The project
TourSocial
TourSocial started as a mobile app concept to discover cool local spots and events in Seattle. After testing the concept with locals, it became a social platform, where friends could share their experiences.
What did i do
My role
Working with a developer, and other interested stakeholders, I produced research deliverables, market insights, personas, wireframes, prototypes, and original design ideas. All assets seen in this case study were created by me.
User Insights
I value tested integration and charity concepts with target users and conducted qualitative research.
Strategy & Vision
I created artifacts to evangelize ideas, drive decisions, and gain alignment.
Protoyping & Visual Design
I built prototypes in order to test concepts and designed visuals / designs system.
User Testing
I conducted user tests, presented findings and recommended refinements to the experience.
the challenge
Social Curation
How can we differentiate ourselves in an already highly competitive and the mature marketplace of social, events travel apps in a way that doesn't involve adding more and more features?
the approach
Personalize, then Scale
Equipped with Seattle as our testing ground, and plenty of potential users who were stoked about the prospect of this app, our strategy was to create an amazing experience for locals first.
Initial Value Testing
I conducted heuristics on other similar apps and documented my findings, most of which served the purpose of establishing my standards, and understanding the competition.
It laid that groundwork for knowledge, confidence in our initial direction.
the service
Introducing TourSocial
Once the team felt good about the tour guide experience and content, and tested it with users, it became clear that a social component would add the next best value.
Although the tour guide was our MVP, we moved forward with a social experience, that gave users the ability to track and share their usage.
Curation
An easy to navigate dashboard with an overview of offerings, events and activities curated by relevant categories based on user feedback, card sorting and testing.
Ranking
The best places to tour, based on popularity
Audio Content
Geared towards the tourist, but just as entertaining for the local, audio content that is modern, enjoyable, educational and for all ages, offers a unique juxtaposition of historical and current information.
Maps
The tour aligns with GPS based technology, and content, both audio and digital, surfaces as the user navigates from site to site.
Social
Just the right amount of social integration to allows users to experience an even more personal layer of curation based on friends networks activities and reviews.
how we got there
The Pocket Sized Tour Guide
We spent considerable time understanding how our personas think about travel, events, dining, tourism, and how they experience both new cities versus the city they live in.
