• TripTalk

TripTalk Travel Journaling App

INTERACTIVE DESIGN | BRANDING & IDENTITY

The goal for this project was to create a smartphone application with a storytelling theme.
Since I enjoy travel so much, I decided to create a travel journaling smartphone application with storytelling in mind.

Design Brief

Problem Space/Needs

A clear problem with travel journaling apps is that they are often not very user-friendly, and not aesthetically pleasing. They don’t play well with other apps such as Facebook and Instagram and the user base is generally pretty small. Popular travel apps such as Journi, Bonjournal, and Tripcast are good for saving your travel memories and sharing with friends, provided that your friends are also using the app – otherwise your posts go unnoticed.

I had considered making the app non-social; as in, not social-network based. In this sense it would be a private journal that users would solely populate with information and pictures for themselves. But then I thought, what’s the point? One of my favourite parts of travelling is sharing my special moments with family and friends, and getting tips from other travellers.

My goal is to make either a similar app that to Journi, Bonjournal, and Tripcast that also has a strong connection to Facebook and Instagram, etc., so that your posts are easy to share with those who are not using the app (thus, family members do not need to also be using the app to see your posts) – or, create a travel journaling app that is also used as a social network and has a solid user base. By creating an app that has these capabilities, users will be able to continually update their network of family and friends, and share in a way that is easily accessible. I think in terms of the scope of this project, it may be easier to execute the former – that is, a simple travel app that has the capability of sharing directly to Facebook, Instagram, etc., in addition to the features you would expect a travel journaling app to have.

Planned Solution

This app will provide a central location for both seasoned travellers and wanderlust-filled individuals to compile information, photos, and blog posts about their travels. It will be connected to other popular social media apps so that it is quick and effortless to share your blog posts and pictures across different platforms. This makes it easy for family and friends to see what you’re up to without having to download the app. However, the app is useful for much more than just posting to other platforms: users will have the ability to create albums of pictures, take notes, mark where you’ve been on the map, post photos and add geo-location tags to them, post travel tips and tricks, use a currency converter, and connect with other travellers.

This app will provide a central location for both seasoned travellers and wanderlust-filled individuals to compile information, photos, and blog posts about their travels. It will be connected to other popular social media apps so that it is quick and effortless to share your blog posts and pictures across different platforms. This makes it easy for family and friends to see what you’re up to without having to download the app. However, the app is useful for much more than just posting to other platforms: users will have the ability to create albums of pictures, take notes, mark where you’ve been on the map, post photos and add geo-location tags to them, post travel tips and tricks, use a currency converter, and connect with other travellers.

Value Proposition

This app will be different than other travel journaling apps because it will have several different features that other apps don’t have; and will also be much easier to share content to other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. It will help to bridge the gap between content and audience (current travel journaling apps struggle to do this). Not only is this app a means to collect memories to look back on later, it is a means to quickly and easily share your special moments with friends and family on a whim. Users will be able to look at other travellers’ itineraries and travel tips and connect with them through the app (however, privacy settings will be put in place in case contact is unwanted).

The Design Process

Functionality Revisions

  • make it so user is able to add tips to photos
  • create notifications screen
  • create explore pages
  • fix pages 1.7, 1
  • create photo upload page for a single photo
  • profile page > create other person’s profile page, add follow/unfollow buttons
  • criteria for suggested travellers and trips > what is it based on? random?
  • link facebook, twitter > ability to follow? syncronize your account after you create your account on TripTalk?
  • refine profile page layout?
  • screen after signing up to link your accounts to add contacts > follow them on this app > easier way to find people you are friends with on other apps, who also use THIS app
  • add privacy settings per trip
  • trimming the fat of facebook > no more crap. It’s all about you. your tips, your stuff, your experiences. Make it difficult to add crap. No adding links. No statuses.
  • people can’t see what you “like”. You can still get likes and get notifications for those likes, but you can’t see what other people are liking.
  • must add a photo with the blog post. This way you keep blog posts looking consistent and they all have a nice header photo.
  • geared towards an experience.
  • the MAIN over-arching sorting method is by TRIP. This needs to be added when posting material > user must select which trip the new content belongs to, or “create new trip”
  • make sure there are back buttons on all screens
  • reduces time spent on 6 other apps
  • limited linking to other sites/apps
  • posting capabilities – secondary window lets you choose whether to post VIA triptic and/or facebook and/or twitter > come follow my trip on triptic (link via triptic). User MUST choose TripTic, but can ALSO choose to post to other social media accounts they linked to.
  • itinerary is not invasive > users can choose to use it or not, doesn’t have to be viewed either, but it’s there if they want it
  • explore > search bar > specific destinations, would show trips and their respective users, so you can click on it to get more detail.
  • tinerary > posting capability to other apps > encourages you to follow on facebook. maybe not through all photos and blog posts. Otherwise it’s just a photo share.
  • itinerary > geolocation tags option for each list item
  • itinerary > lets you post list or places, but not times that you’re there – preventing stalking tendencies. May be generic, but can be edited in after where you went specifically.
  • itinerary gets filled out as you go
  • when you’re looking at other people’s blog posts you can’t see who else liked it. Only see who likes your own blog post.
  • mainly made for big trips, but can also be used for smaller day trips.
  • notification from those you follow each time they post an itinerary, not just any regular post, so as to not clog notifications feed. You can go to dash and see what they’re specifically doing. ONE NOTIFICATION FOR EACH TRIP. if you want to see more you go to the dashboard. Once you’ve checked the notification, it is up to you to follow that individual on their trip. You won’t get more notification for that day.
  • option to hide their posts if you want. (from dashboard)
  • profile page > trip > specific days for that trip > trip overview (adding the extra layer of day-by-day sorting of content)
  • if you don’t want to see anything from a specific trip, you can hide a specific trip > stow away/unstow (hide/unhide)
  • like could be changed to a more exciting verb > takeoff? hyped?
  • option to report malicious or unsavoury content or accounts
  • catchphrase – leave your baggage at home and take a trip with your friends everyday

Why would I use this instead of insert app name here?

  • Myspace > Facebook: People used Myspace and were completely happy with it before Facebook came out. They didn’t know they wanted something different until it was available to them. It’s the same with the travel app I’m creating. The answer is, yes, they could continue to use Facebook, Instagram, and Blogging apps to publish their travel stories. Is there a better solution? Yes, and it’s this app. TripTalk/TripTic (name still in progress) is a replacement for the use of 5-6 other apps. Of course you can still post your travel stories to Facebook, Instagram, etc. But wouldn’t you rather spend the 15 minutes you would have spent doing that, doing something else?
  • reason to use Facebook > was to see what our friends were up to. Now it’s saturated with crap, internet memes, political and religious jargon, scams, and advertisements. Triptic will allow you to follow your friends and family on their journey throughout the world without clutter.

The Final Vision

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