Presentation for work for a UX student project at General Assembly where the goal was to improve the usability of the Intrepid Travel website.

1. G E N E R A L A S S E M B LY U X D I 2 0 1 3 S T U D E N T P R O J E C T
I N T R E P I D T R AV E L

2. ABOUT THE PRODUCT
Intrepid is an adventure travel company for people who want to discover
something wonderful without the burden of planning for it. We create group
adventures that are safe, fun, and inspiring. Unlike other travel sites we give
users a genuine insight into what they might experience by providing
extensive reviews, detailed maps, and a wide array of photos from our trips.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Our UXDi team was asked to improve the navigation for users who want to
search within a designated time frame. We were also tasked with improving
browsing and searching for trips for an older target demographic that
would be interested in a new category of “comfort” travel.

3. “A friend of mine posted a photo of New Zealand
on Flickr, and I just had to go there.”
– ROB, 39

4. KAREN
AGE: 31
T R AV E L N E W B I E
Karen really doesn't want to spend another
Christmas and New Years in the States!
Karen has lots of vacation days to use and is tired of seeing photos of her
FB friends traveling around the world. It is time to go and get out there.
T R AV E L L I F E
T R AV E L
FREQUENCY
M O N E Y M AT T E R S
Her college friends have all started to
visit other countries and raved about
their life changing experiences. A couple
of her friends said they want to travel
somewhere beautiful and inspiring soon,
and since Karen is concerned about her
safety as a single woman, she wants to
travel with them. They are looking for
resorts with all the amenities and also
opportunities to see unique culture and
sites and eat great food. They just don’t
want to be in large touristy tour groups
replete with fanny packs.
She really likes locally made hand crafted
items and would enjoy the experience of
bringing world cultural items to her
friends. Etsy and shopping online is not
enough anymore she wants the arts and
crafts of the world.
!
!
“I WANT A NEW EXPERIENCE”
TECH PROFICIENCY
iPhone/iPad Mini/Macbook air
Karen knows her way around technology
and enjoys the effortless connectivity of
Apple Products. She has owned a iPhone
since day one. She is on Facebook all the
time as well as Twitter and Instagram.

5. “I check TripAdvisor to find the best things to do
“Type a quote here.”
wherever I go.”
-SARAH, 28

6. FRED
AGE: 38
T R AV E L E X P E RT
Fred has been to a lot of places and wants to see more!
Fred has done a lot of traveling and has always planned his own trips.
A friend recommended him to Intrepid saying that they have the best
group trips, so he thought he would give it a try.
T R AV E L L I F E
T R AV E L
FREQUENCY
M O N E Y M AT T E R S
Fred keeps all of the computers running
at his company and in his spare time he
obsessively researches new places in the
world to explore. He’s already been to six
continents and wants to see more of
them! On the wall of his office is a map of
the world with dozens of pins in it for all
of the places he’s been, color-coded to
show which ones he liked better.
When he travels, he first decides on a
place, goes to kayak.com to get best
hotels and flights, then consults his most
trusted travel blogs (including Trip
Advisor) to find the best things and
places to go wherever he is.
Fred lives with his boyfriend and they
don’t spend a lot of money on much
except for nice dinners. With no kids,
Fred has plenty of money saved away for
lots of future excursions. Shopping wise,
he must buy the best: Ralph Lauren
clothes and wine from Napa Valley.
“I WANT TO SEE THE ENTIRE WORLD!”
TECH PROFICIENCY
Nexus 5/Macbook Pro with Win7 on
bootcamp/ iPad Mini
Fred knows his way all around PCs, Macs,
and Android devices, but prefers the iPad
when it comes to relaxing and sifting
through information. Checks in on travel
forums daily to share what he knows and
learn new information from others.

7. “I’ll go anywhere and a quote here.”
“Type do anything. Just as long as I
don’t have to plan it.”
–ELISA, 53

8. HELEN
AGE: 58
F R U G A L T R AV E L E R
Helen is a mother of the two “grown” kids
and wants to travel and see the world again!
She now finally has time to travel with her husband Steve, but neither of
them has any energy anymore to do vacation planning themselves,
and they simply want it all figured out for them!
T R AV E L L I F E
T R AV E L
FREQUENCY
M O N E Y M AT T E R S
Helen has seen much of the world in her
early years, and remember vividly her
experiences as a twenty something
traveling rural France, the small shop she
worked at and wandering the
Countryside where she met her future
husband Steve a fellow american traveler.
Although Helen has budget
considerations, she is looking for a new
vacation experience with her husband
Steve, for a deal.
!
With time on her hands now Helen wants
to travel again, she wants to be able to
find a trip where she can get completely
immersed in a culture and be able to do
all of the fun activities she had years ago.
!
“ I W A N T T O B E I M M E R S E D I N C U LT U R E ”
TECH PROFICIENCY
Helen is inspired by photos. When she
sees pictures of her friends that are
posted on Flickr, she decides right then
and there that she wants to go. She has
used Expedia in the past but currently
has been looking at lonely planet.

9. USER JOURNEY
NEW USER
views
HOME
SCREEN
enters location
and/or departure time
SEARCH
RESULTS
refines search or
moves map
views
NEW SEARCH
RESULTS
buys trip
clicks link
EMAIL FROM
GUIDE
FACEBOOK
GROUP
goes on trip and has lots of
photos to share
FACEBOOK
GROUP
TRIP DETAIL
PAGE

10. USER JOURNEY
NEW USER
views
views
HOME
SCREEN
clicks on pretty photo
PHOTO
SEARCH
TRIP DETAIL
PAGE
buys trip
clicks link
EMAIL FROM
GUIDE
FACEBOOK
GROUP
goes on trip and has lots of
photos to share
FACEBOOK
GROUP

11. PROTOTYPE
SHARE.AXURE.COM/BK4245

12. FOLLOW-UP
EMAIL
• Once a user signs up for a
trip, he or she will be
emailed from their trip
leader with trip details and
a link for accessing the
group’s Facebook page

13. LINK WITH YOUR GROUP ONLINE

14. CASE STUDY

15. BEFORE…

16. I N S P I R AT I O N F R O M C O M P E T I T O R S

17. I N S P I R AT I O N F R O M C O M P E T I T O R S

18. C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S
Photos
User Reviews
Search Quality
Categories
Trip
Description
Intrepid Travel
2
1
3
4
5
G Adventures
4
0
4
5
3
Backroads
4
4
4
3
4
Imaginative Traveller
1
0
2
2
3
Active Adventures
2
2
3
3
3
REI
5
5
0
5
5
TripAdvisor
4
5
4
5
0
Airbnb
5
5
5
5
5

19. SCENARIOS
Methods
• Using personas to identify flows
• Drawing out possible scenarios
Findings
• People heavily rely on reviews
• Pictures are inspirational
• Location is a driver
Opportunities
• Search and find by map
• Explore by pictures

20. I T E R AT I O N S
Methods
• Using competitive analysis
• Sketch, sketch, sketch!
Findings
• Less is more
• Maps are useful
Opportunities
• Reduce the cluster in order to
make things more clear
• Use maps like Yelp to help users
find good trips

21. PROTOTYPE
TESTING
Methods
• Dry runs
• Peer analysis
Findings
• They love the clean look
• Keep the story consistent with
your personas
Opportunities
• Make it even cleaner (alignment!)
• Make sure information is easy to
access
• Extend story with email and
Facebook group.

22. AFTER.

23. “Thank you for your time.
You are all beautiful people.”
-TEAM INTREPID
Alice Barton - alicewbarton@gmail.com
Ed Lewis - edlewis@gmail.com
Shamezo Lumukanda - magyombo@gmail.com