ARound
To address the issues of scattered travel information, the inability to experience the actual environment during planning, and information gaps during the trip, ARound aims to leverage AR technology to assist travelers in better completing their journey across three stages: pre-trip planning, on-site exploration, and post-trip review.
China Travel Market
Outbound tourism from China
China's travel market and outbound tourism consumption have great potential. In 2019, during the pandemic, the number of outbound tourists reached 15.5 million, and in 2018, outbound travel spending amounted to $277 billion. However, the pandemic had a significant impact on this market.
Post-Pandemic Recovery of Outbound Tourism
Despite this, outbound tourism has gradually recovered post-pandemic. By the end of 2022, many people expressed their willingness to travel abroad within the next year.
Travel habits before and after the epidemic
During the pandemic, China's online travel services experienced significant growth, and this trend continues to this day.
Target Group Positioning
During the pandemic, China's online travel services experienced significant growth, and this trend continues to this day.
Target Group Characteristics
The target audience includes those who are both outbound travelers and users of digital services. This group primarily consists of people aged 25-35, mainly from first- and second-tier cities, who are accustomed to using various online travel platforms.
Personas
Current PSD treatment strategies
After conducting 50 surveys and 2 interviews with the target audience, we identified three distinct personality types.
Shulin Z.
The characteristics of Persona 1 are extroverted but poor at planning, so their pain points are: inability to plan trips and aversion to cumbersome research processes.
Siran L.
Persona 2 represents an introverted, socially inept group who prefer not to engage in superficial travel and have higher safety requirements.
Xiao S.
The third group consists of married or middle-aged individuals with children, who have higher demands for travel planning and family needs.
User Journey Map
Based on the research analysis, travelers' pain points are mainly concentrated in the research phase before the trip. Common issues include cumbersome research, scattered information, difficulties in cross-platform information collection, and discrepancies between actual conditions and research findings. Current apps on the market have not effectively addressed these problems. During the trip, there are also issues with insufficient experiences and outdated information.
Mind Map
Key Issues and Solution Integration in Travel Experience
From the user journey map, four key issues were identified throughout the travel process: complex information gathering, inadequate experiences, information changes, and lack of trip retrospectives. Preliminary solutions were proposed for these issues, and six promising ones were integrated into the information architecture.
Information Architecture & Wireframe
Before departure, users can use the image search feature to obtain travel information or choose AR mode to view the real-world scenes of their destination. This helps users gain a more intuitive, multi-dimensional understanding of the location and quickly access relevant information. While viewing the destination, users can also plan their routes and automatically generate an itinerary. External details like train and plane tickets are integrated into the itinerary for easy access.
During the trip, users can scan real-world landmarks with AR to quickly obtain detailed local information.
Final Design - Pre-trip Preparation
During the travel planning and pre-departure stages, issues often arise during "destination research" and "preparation for departure." Particularly for international trips, people spend significant time gathering information about attractions. However, many apps fail to provide comprehensive route planning or accurate attraction references, often resulting in misleading information or advertisements, which can lead to a disappointing experience.
This project’s "image search" and "AR planning" features allow users to scan images of attractions to access relevant information from multiple platforms, achieving information filtering and integration. Additionally, the AR mode enables users to preview three-dimensional views of attractions in advance, enhancing their sense of security and experience before the trip.
Final Design - Experience the Journey
