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Introduction
We are starting a fascinating project that involves designing and developing a state-of-the-art tourism landing page that is specifically catered to the changing tastes of the millennial demographic. In this day and age, travel is not only a journey but also a digital adventure. Our chosen location will be the blank canvas on which we will develop a vibrant and engaging experience. We will skillfully combine design and functionality to produce a platform that appeals to today's tech-savvy and adventure-seeking tourists.
Aims
Create an Engaging User Experience:
Aim to design a tourist landing page that captivates and engages millennial users from the moment they land on the site.
Prioritise Mobile Accessibility:
Prioritise a mobile-first design approach to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience for users accessing the site on smartphones and Desktops
Facilitate user:
Develop a user-friendly system that is intuitive and easy to use, catering to both mobile and desktop users.
Objectives
Design a Responsive UI:
To ensure a consistent and aesthetically pleasing experience across devices, create a responsive user interface that adjusts to different screen sizes and resolutions.
Implement Call-to-Action buttons (CTAs):
Create enticing (CTAs) that are well-placed throughout the website to direct visitors toward important actions, such as making a reservation, seeing additional material or learning about popular tourist attractions.
Utilise High-Quality Visuals:
Curate and include top-notch photos, iconography, typography and graphics that successfully highlight the area's natural beauty, rich culture, and top attractions.
Create a well-structured information architecture:
Structure content in a way that is informative and accessible, providing users with the information they need in a clear and concise manner.
Research:
Conduct a Heurist Evaluation of a similar system and interview users to explore possible shortcomings and opportunities.
Conduct Usability Testing:
Perform usability testing on users from and outside the target demographic in order to pinpoint areas that require better, iteratively improve the design and keep the design equitable.
Process & The waterfall model
To ensure the successful materialisation of a user-centred design project, it is imperative to abide by a Project development life cycle. While there are many applicable life cycles, the chosen life cycle for this project is known as the Design Thinking Life Cycle. The design-thinking framework follows an overall flow of 1) understanding, 2) exploring, and 3) materialising. Within these larger buckets fall the 6 phases: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test, and implement.
Since this project is not extensive and has a precise time constraint, it is quite adequate to apply the waterfall model. For a time-consuming and extensive project, it is always better to apply Agile methodology. The main disadvantage of the waterfall model is that it's not an iterative model. This means it’s essential to complete the former steps in order to move on to the latter.
Heuristic Evaluation
World-renowned usability expert Dr Jakob Nielson defines usability as the extent of easiness of the features in an application. He also introduces the concept of utility, which, according to him, is the presence of features that are useful to the users. Combining usability and utility will result in usefulness. Heuristic evaluation is the process of measuring the usability of a system. The goal of performing the heuristic evaluation is to analyse a similar system to fill in the gaps and offer some additional functionality that might be missing. Jakob Nielsen came up with ten heuristic guidelines by which we can test the usability of any system. While performing the Heuristic Evaluation, it is important to choose a website which is not too well designed or too inadequately designed. The chosen website should be moderate. In this project, the chosen webpage is Visitsaudi.com/en/see-do.
User Interviews
Recruiting the right users for your interviews is crucial for gaining valuable insights into the preferences and needs of the target audience. Here are some criteria that we used in selecting participants for user interviews:
Age: As the webpage is being built for millennials, it's important that the recruited user should fall in the 27 and 42 age bracket.
Frequency of Travel: Ideally, it’s also appropriate to have users who are enthusiastic about travelling, for the webpage is a travel destination.
Device Preferences: As the webpage prioritises being mobile-first, the users should be primarily mobile users.
Willingness to Participate: The participants should be willing to share their thoughts openly and provide informed consent for the interview.
The chosen questions for the interview are:
Tell me a bit about yourself and your travel experiences. What type of traveller would you describe yourself as (adventurous, cultural explorer, relaxation seeker, etc.)?
How frequently do you plan and embark on trips? Can you share a recent memorable travel experience?
That was exciting to hear. How do you usually go about planning your trips? Do you rely on specific websites, apps, or social media platforms for travel inspiration and information?
Moving on to the next question. What devices do you commonly use for travel-related activities? Do you prefer using mobile apps or websites when planning a trip? Why?
Can you recall a time when you visited a tourist landing page or travel website? What was the purpose of your visit, and what were you looking for?
May I ask? what features or information you find most valuable when exploring a new travel destination online?
When exploring a tourist landing page, how important is the visual presentation of the destination to you? What types of visuals (images, videos, etc.) do you find most appealing?
Moving on, do you prefer a more information-centric or visually immersive approach when learning about a new destination? Why?
Considering the mobile-first approach, how comfortable are you using your smartphone for travel planning? Are there specific challenges or preferences you have when using mobile devices for this purpose?
The next question is. How do you feel about interactive elements on a travel website, such as maps, sliders, or virtual tours? Do you find them helpful or distracting?
What kind of interactive features would you like to see on a tourist landing page that would enhance your overall experience?
Would you find user-generated content, such as reviews and photos from other travellers, helpful in making travel decisions?
Based on your experiences, what are some positive aspects of tourist landing pages that you've encountered? Conversely, are there any frustrations or aspects that you think could be improved?
Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your expectations and preferences when exploring travel destinations online?
Problem statement:
Current tourist landing pages lack a user-friendly, visually engaging, and responsive design for the millennial audience. Users face challenges with slow loading times, overwhelming designs, and limited live event options, hindering efficient trip planning. This project aims to develop a solution that provides a seamless and interactive platform, catering to the preferences of millennial travellers and enhancing their overall exploration and decision-making experience.
Persona
Alex is a 29-year-old stay-at-home wife with a passion for travel. She loves immersing herself in the culture of new destinations and always seeks to discover unique and authentic experiences. Travel planning is a significant part of her routine, and she relies on the Internet to gather information about potential destinations before making decisions.
Journey Map
Definition: A journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal.
Wireframes
Wireframes serve as a foundational blueprint in UI/UX design, outlining the layout, structure, and functionality of a landing page. They prioritize content hierarchy and user flow, enabling early exploration and iteration of design ideas. Wireframes facilitate collaboration and alignment among designers, developers, and clients, ensuring clarity on the page's objectives and direction.
Typography and Colour Palette
Choosing typography and colour before creating mockups in a UI/UX project is essential because it influences readability, information hierarchy, and emotional engagement. Properly selected typography and colour enhance user navigation, consistency, and overall visual appeal, ensuring a cohesive and effective design from the start.
High Fidelity Prototype
Hero Section
The hero section of the landing page contains a Navbar, a headline of the destination, some sample text, a few images of the destination and finally a CTA.
Live Events Section
During the interview, the persona expressed how she always appreciates updates on live events. To address this, a specific section relating to live events was created. The persona also emphasized her appreciation for consistency between the mobile and desktop versions of websites, prompting us to ensure that both sections maintain a similar appearance.
Carousel
For the webpage, a button-controlled carousel is used. On the contrary, a carousel with horizontal gestures was implemented instead.
Review Section
Initially, I had planned to develop the review section into a carousel as well. However, due to time constraints, this was not feasible.
Hotel Booking & Footer
A hotel booking card has been added. The vacant space on the left side of the page is reserved for future additional cards. Finally, the landing page concludes with a footer section.
Conclusion
Despite the time constraints, there remains much to accomplish in this project. I dedicated considerable effort to recruiting participants for interviews; however, due to conflicting work schedules, I could only secure one participant. Consequently, I had to base the entire persona on this single user, which is a source of disappointment. Additionally, the implementation of the interactive map was not feasible within the limited timeframe. Regrettably, the user test using the THINK ALOUD protocol did not come to fruition.
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