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jaepass
jaepass

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WanderFam: Family Travel Mobile App Case Study

Creating a travel resource app for families who wander. This is a self-driven app project.

Ideation

Problem definition

The problem addressed is the difficulty I find when doing research into a destination I plan to travel to with my family. As an avid traveler, I normally would try to cover as much bases as I can during the planning phase and research for tips and recommendations online prior to traveling. Each time, I end up with bookmarking over 20 tabs onto my browser. I realized that there has to be a better resource or platform where all the information can be consolidated. Often times, I have to search specific keywords such as family-friendly resorts, restaurants with fresh seafood, shops to buy souvenirs, or landmarks to visit to find effective tips. These searches would lead me to a multitude of different webpages such as TripAdvisor, personal blogs, yelp, business pages or posting a question on a facebook group.

Brainstorming

Value Proposition

To create an app where families with children are able to access travel information and tips on one platform. Travellers are able to write short posts or blogs, share pictures, travel itineraries, guides, and update real-time location to connect with other travellers or reach out to locals for insider’s tips.

Introducing WanderFam, a travel app for families who wander.

Process Ideation Research Design Prototype

Research

To attest to the frustrations I face when planning a family vacation , I wanted to conduct a survey using google forms and request for responses on parents/mom facebook groups. This method was most accessible as the community of parents in the groups are resourceful and helpful. Being able to retrieve answers from real parents who travel would help me identify needs and “pain-points” to come up with solutions. Below is the summary from the five questions I came up with:

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Findings

From the five questions in the survey, I was able to put together some general needs of a mom planning a vacation for her family. What I wasn’t able to interpret were specific needs and solutions to come up with the main key features to include in the app. In my hypothesis, I had hoped to create an app that would make traveling easier for families but it is too general of a proposition. I thought about my own behaviours while planning a trip and recognized that this app would be utilized more in the planning stages as opposed to while being on the trip. I realized I had to ask more specific questions on what users’ needs are while in the planning stages.

Survey Part II

Striving for more qualitative research, I posed the questions on the same parents facebook group and received more than a few responses that I felt strongly represent two archetypes. This part of my survey concentrates more on specific needs while planning for a family vacation. The variation of needs boiled down to the difference between family dynamics, the duration of the trips, and financial situations.

Personas

From the survey research, there was a pattern in asking for reliable recommendations and finding family-friendly places. Validating that moms were the main decision-makers and planners for family vacations, I was able to put together two distinctive personas resembling two moms with different family dynamics, needs, pain-points, and wishes.

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