Tripmate 

The Client

As the shared economy becomes increasingly viable, and tourism in Panama is on the rise, Tripmate is seizing opportunities in both of these spaces. Tripmate allows local people to post tours. People traveling to Panama can book these tours and experience the country through the lens of a local.

My team and I were tasked to improve the user experience of Tripmate. We explored ways to help this business grow and give users of the site an engaging way to book tours.

Research

In conducting our research we hoped to gain an understanding of the mindset of a person who enjoyed adventurous travel. The main question we asked in our research plan was:

What makes for a good (or bad) experience when traveling?

Our Traveler’s Biggest Pain Point

Travelers were disappointed when a tour description did not match up with their expectations.

Solution

Communication and Consistency

Through our research, our team realized the importance of making sure Tripmate was communicating clearly and consistently about what travelers could expect from trips. Our team chose to ensure consistent information by making sure the details of each trip were standardized and icons that would be included in the description of the trip.

Communication and Trust in the Shared Economy

In our research we also hoped to understand the motivations of people who participate in the shared economy. We asked interview subjects:

When using goods and services in the shared economy, what makes you commit to using a service with a person you have never met?

Our team found that overwhelmingly, the answer to this question was communication. Every traveler said that communicating with the person before meeting had a huge impact on their comfort level.

Because communication was so vital in creating trust, my team and I decided to build a messaging system into the website. Travelers and mates could message each other before a trip and have a record of their messages on their Tripmate profile.

Key Takeaways from Research

• Meeting the traveler’s expectations is key
• Inconsistent communication reduces confidence in service providers
• Many travelers value cultural experiences
• Reviews are a very big deal to customers

Persona, Problem Statement, and Design Principles

Primary Persona

Problem Statement

The Millennial traveler needs to feel confident that the local activities they book will meet their expectations because they want their investments to result in an experience that will broaden their horizons.

Design Principles

Consistent

Content is presented in a unified and standard format to assure travelers that they are fully informed about the experiences offered.

Features that fit this principle: trip information page

Understandable

Users can easily maneuver through the site and make sense of its functionality. What you see is what you get.

Features that fit this principle: messaging system, registration, and booking process

Prototyping and Testing

Each member of our team created a paper prototype based on our design principles. We tested the prototype with 6 users.

Main Features Tested

• Messaging system trip info page
• Trip Information Page

Trip Search Page

Trip Information Page

Messaging System

Final Prototypes 

Our team took the best features from each of prototypes and merged them into one final prototype.

Home Page

Trip Search Page

Grid View 

Trip Information Page

Messaging System 

Future Recommendations for Tripmate

• Build out reviews
• Test a notification system for the messaging system
• Test the trip search processes from the home page

What We Learned

We learned that information about the experiences Tripmate provides to its travelers must be transparent. Unclear expectations were the biggest pain point for all of the travelers interviewed. Consistent information about trips was crucial in creating a positive experience for travelers.

Throughout this process, our team learned the importance of communication between the traveler and the tour guide in order to create trust and allow the traveler to feel comfortable. We worked to create a messaging system built into the platform, so that communication between travelers and mates would be effortless and allow travelers to have the best experience possible with Tripmate.