Zeit

Market & User Research

I began my research with articles from travel and business magazines like National Geographic, Business Insider, newsletters, travel blogs, tech blogs, public forums on travel experiences, exciting airbnb destinations, vacation exchanges and desired transport options.

Competitive Analysis

Overview

It's interesting to see how different age groups and personas have different needs from a business and especially a revolutionary business that does not exist yet like time travel. Zeit plays many roles for each individual. It is how luxury is met by different age groups and social classes. It beats the competition in every way because of the added feature of time travel, but will also have higher stakes due to time traveling hazards that do not exist in regular travel. Zeit caters to every age group while some competitors cater to specifically young adults with their features.

Secondary Competitors Indirect Competitors

User Interviews

Having collected data on the market of existing businesses along with the traveling trends and patterns, it was time to give the statistics some life. I prepared questions for 4 potential users to get a better understanding of their travel needs. This helped me see how relevant Zeit would be in the current travel market. The interviews were in depth and lasted for about 30-45 minutes each, and covered topics such as favorite experiences, decades, destinations, time travel concerns and curiosities. Click to see each interview.

Card Sorting

Card sorting was a highly effective research method in determining consumer preferences for temporal excursions. Participants were presented with a gamut of experiences, including the ability to submit their own original concepts. Subsequently, they were asked to categorize and arrange the experiences based on the degree of appeal. The outcome of this research exercise was a deep understanding of consumer priorities in regards to time travel experiences, thereby offering a sound basis for constructing a desirable product portfolio. In the following graph we are presented with statistics on the participants count, their location, how many experience cards they sorted and time spent on the exercise.

Debrief

In this debrief I process the information that was given to me during my interviews. At this stage I worked quickly to categorize users by interests to help the business thrive. Such interests include the travel habits of each participant, regular travel goals and and concerns, time travel curiosities, as well as their UI associations when they are looking to book a travel package. I also went ahead and asked them what their possible solutions would be to their time travel concerns to get a better idea about their expectations from Zeit.

Provisional Personas

A great way to break down user interviews is to make provisional personas. This process can be a preparation for proper user personas or it can be done instead of making user personas for businesses that have a smaller budget. It is already transferring the user interviews to a user persona state of mind. I applied my interview candidates’ answers to their interim personas and I categorized each persona by their generational needs.

• We have our students who love organized group trips and are actively looking for internship opportunities.

• Business travelers who are looking for a social experience between their work hours.

• Adventure seekers who go for the thrill of the time travel experiences.

• Retirees who potentially wish to revisit their past and require minimal risk travels.

• Families that require multiple activities for each member.

Define

User Personas | Empathy Maps | Project Goals

User Personas

I synthesized the data I collected so far to create a target user for Zeit to become the voice of the users interviewed. Gustavo represents the population that’s intrigued by watching memorable historical events unfold in person. Having a visual representation of the persona helps make the data gathered clear and user friendly.

Empathy Maps

To go a step further, I added an empathy map that focuses on sensations, thoughts, vibes and user actions. It’s a way to see the inside workings of our users’ brains. These are based on complaints that I have witnessed in my user interviews and market research. You can click on the image to make it larger.

Project Goals

Zeit would address the concerns we see from our user personas. Concerns such as credibility, safety, comfort and affordability. It comes down to the very foundation of the business. What are the things that travel websites do not offer in the current market and how Zeit would be an intuitive solution. Here are the key features that Zeit would provide:

• Customizable travel packages.

• A great team in the present and the past.

• Reviews for time travel experiences.

• Prices and deals in full visibility.

• Personalized search capabilities.

• Guarantee of returning back to safety.

Ideate

Feature Roadmap | Sitemap | Task & User Flows

Feature Roadmap

Here you can see the most important features to be added to Zeit under ‘must haves’. It is also worth it to consider adding some of the ‘nice to have’ features because either way there are other websites that would allow clients to do such things as booking a travel package so while the ‘nice to have’ is not essential, it is certainly what will make it stand out. For example, 24/7 support online and over the phone. While other businesses are removing phone support options, having that extra option eliminates stress for travelers that are in need of immediate support.

Sitemap

Just as a book has a table of contents, a website has a sitemap. It encapsulates everything that the website has to offer the user. You can see the main navigation consisting of the search function, ‘about’ explanatory pages, ‘explore’ packages and services, ‘contact’ with user concerns and assistance, a login into the user account as well as a live support function. Inside the profile branch, users can navigate to their trip details, instructions, purchasing cart & history, wish lists, and blog entries. From there, they have the ability to publish articles based on their experiences with their trips to the past.

Task Flow

The task flow is a great way to visualize how users would interact with the website. You can find two categories. One is the user action and the other is the page that loads after the user takes the action. It could be to click, to select, to filter and to browse. In this task flow, I walk you through how a user requests a trip and books it.

User Flow

You are now acting on behalf of Gustavo Gonzalez, searching based on 2 categories. First route being the search for a century with an alternate route targeting locations. You are seeing his decision making process throughout his search, booking a time travel experience while making an account, alternatively continuing as guest, and following his steps all the way up to the confirmation email.

Design

Sketches | Wireframes | Brand Identity

Low Fidelity Sketches

At this point in time, I was planning 3 variations for the homepage. I was looking for something that would hook the customers within the first few seconds of looking at the first image. Something that’ll leave them intrigued and wanting to click and expand. I decided to move forward with the middle version as it was the most interactive option that allowed for the most amount of information visible with the expansion of multiple sections.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

The mid-fidelity wireframes are the first look at the digitized project. It is as blueprints are to architects. Here, I got a better sense of my shapes and measurements. I added pages from the user’s journey to book a trip to France. At this point in time, the home page has material for scrolling down the page such as top reviews, how Zeit works, blogs, top destinations and a subscription to the service. The search exploration page reveals trip cards with a similar trips section. The third page I worked with was a trip detail page of Versailles in the 1700s.

Responsive Wireframes

Taking the homepage, I made a responsive design for tablets and phones.

High Fidelity Responsive Wireframes

In this version, I was able to begin to apply all of my research to the design of the responsive web pages. I opted for lighter colors at first to give it a fresh look that alleviates concerns related to time travel. For my provisional personas, orange was associated with a state of curiosity and excitement while maintaining calm. The shades of brown keep the user grounded with that hint of nostalgia. With the search bar front and center above the bolded ‘Time Travel’ title draws the user in to click on the nostalgically brown search button.

  UI

Mood board | Style Tile

Mood Board

Through the mood board, you can see the images I referenced to help me create the darker historical nostalgia feel for the interface. The browns and beige colors are associated with grounds, vintage, memory and mysticism. Shades of green and purple add the combination of a naturally luxurious environment, which link to the experience having high accommodation standards, which Zeit would certainly provide. Our business has historically famous delegates in the past sharing their estates as accommodation so Zeit will not disappoint any aspect of luxury. I added a lot of images of caves, entryways and gateways to grand places as well as figures to emphasize the fact that in the experience of time travel, the travelers will be interacting with the past, not just observing it.

Style Tile

A style tile is presented in the same way that a construction tile is presented to a client in a home remodeling business. The client receives tile samples of flooring and walls, swatches of upholstery materials and all kinds of catalogs. A UI style tile holds all of its building materials on one tile: the font, color palette, cards, imagery and iconography.

 Prototypes

In this prototype, our selected user, explores different pop up links that open the previously scrolled material. Our user, eager to book a trip to the beautiful Palace of Versailles, navigated through our time travel vacation package website with ease this time around. As they progressed through the user flow, they were presented with an array of options to choose from, each offering a unique time travel experience. The user was able to easily filter through the different time periods and packages, until they found the perfect one that fit their needs. The interface and call-to-actions made it simple for them to proceed with their booking, They had the option to navigate to the specific trip page and view the itinerary. Throughout the entire process, the user was able to fully immerse themselves in the time travel experience, thanks to engaging visuals and the narrative. By the end of their journey, the user had successfully booked their trip to Versailles and was eagerly anticipating their upcoming time travel adventure.

 Testing

Usability Testing | Affinity Map

Usability Testing

Affinity Map

Likes

Improve

Improvements

After conducting thorough usability testing, I was able to gather valuable feedback that informed the creation of the final prototype design. The design evokes a sense of nostalgia, capturing the essence of historical events. All technical issues identified by participants have been addressed and resolved, ensuring clear visibility of all elements on each page. The addition of blurred elements as drop-down menus adds a touch of movement to an otherwise static design. The deeper color palette was chosen to evoke a sense of mystery, reflecting the theme of time travel. The search bar has been moved to a more prominent location and improved for enhanced user-friendliness. Having the ability to return to any previous page gave a smoother navigation experience whilst having the ability to start anew at any point in time. The change in layout to the homepage has been a game-changer for presenting information. The new design allows for a wealth of information to be displayed without the need for excessive scrolling. This elevated design not only captures the viewer's interest but also holds their attention for a shorter amount of time. The improvement to the homepage layout has effectively made it more engaging and user-friendly, allowing Zeit to make a stronger impact on its audience. This strategic use of space and attention to detail has resulted in an improved user experience, making it easier for viewers to find what they are looking for and stay informed about the latest updates. Overall, the change in layout has proven to be a wise decision that has greatly benefited Zeit and its audience.