Design Objective

To design a user-friendly website and companion mobile app that gets information to the user efficiently, while providing a more accurate visual representation of Tybee Beach.

Project Brief

Identify an established digital user experience (i.e. desktop or mobile application, website, 3D graphic environment) with user experience problems. Through rigorous primary and secondary research methods, explore these problems, define solutions, and develop these solutions using established design thinking methodologies.

Approach

As part of a three-person team, we worked together to analyze the current website and identify user experience issues. We used card-sorting as an initial method for re-organizing the existing content, and then employed various user testing scenarios to confirm and refine our new navigation. In our competitive research, we benchmarked our site against well-known travel sites, in an effort to elevate the capabilities of the website and our companion mobile app.

Outcome

Our research findings resulted in a new aesthetic, taxonomy, organization for the website, and first and second tier functionality for the mobile app. We built the site around an in-depth mapping system that allows users to plan, save, and share their trips. Website users can create an account and then access these saved trips on their mobile app for real-time use.

The main challenge was in re-focusing, re-organizing, and re-branding the existing content. With 430,000 visitors to their site per year, we examined how to get users to their desired content faster, and with less redundancy.

The three main layouts are clunky, difficult to navigate, and the content doesn’t add much value. Additionally, the taxonomy used is obscure, and there are multiple navigation and sub-navigation links pointing to the same page, yet using different naming conventions.

Research Findings

Once we aggregated the data, we found that travelers’ top needs include: places to stay, places to eat, and places to shop/park.

Eat. Stay. Play.

The concept of “Eat. Stay. Play.” is based on our research findings and helped us organize the existing content while streamlining navigation. We also updated the taxonomy and re-focused the functionality based on a rigorous mapping system. The four main content layouts are easier to navigate and clear up redundancy issues.

Mobile App User Flow

This travel companion app keeps the user’s needs in mind. It offers on-the-go navigation options, a simple user interface, and the ability to sync saved routes and share options.

DISCOVER allows users to search for places to eat, play, shop, stay, and park, using a rigorous filtering system. Users can view photos of their chosen locations, map routes, and save these routes for later. The information can be viewed as a map or list.

MY TRIPS is the personalized system for users to store the trips they’ve taken or plan to take. It saves in a map or list view, and captures every detail of the trip.

GUIDE offers all of the relevant information a user would need to know for their trip. From parking, to beach rules and info, to special events happening in the area.

MY PHOTOS allows users to save memories from their trip, and catalogue them by date, location, or any custom grouping. They can also share these images with friends via social media, email, or text.