PIERRE DOGBO
View clickable prototype
Project type: Concept project
Team size: 1 Designer
Role: UX/UI, Research
Time: 2 Weeks
Tools: Figma, In-person user interviews
A group of friends are traveling across the US. As expenses come up they take turns paying and send money back and forth to each other. After returning from the trip, Sarah looks at her bank account and realizes she spent way more than she planned. She looked through her bank statement to get more clarity but there were so many transactions that aren't categorized she was unable to understand what happened.
She's not alone... all of her friends that went on the trip had the same experience.
Zuma is a concept app that would be used during group trips to keep everyone within a predefined budget that was split evenly amongst everyone.
I interviewed 6 people to learn what apps they use during group trips. This would hopefully give insights into any opportunities to solve pain points that arise during travel.
1. Users combine apps like Venmo, iMessage, and personal banking apps to send money and communicate during group trips.
2. Travel budgets are mostly kept mentally, and total spending isn't realized until after the trip, which leaves people at risk of over spending.
3. Keeping track of who paid for what can be stressful and take away from the fun.
4. Finding good restaurants and activities in the travel destination can be difficult
Although the individual apps were great at solving isolated problems, users could benefit from a streamlined solution that caters to the entire trip experience.
I then did competitive research to understand what these apps were doing well to solve their respective problems, and look for ways to extract those solutions into a cohesive experience.
Takeaways
1. No competitor offers a total solution to the pain points experienced on group trips.
2. There's an opportunity to differentiate Zuma by adding a shared spending feature.
3. Dedicated travel apps either focus on budgeting or planning activities seperately.
With these findings I saw an opportunity:
People on group trips need an app to manage the travel experience because current solutions are complex and leave travelers prone to over spending.
I created a mind map of the home screen to begin exploration for the IA. I decided that each key feature would get a dedicated tab since they each played an important but separate role in the travel process.
Keeping competitors in mind, I felt it was important for the UI of Zuma to be friendly, modern and accessible. The app should give users a sense of familiarity so that they easily navigate and understand features. I created wireframes based on popular design patterns and then moved to higher fidelity.
To accomplish this I chose a more saturated color palette as well as a sans serif type. The intention behind this was to make the UI feel modern and the text easily scannable. Gradients and shadows were used to add a trendy touch, as I imagined the branding would cater to Millennials & Gen Z.
Home
The home screen shows information such as total & remaining budget, and spending categories. I chose this for the home screen because users reported wanting their budget to be easily accessible. Users can also see avatars of group members.
Virtual Debit Card
This is where users can see their shared debit card as well as all transactions. Any purchase made on the card uses funds that users deposit into the app, keeping everything split evenly.
Explore
The explore page shows users where the trending restaurants and venues are. Features such as ratings and sharing to the group lets users discuss possible activities together. This would also open monetization opportunities within the app as local business could advertise and offer incentives for travelers to visit.
Group Chat
This tab is a message thread for all users in a group, members can discuss all aspects of the trip without leaving the app
Next steps for this project range from user testing to building out more screens such as onboarding and making purchases. Here are some next steps:
1. How might users dispute charges within the app
2. How might users be returned funds if there is a remainder in the budget
3. How might the onboarding process be designed to teach users about the app, deposit funds and add members to the trip
4. What does it look like when users make a purchase within the app
5. User testing and feedback + design iteration
Thank you!