An interactive travel app, creating an engaging & immersive experience through Augmented Reality.
May - Oct 2018
Nomad is a mobile app experience to aid enthusiastic, curious & adventurous individuals who are immensely passionate about exploring new & captivating locations. The app is geared for tech-savvy, adventurous individuals who possess a fantastical sense of wanderlust.
Nomad allows travellers to discover places within the comfort of their homes, and enables travellers to experience locations in a completely different aspect through augmented reality capabilities users would be able to recreate historical monuments & locations allowing them to truly immerse themselves within the environment around them!
Create an application for travellers to feel immersed and engaged amidst their surroundings in a memorable way?
Travellers seek experiences which enrich their lives & make memories which would last a lifetime. However, the existing travel apps and websites are either far too dense or merely a collage of images. Travellers want an experience which is catered to their personality, an experience which immerses them amidst their surroundings to experience moments & locations in a memorable way and allows them the freedom to still discover new & exciting places whilst giving them a starting point from where to embark upon their journeys.
The screener was designed for the sole purpose of getting a general understanding of student's pain points and to gain a relative understanding of the student experience at RBC. The screener was designed so that it may be able to provide a holistic sense of a student’s level of comfort with the programs & initiatives that RBC put into place to enhance the student experience. The information gathered from the screener may later be delved into through the use of the interview process for further understanding. Furthermore, the screener allows for an analytical quantitative assessment of the individuals participating by categorizing them through various personality & preferential traits.
To identify the categories of individuals based on personality & preferences
To be able to discern prime candidates to target within the interview process, as to get a better understanding of their experiences and insights on travel
In being able to have a 20 candidate participation level, it allows the survey or the ability to choose from a diverse set of individuals and helps prevent a skewed data source.
It is of the utmost importance that through screeners you are able to discern the individuals for whom you wish to further assess through interviews in order to better understand from not only their experiences but their relative insights regarding the product’s subject.
Travellers often use sources such as Instagram & Travel Blogs to find unique and memorable locations, experiences & journeys to embark on.
Rather than venturing out to fascinating remote landscapes or historic sites, travellers preferred town squares. As they served as a central location from which they were able to venture amongst the locals.
Travellers who travelled with their partners often preferred spontaneity over a meticulous plan, whereas in a group setting travellers felt more comfortable with a predetermined plan from the offset.
The most prominent commonality was that of how the company of the individuals plays a key role in the planning stages of a trip.
The phrase ‘return on investment’, a factor which all respondents expressed as the most essential criteria for deciding whether to visit a location or not.
The immersion of culture and history was extremely important, as travellers enjoy being part of experiences and environments in which they are not accustomed to.
The inability to have a consolidated source of information in regards to the historical significance of various locations, popular destinations & cultural events in the vicinity.
The difficulty for travellers to discern what locations & experiences they would cherish most, how they would decide where to go based on time, cost and accessibility. Most importantly, how to discover and immerse themselves in.
The inability to have a consolidated source of information in regards to the historical significance of various locations, popular destinations & cultural events in the vicinity.
Travellers enjoyed spontaneity whilst travelling along with their partner & whilst in a group of friends felt more comfortable having an organized plan.
Ironically when asked about the final day of a trip most respondents preferred unstructured and adventurous experiences.
The immersion in history and visiting monuments & venues with historical significance.
To be part of the local culture and to be able to truly experience a different environment beyond the tourist attractions.
Spontaneity whilst on their travels, as they relish the opportunity to experience new locales organically in lieu of a meticulous plan.
A key factor being the “Return on Investment”, as travellers most value the richness of experience and how their journey enriches their lives.
52%
Of surveyed users planned their trips up to three weeks in advance.
82%
Of surveyed users wished to experience regional specialities during their travels.
79%
Of surveyed users felt unsure if they were able to capture the most of their experiences.
To help provide structure to their trips whilst allowing for discovery & spontaneity.
To realize and serve users the ability to find interesting locations based on their situations.
Help people learn about and immerse themselves within the places they are visiting?
Help develop an experience which feels personal to each individual?
Help individuals plan for journeys whether they are first-time travellers or veterans?
Help travellers discover new & captivating places they may not have heard of?
Instill a sense of community, for travellers to share cool moments & experiences with friends?
Based on the interviews I developed two personas. I referred to them throughout the entire development process. So that the user's needs were at the forefront of all decisions made from both a functionality & design perspective.
Once the main elements of the app were established I decided to conduct a card sorting session. In order, to understand the hierarchy of various tasks within the application. In conducting a closed card sort exercise I was able to gain valuable insights as to where users would be inclined to access various functionalities within the app. It was due to the card sort exercise that I was able to determine the information architecture of the app and was thus able to formulate user flows which were indicative of the observations made during the card sort exercise.
Based on the valuable insights I gained from the card sorting exercise. I was able to create the sitemap for the app which in turn gave the in-app experience a relative structure and cohesive experience throughout.
I began the design process with low fidelity sketches. This was the way I iterated through many design options quickly. In order to represent the app through a visual medium, so that I may convey my vision to others in an effective manner
The process consisted of several iterations, as each interface screen was modified based on feedback to improve clarity through the design as well as improve user journeys throughout the app.
Once I had created sketches to outline the various elements within Nomad using Adobe XD. I constructed the wireframes in order to portray the visual aesthetic of the app in a comprehensive manner for testing purposes.
Once I tested out all usability mistakes, I started designing the UI mockup screens in Adobe XD. In regards to the visual aesthetic, I had chosen to follow a dark visual style as I felt it would be a unique & discernable element which would allow the content to be more prevalent & for the images to be highlighted so that users may be transfixed by the rich content. In doing so, I aimed to intrigue the user with an interface which maintains an elegant and memorable user experience.
Have a look at the interactive prototype built using Adobe XD.
Nomad - PlayBefore publishing the prototype, I conducted various usability tests in order to reveal possible usability problems. The test subjects were comprised of both the Josh & Susan personas, ranging in the 21-45 age demographic. They came from diverse professional backgrounds ranging from Teaching, IT, Business & Students.
Navigate to Italy within the Explore functionality
Toggle between the For You & Browse icons
Capture an A/R Experience
View collected A/R Experiences through the Interactive Map & Profile tabs
As a whole, the usability tests were quite successful as users were able to navigate throughout the various aspects of Nomad with relative ease. However, there was some degree of confusion in regards to the interactive map as there was a dearth of scenarios possible due to the limitations of the prototyping tool. Although, users were forthcoming with their views on how they feel the application should function within those scenarios to best serve their interests.
In regards to feedback, users felt the in-app experience was straight-forward and navigation between tabs and functionality was quite discernable. From a visual perspective, users appreciated the dark visual theme as they felt it was a unique experience as most apps use a lighter colour palette. Hence, users were pleased not only from a usability & visual aesthetic standpoint but were excited about the Interactive Map & A/R capabilities as well.