local

Roles & Responsibilites: UX Researcher, UI Designer, Interviewer, Ideation, Prototyping

Tools: Miro, Figma, Adobe XD, Qualtrics

the problem

Travelers are craving authentic, unique experiences beyond major tourist attractions when they go on vacation, but they don’t know how to find those experiences.

“Is this restaurant really the best one in the city? Or does everyone just go here because it shows up first on Google?”

persona

6

user interviews

100+

survey participants

insights

How might we offer a rich, authentic, “locals” experience while tailoring to all the different types of travelers?

  • Users want to have a “local” experience when they go on vacation, without the cost of a tour guide
  • There is a wide variety of preference in regard to vacationing (relaxing vs doing, planning vs spontaneity, quality time at one location vs quantity of locations, outdoorsy activities vs site-seeing)

solution

A simple, convenient app that provides travelers the bridge to connect to locals wherever they travel.

Local creates a profile with basic information & activities or locations they could show to travelers.

Local

Traveler

Travelers connects with & messages local, depending on the type of trip they’d like to have.

ideation

   Must-have features:

  • The ability to see locals both from a map view and list view
  • The user has to have a good idea of who they’re reaching out to before they initiate a conversation
  • A way for the app to suggest locals to travelers who have similar interests

user-testing

3 user tests

  • Users have individual preferences (list vs map) — accommodate both while maintaining simplicity
  • “Featured” tab was confusing
  • Make the price and locals information more apparent
  • Make the quiz portion more clear
  • Add skip feature for those who don’t read tutorials

iterations & high-fidelity

  • Added “skip” option to initial quiz
  • Made the quiz available at anytime
  • Embedded “list view” into the home screen
  • Added “Verified Local” tag to profile
  • Made clarifications to opening splash screen copy

interactive prototype

(Go ahead, click around)

conclusion


This project is especially dear to me, because it was the first project that I took on as a UX/UI designer. Creating the idea for “local” was the first time I experienced conducting a user interview, gathering data from user-tests and surveys, and product design and prototyping.

The absolute best part about the process with “local” for me was discovering an actual need that users have and meeting that need with a research-based, and tested solution. I believe in the potential “local” has.

The next steps for me are to complete the front-end development of the app, and connect with a back-end development team to make the dream of “local” come alive.

Thanks for reading,
Mick