Student Project
Roads
Platform
Web App
ROLE
UI Designer
EXPERTISE
Responsive UX/UI
Screens
11
YEAR
2024
Designing a Community-Driven Travel App to Simplify Trip Planning
Roads is a responsive web app that allows users to share their personal travel experiences with each other through guides and trip entries.
Find hidden gems in your city and beyond.
The Problem
Travelers and locals who love discovering new places oftentimes use multiple apps to research and plan with no certainty if the info is correct. It’s time consuming and can get frustrating having multiple sources to find information on destinations.
Opportunity
The main objective is to share unique experiences from users around the world with each other by providing them with the tools to document their travels with personal notes. They can organise saved locations into lists for themselves and for other users and use guides to plan and and make their travels easier
Project Goals
The goal is to create an intuitive travel planning application that makes organizing trips easy and efficient. Built around a trustworthy community, the platform offers well-researched guides to help users make informed decisions. Travelers can also share their personalized journeys with friends, family, and fellow adventurers, fostering inspiration and connection through shared experiences.
User Research and Personas Grounded in Real Travel Behaviors
While developing this app, I conducted user interviews with frequent travelers who enjoy sharing their experiences with family, friends, and followers. These insights helped me identify common user needs and informed the creation of three distinct user personas.
User needs
When I write post I want to add pictures, write about my experience and recommend places that were memorable for me so I can share it with other users
When I search for locations, I want to get suggestions while typing, so I can find it easier and faster
When I find a location, I want the ability to save it, so I can curate a list and add notes
When I tap on recommended places of a user, I want to see be able to save it to my own list to navigate to it, so I can immediately see how far the place is from my current location
Empowering Users to Document and Share Meaningful Travel Experiences
The app allows users to share unique experiences with others from around the world by providing them with the tools to document their travels with personal notes. They can organise saved locations into lists for themselves and for fellow travellers and use guides to plan and and make their travels easier.
Seamless Discovery and Social Travel Features in a Responsive Web App
The design focuses on the ability to find destinations that are recommended by other users of the app
Search & Discover Guides
Easily find restaurants, tourist attractions, hidden gems, and complete travel guides using the search bar—or browse popular destinations for your next trip inspiration.
Connect with the Travel Community
Explore real recommendations and experiences shared by fellow travelers to discover what’s worth seeing and doing.
roads as Your Travel Diary
Document your adventures as you go. Create a personal travel diary and share your journey with friends, family, and the wider community.
Conclusion
The Roads project demonstrates the power of user-centered design in simplifying travel planning and fostering community-driven discovery. By focusing on intuitive search, save-and-note features, and seamless guide exploration, the app successfully addresses the frustration of fragmented trip research and unverified information.
Through user interviews and persona mapping, I was able to align key features—like personalized lists, curated guides, and interactive trip diaries—with travelers’ actual needs. The result is a responsive web app that not only makes trip planning more efficient but also inspires confidence via peer recommendations and shared experiences.
What I Learned
The importance of trust signals—like user reviews and curated guides—in boosting user confidence
How to design feature-rich interfaces that remain intuitive and scalable across different screen sizes
The value of iteration based on user feedback, especially during search and save flows
