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BetterFly aims to reduce terminal hassles by 50% and simplify travel documentation for a seamless journey.
The Outcome:
BetterFly significantly reduces the time and effort required for travel organization, resulting in a 30% increase in travel efficiency. By consolidating all travel documents and seamlessly managing trip details, it ensures travelers can enjoy hassle-free and memorable journeys.
Roles + Responsibilities:
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Timelines and Scope:
May 2023- June 2023 (4 weeks)
Empathize
The pandemic really shook up how we travel and it hit home for me. Last summer, my family and I went on a trip to the Philippines. Dealing with passports, boarding passes, and health passes for every place we visited was a headache. With the pandemic pushing us to rely more on virtual tools for everything, it makes sense to have all our travel needs neatly organized in one digital place. That is where BetterFly comes into the picture.
Who would use BetterFly? I start with creating a Proto-persona. A customer archetype, if you will.
Proto-persona
This is Lisa Jimenez. She says, “I love my kids but I need a break! Planning is already stressful as it is, organization is just another battle. I just want it all to go smoothly and I want to be stress-free!”
Define
So, let’s dive a little more into users like Lisa. Why do they behave a certain way? What is a problem they face and how can I solve it for them?
User Research
Here is my step-by-step process. First, I identified my research objective which is that…
I want to assess how the pandemic has affected the way people travel today.
But I also really wanted to tackle secondary objectives like…
Objective 1: Understand the end-to-end process of how participants are currently making travel decisions
Objective 2: What makes users more likely or less likely to travel post-pandemic
Objective 3: Assess what aspects of travel make modern-day travelers feel safe to travel post-pandemic
With these research objectives in mind, I went on Google to find the answers already out there.
Here are some trends I found insightful:
Today’s traveler’s say they are likely to spend MORE on their next trip to make up for lost time.
People want to prioritize their physical and mental wellness while traveling.
Creating a survey
A survey I conducted helped to support these trends as well, showing:
54.2% of those surveyed are planning to travel MORE post-pandemic.
And 76.5% expressing desire to travel both domestic and international destinations.
Tying these findings back to Lisa’s issue and the research objective, these trends also tell me that:
Increased traveler spending leads to greater complexity in travel planning and a higher demand for organizational tools.
After experiencing the overwhelming stress of COVID, people now yearn for the chance to relax, recover, and enjoy freedom.
Now that we've identified the user's desire for freedom, relaxation, and a simpler way to handle travel arrangements, it's time to engage in one-on-one interviews to delve deeper into these issues.
User Interviews
We interviewed six professionals who have traveled prior, during, and/or post-pandemic and discussed how traveling has changed for them post-pandemic. This is what they had to say…
View the diagram in greater detail here.
“Traveling with a six year old is really tough. I’m fussing and rummaging through my things a lot and it’s a bit stressful.”
“I carry a lot of important things for work so when I travel I want to be efficient. You don’t want that to be compromised. ”
“The pandemic was so experimental. I remember just wanting to get through, from point A to point B. Just to get through.”
What did we learn?
Interview Takeaways
In creating an affinity diagram, we found that:
The enduring legacy of the pandemic includes lasting changes in travel behavior, with an emphasis on health and safety among travelers.
In the post-pandemic world, there is an amplified dependence on digital solutions, where travelers increasingly turn to the internet and apps to fulfill their travel requirements.
What does this mean for businesses in the post-pandemic world?
Given the enduring focus on health and safety in travel, businesses should prioritize and promote their health and safety measures to reassure travelers. This means investing in sanitation protocols and contactless services, for example.
To succeed in the post-pandemic landscape, businesses should invest heavily on their online presence and digital infrastructure. This would include having user-friendly apps and websites that cater to travelers’ needs (ie. booking, itinerary management, real time updates on safety measures).
Affinity Diagram
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With user and business goals in mind, let’s empathize with our user navigating travel in the post-pandemic world.
People want to save money, and time is money. How can we provide a seamless journey for our user?
Empathy Map
View the diagram in greater detail here.
To help our stakeholders understand who is using our product, we then created a user persona which will help us test, evaluate, and prioritize features that will not only cater to our user needs but achieve business goals.
User Persona
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User Insights
A user persona is not enough - we have to tell their story. Our goal is not only to identify user pain points and underlying motivations but to unlock strategic innovations for our app.
A burnt-out 1st grade teacher with limited vacation days needs to feel more equipped to manage her travel plans, because stressful travel organizations take away from having a meaningful and relaxing vacation experience.
Problem Statement
Now, let’s address the issue more formally by creating a problem statement.
Burnt out professionals, like 1st grade teachers, with limited emotional and physical capacities, face the overwhelming task of organizing their travel plans, adding to their already stressful lives. BetterFly recognizes the need to simplify travel for these professionals, who are eager to plan big trips but lack the time and mental energy to handle the organizational aspects. Our goal is to provide a seamless and efficient solution that reduces the burden of travel organization, enabling these travelers to enjoy high-quality and unforgettable trips. How might we effectively assist these burnt-out professionals in making travel organization less taxing and more manageable?
Ideate
And now it’s time to generate ideas. Let’s look through the lens of the present, the near future and the distant future.
I like, I wish, What if… Ideation Method
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And then identify which of these are the most important problems to solve first. Using a Feature Prioritization Matrix satisfied the varied needs of the user and the business.
Feature Prioritization Method
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With users expressing…
I wish travel apps weren’t so overwhelming with information
I like when I don’t have to rummage through my bag
I like when I can find everything in one place
A value proposition allows us to bridge the gap between the business goals and the end-user experience, ensuring that every interaction aligns with the core value the business provides. In this graphic, we'll explore the components of the Value Proposition Canvas and delve into its significance in optimizing both user experience and business success.
Value Proposition Canvas
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Value Proposition Statement
BetterFly: Get there faster without the hassle.
Now how might our user use our product to achieve a goal? Let’s create a user scenario to uncover our user’s motivations and needs.
User Scenario
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Let’s go one step further and create a storyboard, a visual representation of our user’s experience!
Storyboard
Let’s break down what the user is feeling and thinking at each one of those steps in the journey. Really put ourselves in their shoes. Let’s create a user journey map.
View the diagram in greater detail here.
