Gather
The idea for this project originated during my struggles traveling in Europe in 2017. I started with the concept of a meetup-style app for solo travelers to connect with one another, but eventually the project morphed into a solution for guided tours that appealed to a younger generation of independent travelers.
Solo travelers need a way to connect, share, and travel with like-minded people because traveling can be lonely and unsafe without a trusted support system in place.
UX Research & UX Design
Design Tools
User Research
Research Strategy
Since I was already fairly familiar with the travel industry and the various apps available to travelers, I began by diving deep into the design and functionality of those apps to gain a better understanding of strengths and weaknesses. I then conducted interviews to learn more about the different experiences people have had with traveling both solo and in groups.
Through my research, I wanted to:
- Identify Gather's target market
- Identify Gather's competitors and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses
- Learn about the current trends in the travel industry (and later the touring industry) and how it’s being used in businesses
- Understand the experiences people have when traveling
- Discover the goals, needs, motivations, and frustrations of Gather's users
Competitor Analysis
I wanted to start by taking a closer look at Gather’s competitors and how they’re helping their users connect with other like-minded travelers. Through my research, I identified some top direct and indirect competitors within the industry: AirBnB, Traveling Spoon, and Meetup. Direct competitors are travel-focused apps similar to Gather, while indirect competitors aren’t focused solely on travel. Exploring each of their apps, I evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of each to see how Gather could fill in any gaps moving forward.
Strengths:
- Map view so you can pick out events by location
- Simple to use messaging feature
- Reviews and ratings on individual tours
Weaknesses:
- Experience pages are long and overloaded with informarion
- The map icons disappear and reappear when you zoom in and out
Strengths:
- Thorough information on your host and their experience
- Reviews and ratings on classes that are mainly appreciative and positive
- Quality photos that show the host and students in the class
Weaknesses:
- No mobile app available
- Reservations require a long list of information via form fields
Strengths:
- Shows events that are starting today with easy reservation
- Allows you to explore app without signing up
- Event hosts are vetted for safety
Weaknesses:
- Many events are hosted on other platforms so attendance is miscounted
- Information about events range from limited to disorganized
User Interviews
- Participants: 5
- Age Range: 26 - 52
- Interests: solo/group travel
- Average Time: 1 hour
In order to learn about the real experiences people have had while traveling, I recruited 5 participants that ranged from avid and solo travelers to occasional and group travelers for user interviews. Here, I focused on asking open-ended questions about their experiences that focused on how they travel, why they like to travel, and what their biggest concerns are while traveling.
Interview Findings
My main goal for the user interviews was to see if travelers were interested in an app that connected them with other like-minded travelers while in another country. What I found was less than promising...
- Those that I interviewed had very well established ways of traveling and didn't see a need for another app in their life.
- Getting the most out of their travels through cultural immersion was a higher priority than meeting other travelers.
- Most interviewees preferred to meet people organically and were more interested in meeting locals who could inform their travels.
After my interviews, I was definitely struggling to find a real need in solo travel that would warrant another app. Until...
My absolute favorite kind of travel is done on my own terms. You couldn’t pay me enough to go on one of those guided tours.
Research Results
Research Conclusion
While sifting through my interview recordings, I came across the quote you see above from an avid traveler named Charles. This was the turning point in my research. It was clear that there wasn't a definitive need for a meetup-like app for solo travelers, but perhaps there was a place for it in the touring industry as suggested by Charles. Could I design something that made guided tours accessible and interesting to independent travelers? Was there a way to combine the flexibility of solo travel with the social aspect of peer-guided experiences? These were the questions I sought to answer.
New Project Statement
Modern travelers want a safe, fun, and immersive way to experience other cultures. This app should find a balance between peer-based guided tours and solo travel.
Market Research
Next I wanted to conduct some market research on the touring industry to see where an app like Gather would fit in. Below is a general overview of the types of tours available:
Persona
To make sure that my decisions moving forward in the process were user-centered, I wanted to have a clear understanding of who Gather’s users are. Using what I learned from patterns taken from my interviews, I created a user persona to represent who I would be designing for - Meet Rachel!
Design Decisions
From Wireframe to Prototype to.... Prototype
For this section, I wanted to outline how the design of Gather changed over time. Most of these changes were made after receiving insights from user testing, but some design decisions came as a result of my development as a designer. This project spanned almost 3 years and perfectly highlights how I honed my design style, starting from my first project in UX design to current day. Below is a visual representation of this development.
This being my first time wireframing, I made the mistake of creating a design for a desktop screen and shrinking it down to a mobile screen. What resulted was a crowded design with small text and buttons.
I challenged myself to try a neo-morphic design style for the app. I kept the color scheme simple and used a typical bottom navigation for mobile. This was the completed design for my UX Design course.
I relied heavily on drop shadows and inner shadows to separate and distinguish elements from one another. This effect was best highlighted in the form field at the top of my discover page.
I switched from a neo-morphic design to a cleaner look that was easier to navigate for my second prototype. I kept the simple color scheme, but changed the navigation to a hamburger menu in the upper corner. This way I could use the bottom of the screen for other interactive elements.
I challenged myself to try a neo-morphic design style for the app. I kept the color scheme simple and used a typical bottom navigation for mobile. This was the completed design for my UX Design course.
I relied heavily on drop shadows and inner shadows to separate and distinguish elements from one another. This effect was best highlighted in the form field at the top of my discover page.
I switched from a neo-morphic design to a cleaner look that was easier to navigate for my second prototype. I kept the simple color scheme, but changed the navigation to a hamburger menu in the upper corner. This way I could use the bottom of the screen for other interactive elements.
Design System
For my first prototype, as I outlined before, I decided to try a neo-morphic design style with a simple, blue color scheme. After getting feedback on the readability of my first iteration, I decided to go a different route with the design. The typography stayed the same as I'm a big fan of the Playfair and Montserrat fonts. I wanted the logo to have a fun but sophisticated feel to it so I chose Tangerine as the font for the initial splash page.
Color Palette
Typography
User Testing
Wireframe
For the wireframe, my main goal was to get all my ideas on paper (well, Figma) and test the understanding and style with some family members. The general consensus was that it seemed busy and overcrowded. Some photos on the explore page were too small and wouldn't be viewable on a small screen. There was a similar problem on the individual gather page. I also needed to allow more room for buttons and call to actions along with solving some hierarchy issues.
Conclusion - Wireframe
There were a lot of glaring issues with my layout that became clear after some user testing. These were the things I wanted to think about when moving into higher fidelity mock-ups:
- Increase the size of images so they're easier to view and add carousels when necessary
- Restructure the filter search section
- Give space for text, buttons, and call to actions
- Incorporate a way to favorite gatherings and add a favorites page
- Add navigation
Prototype #1
For my first prototype of Gather, I opted for more space around buttons and photos for better readability. I added a bottom navigation that is typical for mobile and included links to the discovery page, favorites page, current trips, and profile. I also added a way to favorite trips from the discovery page and the individual Gather pages. I changed the filter section so that it only shows at the top of the discovery page and not as an entirely separate part of the app. Below are some of the points that came up during user testing.
Conclusion - Prototype #1
After user testing, it was clear that, though the neo-morphic design style was interesting, it was overall distracting and unnecessary. The overuse of drop-shadows and highlights weren't enough to create contrast between interactive and non-interactive elements which left users confused on what to click on. The hierarchy of elements was also something I needed to focus on so that the important pieces were the most visible to users.
- Make form fields and buttons more discernible
- Add a filter functionality that played more seamlessly into the design
- Move away from a neo-morphic design for the sake of readability
- Improve the hierarchy of elements so users can more easily focus on what's important
- Improve the use of screen space (i.e. delete logo, condense navigation, etc.)
Prototype #2
I started on my second prototype about a year after I finished the first. The most obvious addition to the app is the map that would give users a better idea of where exactly these Gatherings were happening. I tried to limit the amount of scrolling so users could see all the most important elements at the top. I added many more interactable features like a horizontal scroll for Gatherings at the bottom of the map and options to pull sections ups so they are full screen. Of course there were still many painpoints as outlined below.
Conclusion - Prototype #2
Overall, users had a much easier time navigating this version over the previous one. One major thing that stood out during the testing phase was that every single user wanted to click on the icons in the map to cycle through the Gatherings. There was also some confusion with certain icons and functionality along with dealing with the limitations of a prototype vs. an actual app. Here are the main points I would like to focus on for the next iteration:
- Make the map icons clickable
- Add more functionality like favoriting, filtering, and sharing
- Add more photos to the individual experience pages
- Include a 'types' lable so users can filter the kind of experience they're looking for.
- Be more consistent with brand across the app (i.e. use "gathering" instead of "experience")