Poll and Go
This app is designed to make group travel more collaborative for young adults and couples. It started as a capstone project but became a way for me to sharpen my skills in research, design, and testing.
Role: Product Designer
Tools: Figma, Maze, Zoom
Timeline: 4 months
THE PROBLEM SPACE
Planning group trips is exhausting, even when everyone likes the same things.
The group organizer usually ends up juggling flights, stays, activities, and budgets. Even with group chats and spreadsheets, decisions take too long, and it gets exhausting.
THE SOLUTION & IMPACT
Designed a mobile app that:
Allows group members to vote on restaurants and activities to streamline decision-making
Provides real-time itinerary updates so everyone stays aligned on plans
Offers a centralized trip overview with key dates, accommodations, and group member details
USER RESEARCH
Researching The Current Market
To better understand the travel apps on the market, I conducted a competitive analysis of their features to see what existing apps prioritize, identify gaps, evaluate trends, and understand user preferences.
While existing apps offer group collaboration features, they lack streamlined tools for quick decision-making and personalized group experiences.
USER RESEARCH
Synthesizing Market Research
I gathered market research insights to identify features that would help users with trip planning. I found that there are limited opportunities for personalized group experiences and time-saving features.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
During my secondary research, I explored group travel pain points on Reddit.
One user shared,
“Every time I travel in a group, big or small, I feel so exhausted...Even when we agree,
the whole process of coming to a conclusion is exhausting.”
USER RESEARCH
Interviews to Validate Features and Understand User Needs
Having experienced both the stress of planning a trip and the stress of not knowing the game-plan, I assumed that trip planners feel overwhelmed making decisions for the group and find themselves spending hours creating itineraries.
To challenge this assumption, I conducted user interviews with a focus group of 6 individuals who often plan group trips or who have recently traveled. I looked for pain points, motivations, and aimed to understand the thought process of the trip planner.
The interviews revealed that travelers want a centralized tool for collaboration, real-time updates to stay aligned, and flexibility to customize group itineraries.
BRAINSTORMING SOLUTIONS
Based on user interview insights and market research, I decided to incorporate an AI-powered voting feature, which went through several iterations. I also added a (placeholder) QR code to make it easier for users to invite friends.
USABILITY TESTING
Early concept testing insights:
4/5 testers: found “Trip Sync” to be unclear, I changed the title to “Poll”
3/5 testers: appreciated the anonymous voting feature.
5/5 testers: appreciated the app’s simplicity and could see themselves using it.
3 areas for improvement:
Travelers expect to see a clear summary of duration, location, and who’s traveling.
Travelers appreciate the option for anonymous participation, to make contributing more comfortable.
Travelers prefer text reminders over in-app notifications to avoid nagging friends.
REFINING WIREFRAMES
Travelers indicated they want trip details to be in an easy-to-scan format
So, I removed the body text and updated the header to 'Your Trip Overview.’
ADDRESSING DIFFERENT USE CASES
Travelers wondered if they could change their vote after submitting which was something I hadn’t thought about 💡
To address this, I added an option to remove votes. They were also unclear about where 'TripSync' led, so I changed the label to 'Poll'.
SCANNABLE TIMES
Travelers expressed that they prioritize peak busyness info over location addresses.
So, I adjusted the layout to reflect this preference.
USER FLOW: ONBOARDING AND VOTINGS