Offgrid Expedition
A dynamic adventure tour company, provides an array of exciting tours across diverse locations.
Role: Design thinking lead, UX Designer | Team of: 5 | Duration: Mar 2022- Dec 2022
Discover
Context
Offgrid Expedition: A dynamic adventure tour company
Offgrid Expeditions is a Travelling and camping website With a profound commitment to loving, enjoying, and preserving nature, this website introduces a unique camping experience where users can effortlessly book their next expedition.
As a member of the experience design team, my role involved simplifying the booking process to ensure that users can complete their tasks in an efficient way.
Design Thinking Loop followed in this project
Step one-Observe
Business Problem
How can we present and organize a diverse range of camping tours across various locations and business services?
The user-centered problem after 5 whys
“How can we create a platform that shields users from potential camping market issues, while motivating them to explore a variety of destinations, thereby fostering greater satisfaction and encouraging repeat bookings?”
Current situation to improve future experience
Design Goals
- Design a platform that consolidates tour information, enabling rapid access for all users.
-enabling travelers to vividly envision tour activities and destinations.
-Assure travelers of their safety, addressing their current concerns within the camping market.
-establish a platform to foster innovation and enhance engagement at a deeper level.
Challenges
To tackle this, we diligently gathered and synthesized data, developing a deep understanding of our users' needs, preferences, and how best to present the information.
Define
Start the loop
Before starting we needed to embrace the unknown so we gathered and start brainstorming our hypothesis:
Make an action plan
what are the most important factors that users want to know before reserving a camping tour?
Assumption: Users mostly plan their tour with other people like friends or family members, and it can be difficult for them to share information to decide about booking having an option that gathers them to communicate data more easily can be helpful for them.
Research draft:
Interviews
One dominant method that we used in our research was the interview in which all of us translated objectives into actual questions to ask.
Question: Question: Do users need to filter activities included in the tour?
Interview question: How do you know the options shown to you are the most relevant to your preferences?
Question: What are our users’ first preferences for finding their camping tour?
Interview question: What is the most important thing about a camping tour that helps you make the final decision?
Assumption: Our users mostly plan the tours for groups of friends and family members, and it can be difficult for them to transfer the data to each other to make the final decision.
Interview question: How do you mostly go to nature camping? What is the most challenging thing that you face when you are booking a tour?
Affinity Map
Here we grouped similar research findings to reveal common themes.
Develop
Step 2- Make
User Flow
fully understand exactly what we have to build based on research findings we designed user flow and for best ideas then revised them to reach the following user flow:
User Flow 1
Final User Flow
Solutions
Group Payment Options
To enhance the booking experience, we introduced two flexible group payment options for our users:
Organizer Pays the Full Amount: The group organizer can pay the entire price upfront.
Individual Payment: Each traveler can pay their own portion directly, with the option to send the bill to other group members.
Group Payment Continuation
After selecting the group payment option, users are presented with two paths to proceed:
Direct Billing to Travelers: If the organizer opts to have the platform send bills directly to each traveler, they are prompted to enter the email addresses of all group members. The platform requires the organizer to input the exact number of email addresses corresponding to the number of travelers previously specified.
Alternate Group Payment Option
For users who prefer not to provide email addresses or do not have all travelers' email details, we introduced an alternative method:
Copy Link Option: Users can opt to generate a unique payment link that they can share directly with travelers. This link allows each traveler to access the payment page independently.
Group Payment Management
To enhance transparency and flexibility, we provided users with access to a Group Payment Management dashboard. Here, users can monitor who has completed their payment, with full details of the tour and each traveler’s contribution.
Additionally, users have the option to make additional payments beyond their portion. If other travelers are unable to complete their payments, the organizer or any group member can click on "Make Another Payment" to cover the outstanding amount, ensuring the booking is finalized without delay. This feature adds a layer of convenience and ensures that group bookings can be secured efficiently.
High Fidelity Wireframes
To uncover missing details and new questions that can be resolved through design research we designed high fidelity wireframes and presented the solutions in these designs.
Step3- Reflect
Usability Tests
During the usability testing phase, we evaluated success based on participants' ability to successfully complete assigned tasks with minimal errors and in a timely manner. The specific objectives we focused on were:
• Observing participants' initial impressions of the design and features.
• Assessing and observing any pain points or challenges users encountered while interacting with the design and its features.
Here are some iterations that we did after the first phase of the test:
Prototypes
01
We got the idea for the homepage design from talking to users about their favorite camping experiences. Many mentioned the beauty of nature, so we decided to capture that by showing a tent view on the website homepage. It's all about giving them that nature-filled feeling right from the start.
02
After the homepage banner, we prioritized a user-friendly search system. It includes activities, locations, and other key features to help users easily decide and locate their preferred spots on the map.
03
The tour details section combines all the essential information users need before booking. It includes details about activities, their intensity, locations, and stops on the map. Additionally, it provides the option for users to book these experiences as a group.
04
Introducing the tour leaders is about showcasing their professionalism and creating a genuine connection with users. It's a way for you to get to know how they conduct themselves with expertise, fostering a sense of sincerity.