The Social App for Backpackers
traverse
Agenda Why Traverse? Research and Analysis Branding App Building App Protyping What’s next?
PART 1.
WHY TRAVERSE?
Travel alone, but you are not alone.
PART 2.
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
2.1
Background Information Who are backpackers? They‌ are predominantly young care more likely to stay in budget accommodation are independent have a flexible travel schedule stay for a longer rather than a brief holiday focus on informal and participatory holiday activities
2.2
Competitor Analysis During the research phases, several backpacking & social apps were analysed: timeBlend, TripTogether, Find Backpacker, tourBar, Airbnb, Couchsurfing The key learning points from these apps are: + Simplicity in both design & layout with understandable navigation + The use of filter to refine the search result + The use vibrant color, icons and symbols + Ability to display the results in the form of a map or a list - There has not yet been any app any that can search backpackers, places and events but still have the four above advantages
2.3
Online Survey Preliminary survey to understand the need of the audience. Here are details of the survey: 28 people 16-over 40 years old Most of them are young students Single or in relationaship Love travelling & want to travel with the help of mobile application 9 nationalities: from Germany, Ecuador, Romania, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, China
2.4
Key learning from the survey 70% citing that they would download such an application that connects like-minded backpackers These points are also required by people who were asked in the survey: The characteristic of an ideal app is simplicity & easy to use The ability to filter the search to refine the large amount of results Display information like a list or a map
2.5
Target Users Digital native or interested in digital technology.
Lifestyle and personalities: open-minded with hunger for meeting new cultures and discovering new places. They are problem-solving, easygoing and independent.
Often travel alone and have the need to look for partners to travel together with them.
Bringing along with their travel their laptop/ netbook, a ‘USB flashdrive’, a high-quality camera, and a smart phone. 

2.6
User journey - an example
PART 3.
BRANDING
3.1
Logo
3.2
Color
3.3
Typo
PART 4.
APP BUILDING
4.1
Flowchart
4.2
Product Concept People want to explore outdoors but they don’t know where to go or have people to go with. A simple solution could be to create a mobile app that helps people discover new places to explore and connect them with other people who are also seeking to spend time outdoors.
4.3
Line Icons Drinking
Profile
Photography
News
Eating
Explore
Music
Check my Trip
Shopping
Setting
Meeting locals
Log Out
Exploring
Like
Room Sharing
4.4
Wireframe Login page
Fields of Interest icon
4.4
Wireframe Profile page
Sidebar Menu
4.4
Wireframe Nearby Backpacker - List view
Nearby Backpacker - Map view
4.4
Wireframe Check your Trip - enter the data
Check your trip - After filter
4.4
Wireframe Photo gallery
4.5
Design Login & Registration Users could register with Facebook and Google, or they could also create another account. If they register for the first times, they will be asked to fill out the fields that they are interested. The purpose is to let others know what they are interested in to make the connection between two people easier. On the Log In page users have to enter the username and password to log in. . Starting page
Registration
Login page
4.5
Design Profile On the profile page, the main character is equipped with profile avatar and profile banner (this could be changed anytime in the Setting). The name of users could also be viewed on the page. There are 7 main sections on this page: • Who liked the users. The number of people who liked the users is displayed next to this icon • Messages: all the messages that are sent to the user will be stored here • Info: the basic information of the account like age, birthday, hometown, gender, religion, spoken languages, wish lists, interests, about-me, keywords • Record: the previous activities of the account • Friends: the other friends that connected to this account • Photos: the photos that were uploaded by this account On the top left corner is the menu icon, which will display a sliding menu from the left side of the screen. On the top right corner is the main search tool, with which users could look for the other accounts all over the social networks.
4.5
Design Info & Record This include Age, Birthday, Gender, Hometown, Religion, Spoken Languages, etc. The Wishlist is involved in the travel intention of users. The Interests is involved in fields that are interested by users. There are also About me and Keywords which introduces briefly about the users. On the Record page, user could see the people they met in the past, the places they visited and the events they participated. Next to each person profile, there is again the small icon of to show how many Likes each person receives. Info
Record
4.5
Design Friend List and Profile On this page, there will be the friend list of all the people that connect to the main profile of the main users. When user click on a certain name on the list (i.e. Janet Perkins), he could view the profile of that person (Janet Perkins). On the profile of a friend, the main users could view information, send messages or like the profile of that person. Friend List
Profile
4.5
Design People Search and Sidebar Menu On the page of People Search, the user could look for the profile of the other as well as have a look at the search history. Via the side menu, users could have access to the Profile, News, Explore, Check my trip, Setting and Log Out. People Search
Sidebar Menu
4.5
Design Friend Who Like You & Photo On this page, the main users could see how many friends like his profile. If the user wants, he could also click on a certain friend on the list to view the profile page of that person. On the Photo page, all the uploaded photos will be displayed. Friends Who Like You
Photo Gallery
4.5
Design Newsfeed & Status Update
The News Feed page consists of the 3 fields: Nearby people , Friends and People I met . Hashtags: when users click on the Hashtag, they could view the status of the other profiles that also feature similar Hashtags. Field of Interest icons: the fields users are interested in. Nearby people
Nearby friends
People I met
Status update
4.5
Design Explore The Explore page consists of these 3 main tabs: Backpackers , Places and Events Users could switch back and forth between the three tabs. Exploring Backpackers
Exploring Places
.
Exploring Events
4.5
Design Explore Backpacker The Explore page consists of these 3 main fields: Backpackers, Places and events . The nearby backpackers could be displayed on map or on list. User could select a nearby person to view his/her profile. Exploring Backpacker (map view)
Exploring Backpacker (list view)
4.5
Design Explore of Backpacker: filter The backpackers could be filtered based on gender (all/male/female), age (15-80) and distance (0-10 km). Result of Backpacker FilterAfter filtering, the result is displayed in map or list. Backpacker filter
Backpacker after being filtered (map view)
Backpacker after being filtered (list view)
4.5
Design Explore Places Users could see the nearby places on map or list. For the restaurant detail, they could see the location, the opening time and brief information about the restaurant like how to reach there, the telephone number, the website. Users could also see the rating of restaurants. Exploring places (map view)
Exploring places (list view)
Exploring places (place detail)
4.5
Design Explore of Places: filter The places could be filtered based on the two criteria: distances (0-10 km) and the places types. The final result could be viewed based on map or list mode. Exploring places (map view)
Exploring places (list view)
Exploring places (place detail)
4.5
Design Explore Events Users could see the nearby events on map or list. They could also view information of a nearby event. For the event detail, they could see brief information of the event like where the events take place, There is no rating for events because all events will occur in the future. Event (map view)
Event (list view)
Event detail
4.5
Design Explore of Events: Filter The places could be filtered based on the two criteria: ditances (0-10 km) and the event types. The final result could be viewed based on map or list mode.
Event filter
Event after being filtered (map view)
Event after being filtered (list view)
4.5
Design My trip & Check my Trip Users could see which trips have been added, the destination of the trip and the time period the trip is supposed to happen. People could also check the trip to find out if there are other backpackers who have similar travel plans with them. My trip list
Compare travel plan with the others
Adding a new trip to the list
The trip after being updated
4.5
Design Setting On the first section users could set the app if it could look for the backpackers / places / events automatically or they could even deactivate the built-in filter. The filter criteria of Filter is made based on these three ones: gender, age and distances. On the setting, users could set the privacy of individual parts of the app, Besides, they could modifiy predefined parameters like currency, units, profile banners, passwords, etc‌ At the bottom, they could define which kind of notifications they would like to receive, or they could deactivate the notification they no longer want to receive
PART 5.
APP PROTOTYPING
5.1
Clickable Prototype of App In order to test the application, a rapid-prototype was created by using the web app Invision. The prototype is tested through one-to-one usability test to see in action how users could complete the tasks.
View the prototype online: http://invis.io/2924YT88W


5.2
Prototype of Microsite The one-page microsite of the app. The users could have an overview of the app and download the app from this landing page. View this prototype in browser: http://invis.io/7C2A171EU In order to promote the product, a micro-website will be designed and published.
PART 6.
WHAT’S NEXT?
6.1
Future Development Just a few more steps that would make the app realistic in the long run:
Programming and technology: Deploy the program on a physical Android device and then on the iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone. Part of the development could be outsourced to reduce the cost.
Make it a cross-platform app: make it available on various mobile platforms like iPhone, iPad, Android Windows Phone.
Promotion: I will use marketing tools of marketing channels that has high frequency of backpackers & potential backpackers.
6.2
Future Development Human resource: The team will include a marketing manager, an iOS developer, a Windows Phone developer, an Android developer, product manager, mobile designer and QC (Quality Control) and mobile designer.
Budget calculation: calculate the possibility to gain revenue for the app. For example if users would like to have advanced search tool, they will have to pay premium membership fee. In the long term, revenue could also be earnt via placing advertisement on the app.