Locall helps travelers contact the locals of the world
Locall is an app to connect locals of different cities to travelers who value culture and traditions to make the process of getting an authentic experience easier.
Project Duration: 6 weeks
My Role: UX designer & researcher
Tools: Figma, EnVision, Miro, ProCreate
The Problem
Many travelers wish to have a non-touristy experience when they travel to different cities around the world, however finding locals to guide them can be difficult.
The Solution
Travelers can find locals in any city using the Locall app to help guide their trip. Having locals in a centralized area eases the pain of long google searches and research.
User Research & Insights
Proto Persona
Before I started my research, I created a proto-persona using Miro to map out what my idea of the target user for the app would be.
Research Plan
Once I created the proto persona, I started developing a research plan.
In my research plan I aimed to answer the following 5 questions:
1. What types of features do users find useful vs unuseful.
2. What are the frustrations users have when using travel planning apps?
3. What are the deal breakers when deciding to pick an app?
4. Around what time of year will users be most active on the app?
5. What can we do to increase user screen time on the app?
I held 6 interviews using Zoom and using all of the data collected during the interviews, I created an Affinity Diagram.
Affinity Diagram
Using Miro, I organized all of the notable points from each of the 6 interviews into color categories.
I then combed through all of the sticky notes and started categorizing them. After I was done sorting, I labeled each group based on the main point of the category.
I found that many of the users don't like getting stuck in tourist traps and wanted to focus on that pain point.
Empathy Map
After analyzing the data in the affinity diagram, I created an empathy map based on what I found to be the main pain points of the users.
User Persona
Finally, I created a user persona based on the user interviews, affinity diagram, and empathy map.
Definition and Ideation
User Insight Statement
After creating a user persona and developing a clear idea of who the target user is, I crafted my user insight statement.
A traveler who values cultures and traditions needs the ability to contact the locals from the city they are visiting because they want an authentic experience free from tourist traps.
Problem Statement
Contacting locals from different cities, especially in another country can be difficult if the traveler does not know any locals. Having easy access to locals from different cities around the world gives travelers who value the cultures and lifestyle in foreign places a way to have an authentic experience, free from tourist traps.
How Might We
How might we get the locals of different cities to provide their contact information so that travelers can have a chance to experience the authentic cultures and traditions of that city?
User Scenario
I created a user scenario to convey a situation when Locall would be used.
Storyboard
The storyboard helps to further visualize a possible situation this app may be used.
User Journey Map
The user journey map serves to show the highs and lows through the users journey.
Prototyping
Competitor Analysis
Before I could move on to creating a user flow, I needed to see what my competitors were up to. It turns out, the concept of connecting travelers to locals has not been done yet.
The only apps that I found that have similar ideas are Meetup, EatWith, and CouchSurfing. These apps don't necessarily have anything to do with connecting with locals, however they do connect people with people in one way or another.
For example, the Meetup app allows people with the same interests to meet up at events. The EatWith app has the same concept as Locall except it deals with food. The Couchsurfing app has the concept of people finding sleeping arrangements at locals houses, except it doesn't include activities and tours.
User Flow
Wireframe Sketches
I needed to get a very basic understanding of the format of my screens. To do this I did a very low fidelity sketched out version of the screens.
Low Fidelity Digital Wireframes
Once I had an understanding of where I wanted to go with the screens, I constructed a low fidelity version of the screens. I focused on user onboarding specifically since I had never designed it before.
I created a Figma prototype using these screens in order to conduct user testing.
User Testing
User Testing Plan
Objective
Users should be able to navigate through the LOCALL app with ease. They should be able to either sign in or sign up for the app, search for locals in a city, and add them to their favorites. They should also be able to message the people they wish to contact.
I hope to catch minor usability mistakes through observing user testers.
Target Users
Users between the ages of 30-55 who have disposable income to spend and have a desire to have an authentic, non-touristy experience during their travels.
Questions to Be Answered
Do users find the interface appealing enough to return to the app?
Is there a way for users to get to and from every screen?
Will users get confused while navigating through the app?
Tasks And Scenarios
Guerilla User Testing Analysis
Prototype
Digital IOS Wireframes
Figma Prototype
Figma Screens
What I Learned
The most important lesson I learned from this project was how crucial user interviews are. Users are, after all, who we as designers are designing for. The users can give you insights that you would never come up with on your own. In this project, the users really informed me of how important having an authentic experience when traveling can be. I used that information to create and design an app that can help those people out when they travel.
Thank You!
