I began this project based on my problem statement from Project 4. I had hoped to create a finalised working platform for people to explore the idea/ concept of backpacking within their comfort zone. A safe space, where they can track and see their booking, as well as book together. I first had to gather together all of my ‘needs to include’ notes from previous research, which is noted below. I used all of this to then continue on with my work.
- Quick Booking Process
- Error tolerence
- Defined as eco friendly
- Extra information such as travel times and weather times
- Surrounding area information
- Filter has destination search
- Clear review section
- Scrollable images
- Filter for price
- Map that physically showcases route
- User checks
- Ability to multi book between two people
These were taken from user interviews, and so are directly from the point of person who would be using the product, as well as my expert interview, someone who literally sells holidays similar to this concept for a living.
Initial research
After doing all of my user research, it was time to start developing, and to do this, I wanted to look into the aesthetic design of differing products and how they best tackle problems similar to my own. I had previously done research on some different travel agencies, done a heuristic markup as well as testing them against the seven principles, however I wanted to now take time to look a bit into functionality when met with design appeal.
I looked into different signifying features, such as calendars, how different filter searches were set up, and how the colours and imagery used within them were both positive and negative.
I also looked a lot into on boarding pages, and how these best allow the user to both understand and visualise concept, to move forward in a cohesive flow, and to then avoid errors by teaching them about the product.
Reviews also came up as a massive part of why people not only abandon their carts, but would not choose to backpack. Why backpack if there is no way of understanding how people feel about specific places?
The product itself could fall under booking specific pre planned out trips, or it could be an aid in booking the really specific places that the customer wants to go to. On top of that, it was important for me to think about different design features such as a low light screen, avoiding blue light and using the least power needed for the process. These factors have very little to do with backpacking, but have a lot to do with environmentally conscious design. It all circles back around to the main purpose or the product, and can be pinpointed back to research found in my very first board of this project.
All of this research done ( which can be found on the miro board below ) led me to my next topic or research for the project, looking into how all of these deciding factors can be effected by disability.
Miro board : https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVNCv7uts=/?moveToWidget=3458764573197781746&cot=14
Accessibility within Design
Having read the book ‘Mismatch’ by Kat Holmes (a summary of it can be found here : link), I have grown as a designer to learn a lot about how different design can be changed and moved about to allow for everyone to be included. On top of that, one of my user interviews is someone with autism, and through interviewing her and growing to understand her needs as a user, I felt it quite important to look into this in order to help my project really work.
A design ‘normal’ cannot be defined, and it would be entirely wrong and unethical to do so. By defining a normal user, we outlaw people who might not have the exact same requirements. But it is very difficult to make sure everyone is included in our diversity, so there are a few ways we can do this. Simple things such as choosing a coloured background with a large enough contrast to make w difference, using large enough text so that it is always visible to a user, and even looking at drop shadow and features such as that. That is however just the appearance aspect. Function is massive at this stage of the design. A navigation bar for example should be mapped similar to others, because they work, because they are classic and tested and tried and have worked time and time again.
These fundamentals of design are imperative and should be tested against for everyone’s ability to use a product or service.
Find the miro board here : https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVNCv7uts=/?moveToWidget=3458764573198325042&cot=14
Design Systems
When looking at moving along in the design process, a company must form a design system so that different people within the company design with cohesion in mind, allowing the user to feel comfortable. That is why instead of simply looking at design and function research I chose to look into the way that companies build design systems, starting with some travel agency companies such as TUI and AirB&B.
These are not only massive companies, but they are massive when it comes to viability within design. TUI for example was one of my favourites! They used the same style of illustration throughout, something that surprisingly not a lot of other companies chose to do, as well as using a strong colour pallet. The reason TUI is not found within top 10s of design systems however is where they fall off the mark. And that is at functionality. They have a strong colour scheme, but when two buttons in exactly the same colour mean two different things, the design system doesn’t work with the function.
After that I chose to drop the idea of a travel agency for my research and just look at brands that have been classed as having the top 10 best design systems. Unsurprisingly to me, Uber falls top of the charts.
I eventually placed all of these components onto a singular board to combine the research that I had done, and so this is linked on the above initial research section.
As well as this, I looked at some other factors – particularly how different colours face up against one another. The concept of FFFFFF as a key colour and 000000 is hard to get right, because when contrasted with one another it is far too dark, the colours simply are not visible enough. It is very easy to just move to these colours as they are on opposite sections of the colour frame – however, its important to note that it often ruins designs. It over dominates other colours, especially soft pastel colours which are a large part of my own design system.