
TIMELINE
14 Weeks
TOOLS
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Problems
Challenges in Planning Personal Trips
Planning a personal trip for international students who speak English as a second language can be stressful, overwhelming, and time-consuming. Due to their busy schedules, they may not have time to select their own appropriate travel plans. Many international students also face language and cultural barriers when they study abroad. Sometimes they misunderstand people and are afraid to talk with them. Selecting a trusted travel partner when traveling in a group is also difficult.
Solutions
Gous: A Personalized Travel Planning Platform
Gous simplifies the travel planning process by addressing the unique needs of international students in the USA. By combining AI-driven personalized itineraries with cultural insights, Gous serves as both a comprehensive trip planner and a platform for fostering meaningful connections. Key features, such as group matching, language support, and trusted travel companion recommendations, create a stress-free, inclusive, and enriching travel experience.
Literature Review
First, literature review showed over 1 million international students studying in the United States. And Chinese, Indian, and South Korean students are among the largest sources of international students. I also found out traveling with friends has become a popular way for them to get away from busy school work during mid-semester breaks.
Competitive Analysis
Gous leverages an AI-powered meta-search model to provide transparent, personalized trip planning, setting it apart from OTAs like Trodly and Kayak, which limit choices. By prioritizing user experience and trusted travel connections, Gous ensures a faster, safer, and more inclusive experience for international students.
User Survey
Then I created a survey (Around 40 responses) to give me metrics about their travel choices, how they plan their travel and local trips, how they determine which destinations to travel to, and what inspire them to choose a destination.
User Interviews
I conducted user interviews with 16 international students from Temple, Drexel, and the University of Pennsylvania, who were mostly busy with schoolwork and had no time to plan trips for spring break. Specifically, it helps me identify those students' level of understanding of technology, pain points, frustrations, and needs.
Empathy Map
I created this Empathy Map by meticulously synthesizing outcomes from user interviews, focusing on the specific experiences, emotions, thoughts, and actions of travel booking app users, particularly international students, to identify their unique needs and challenges.
User Persona
I grouped similar users together and developed two distinct user personas, each representing their collective goals, needs, and frustrations related to travel experiences.
Opportunity
"How might we help international students plan personalized trips more efficiently while overcoming language and cultural barriers, and ensuring a stress-free travel experience?"
Card Sorting
I organized and categorized user data collected from in-person interviews, surveys, and reviews by using card sorting. During this process, data was grouped by users' needs and activities, as well as emotional and psychological factors.
User Flow
Moreover, given that Gous is an artificial intelligence and social networking app, an important aspect of the user flow was to allow users to link their social media accounts and leverage artificial intelligence to discover their ideal travel plans.
Paper Wireframe
I drew my first wireframe on paper to visually experiment based on the information I conducted while user testing. A sample group of users tried multiple flows that I had drawn. Based on this testing, the early designs could change and develop quickly in a low-risk environment.
Digital Wireframe
Before designing this app, I began the ideation process of wire-framing by drawing out the main screens by sketching. My goal was to provide a structure and design that would meet the needs of users while keeping the objectives of the Gous.
Logo development
Design System and Components
Since this app is specifically designed for college-age international students in America, I established a branding tone that is friendly, loving, happy, and fresh. Based on my mood board, I created a design system that contained all the components and UI patterns used in the application.
Hi-Fi Mockups Design
Usability Testing
During the pandemic, I conducted two rounds of online user testing for Gous. The feedbacks from Gous' target users helped me identify and fix some usability issues.
User feedbacks on my travel package card design highlighted two primary areas for improvement:
1. The avatar icon was found misleading. Instead of conveying the number of available seats left for the group, it was perceived as representing an anonymous avatar.
2. The text size was too small for comfortable reading. The design of the request button was not intuitive, failing to imply user to click on the icon.
