Simplifying and personalizing the search for nearby experiences.
Product
End-to-end mobile-first responsive website
Role
UX/UI Designer | Solo student project for Designlab UX Academy
Timeline
14 weeks
Primary Tools:
Figma, Fathom, Zoom, and Optimal Workshop
Background
With the rise of digital resources, there’s been a shift by people to do their own research online. How often do we check reviews before trying a new restaurant or making a purchase? How about looking at user-submitted photos and videos?
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 81% of Americans say they rely on their own research when it comes to making decisions. Of those, 46% explained that they used digital tools for that research.
Research Goal: I want to learn about the challenges people face when searching for experiences near them, so I can effectively present experiences to them on the Neerkat platform — building value for users and increasing engagement.
By implementing personalization features like the quiz and like/dislike buttons, users are able to give their feedback to refine the algorithm to see recommendations that match their interests better.
Eezy was the only competitor that had a feature to personalize the search experience to the user. The user messages an AI chatbot that gives them recommendations based on their mood, but the results are often too broad and outdated. This then became my opportunity for the solution.
Research Questions:
“When you first moved to your area, what was the first thing you searched for around you? Why?”
“What challenges did you come across when searching for things to do?”
“What are your three most important must haves when picking an experience?”
According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 88% of Americans said that reviews make them feel confident about their decision on a product or service.
100% of participants valued experiences that were conveniently located near them.
Reviews and photos gave participants an idea of what to expect and helped them make a decision.
5/6 participants enjoyed searching in map view.
100% of participants wanted a more personalized search experience to find places and activities that matched their interests.
I’d like to explore ways to help curious people to discover experiences that are conveniently located because they’ll avoid experiences that are too far or too difficult to get to.
How might we make it easier for new residents to discover experiences that are conveniently located?
How might we make the discovery process more time efficient?
Motivations:
Feels a sense of community and belonging by meeting new friends, discovering local restaurants, and exploring the outdoors.
Pain points:
Finds it challenging to use multiple products to find experiences.
Dislikes last-minute plans because she prefers to plan ahead and do extensive research on experiences.
Motivations:
Likes to establish routines and go to spots nearby to feel more settled and at home in his new city.
Pain points:
As a student, he values budget-friendly experiences.
Avoids inconvenient experiences with long waits or bad traffic.
Disappointed by generic recommendations.
At this stage:
Explored two different layouts and UI elements for each screen.
Received mentor and peer feedback to narrow down the design of each screen.
At this stage:
Created more comprehensive and realistic UI components
Evaluated content structure based on visual hierarchy and layout
Set placement of images and icons
I created a mascot logo of a meerkat, which represents community and curiosity. Neerkat’s brand values are curiosity, vibrant, friendly, thoughtful, and connection.
Made the explore page the new homepage since the main CTA is for users to search.
Changed one of the quiz questions to ask users about their preferred modes of transportation instead of a qualitative question, which would be difficult to apply insights from.
Average usability rating of 4.6/5
Average usability rating of 4.9/5
Average usability rating of 4.5/5
All users successfully completed the tasks
Users gave an average overall usability rating of 4.7/5
4/5 users felt that Neerkat reminded them of Yelp, Google, and Trip Advisor
3/5 users weren’t sure how accurate or meaningful the percentage matches were
4/5 users said if they were searching for something specific in mind, they’d use the search bar before the “explore nearby experiences” link
2/5 users weren’t sure where “explore nearby experiences” would take them
Users were confused to see the same homepage before and after taking the quiz.
Users were skeptical of the vague percentage match feature in the original design.
6/6 users stated that reviews were an influential factor in their decision-making.
Users expected to see experiences that were very close by on the map. Previously, they were seeing recommendations that weren't filtered by distance.
Get cross functional feedback from a developer and a data scientist about tracking the data of the like and dislike feature from the back end.
Explore a social and friends feature, where users could find their friends and see what plans they’re saving — building value for the user.
Expand the quiz to get insightful data on the user to increase the accuracy of the personalized recommendations made for them.
