Brief

Seein was a response to Stanford Longevity Design challenge; a challenge that encourages students to design products and services to improve overall well being spanning across a lifetime. This years theme was intergenerational impact.

Collaborative partners • Eden Kleiman & Olivia Carpenter
Duration • 12 weeks

Being in a new place can be daunting…

“How might we help connect meaningful relationships while travelling?”

Background

In the period of working on this brief, myself and my teammates were on a university exchange in California from New Zealand. We wanted a way that we could incorporate some of our own current challenges and personal experiences within this project. We agreed that while being immersed in a new place was extremely exciting but at times it was hard to meet locals. If we could break this barrier we would have the ability to learn more deeply about the culture. 

This led to the idea of a mobile app which connects people of all ages while travelling to enhance cultural awareness and knowledge between locals and travellers when experiencing the unknown. Seein intends to generate well-being by facilitating a space that encourages open mindedness, meaningful social interactions and authenticity.

Research

Studies into travel trends and behaviours have shown an increase in solo travel; but we realised that travelling alone can be emotionally difficult as solo travellers navigate feelings of loneliness and culture shock. We looked into the emotional impacts of travelling and travellers behaviours. 

• When traveling 82% of people aspire to ‘get off the beaten path’ and 55% want to form connections with locals. 

• Those between the ages of 55-64 were the most open to meeting locals. 

• Over 70% of American travellers confirm that they always use their smartphone while travelling to research activities. 

• Travellers often find themselves turning towards the disputed industry of ethnic tourism which commodifies cultures. 

We managed to recruit two helping hands, a grandfather in his 70’s and a man in his 50’s who we consulted throughout the whole design process which allowed us to dig deep for feedback and suggestions. 

Personas

We created four personas that helped refine our user audience. These were made with our ‘ideal’ users in mind; locals and travellers with a range in age. We created a survey and had 50+ participants, the next step was to analyse the data from this to find out our users key goals and key barriers.

Shared attributes

Open-minded
Explorers
Authentic
Sociable
Independent

Usability

We ran some usability sessions with a mock up of the screens and interviewed a range of people, including some of the foreign exchange students! This was great to get an insight and observe first hand how they used the prototype. We used their feedback to refine our strategy below.

Strategy

This app will be used by both travellers wanting to connect with locals, and locals willing to share their town with travellers. 

• A traveling user can browse their destination by all locals or activities. A local user will be notified if a traveller wants to meet with them. 

• Chat within the app allows users to interact and schedule a meeting time. 

• The 'Meet Up's' feature allows users to view and manage their activities with others. 

• A review system enforces safety and positive interactions. 

• The app is based around a pay it forward philosophy where those that have been hosted as a traveller are encouraged to do the same when they are home.

Design solution

Our main direction with the interface design is complete usability and clarity. We want the screen to be uncluttered with a clear navigation system through the app. This will allow our older users to feel more competent when using it. Aesthetically we will capitalise on negative space, pops of colour, and beautiful travel photography. 

As a team we wanted the app to be simple and clean so that it was easy to use for an audience of all ages. We used minimal colours and a sans serif typeface in a large point size so that it had good readability, which was important for older generations. The screens were designed so that the process when they had to fill out information it was as minimal as possible. We used photos rather than illustrations as we thought this would be the most appropriate for a travel app.

Challenges

Prototyping the app on invision was the most challenging as the swipe/slide effect was not transitioning as smoothly as we we wanted it to. This was also a big part of our design so we wanted it to look realistic. We ended up achieving it by creating a video on aftereffects and exporting it as a gif for invision. 

Effectiveness

Due to our team being immersed in a new environment with the opportunity to travel, learn about a different culture and meet new people, the app was something we were interested in to research and prototype. The app was thought through clearly with the user interface and design solution. I also believe that while young people will potentially use the app more due to being more immersed in technology, it was designed for people of all ages and backgrounds. Hoping to connect people together to learn and teach. I think as a group we also worked effectively together, bouncing off each others strengths. 

Seein encourages a connection between travellers and locals in a way that enhances their well-being and travel experiences. Our proposed app will give travellers a unique window to ‘see in’ to local cultures. Seein creates an impact on the user’s travel experience as it overcomes loneliness experienced by both travellers and locals by providing a space for meaningful connections. It also collapses barriers between travellers and locals and provides a means for travellers to tackle culture shock by facilitating immersive experiences. 

Through this, Seein finds authenticity and forms a deeper connection through respect for local cultures. The app breaks intergenerational divisions by bringing people together through experience, interests and location, rather than age. Not only does the app focus on multi-generations, but allows budget conscious travellers to have experiences through a pay it forward philosophy rather than currency. 

Software

Invision, Adobe Creative suite.