Travel AGent App
I designed a mobile app called Roamio that utilizes AI algorithms to help the user plan and schedule their travels. Users are able to get travel suggestions, easily create an itinerary for their trips, and book accommodations based on suggestions generated by the algorithms.
Tools Used
Figma​
Time Frame
7 weeks
April–June 2024
My Roles
prototyping
user feedback
AI concepts
UI design
The Prompt
Design an interactive system that involves some form of AI. Prototype the user interface and build a proof-of-concept of the AI algorithm.
Empathize
Planning a vacation can be stressful and time-consuming
Users must search through many websites to find what they need for their travels
Define
A way for an AI system to help the user plan and organize their travel plans
Ability for the user to have easy access throughout their travels
Ideate
A mobile app that easily helps a user plan their travels
​AI incorporated into the app acts as a travel agent
Conceptual DesiGn
When brainstorming ideas for the design of the mobile app, I came up with features that would be helpful for users:
Suggest travel locations & activities
Organize planned activities into an itinerary
Map will let users geographically view places they have planned to visit
AI will collect data from free sources like the Internet
User can accept or reject suggestions, ask for new ones, or enter their own
Users can search & book flights & hotel reservations
Users can get suggestions based on attributes they want in their travels
Sketches
Initial sketches of my ideas for the mobile app included those for an Itinerary page, a Search page, a Search suggestions page, a Map page, and a Flights & Hotels page.
AI Concepts
My AI proof-of-concept explained the ways AI would be incorporated into the app.
TraininG
AI trained on data from different reliable travel websites
Data is tagged with key terms about each activity for search retrieval
Recommender system
Suggests hotel and transportation bookings based on travel info inputs
Case-Based ReasoninG
Uses knowledge of past user experiences to swap one itinerary activity with a similar one if desired by user
DiGital Wireframes
Using my sketches as groundwork, I developed the first iteration of digital wireframes on Figma.
On the Itinerary page, users can scroll horizontally, viewing each day of their travels as planned.
Each scheduled itinerary event is color-coded by time of day and lists basic details. Users can tap for more details.
Users can swap one event for a similar one, generated by an AI algorithm
Users also have the ability to manually write in an event
The Search page allows the users to view activities and locations by searching for their destination.
If they do not have a specific destination in mind, users can click on interests and an AI algorithm will generate suggestions for them.
Search results allows users to easily add events and destinations to their itinerary.
Tapping on an event will bring users to a more detailed page.
Search results can be filtered based on interests or location distance.
Events and destinations are easily added to their itinerary
On the Map page, users can search for destinations and immediately add them to their itinerary.
Users' scheduled events are plotted on the map, color-coded by time of day and numbered by itinerary day.
The Bookings page allows users to book hotels, flights, and modes of transportation.
The recommendations are generated by the AI algorithm through data gathered by the Internet and based on the user's scheduled itinerary.
Users can easily switch between hotels, flights, and different modes of transportation.
Dates and cities are automatically generated based on the user's scheduled itinerary.
Clickable Prototype
Usability Study
With the functional prototype, I conducted a usability study to understand which parts of the app were successful and what needed to be improved.
Key FindinGs
1
OnboardinG
User wanted to add basic info at the start of their user experience, such as the number of people traveling, transportation, and the number of days in each location
2
User Flow
User flow on Itinerary page was not obvious
3
Flexibility
User wanted the option to have multiple itineraries at once
4
NaviGation
Issues scrolling vertically on the Itinerary page
Future Improvements
When next iterating the mobile app's design, I would reflect on what changes would benefit the users, taking the feedback from my usability study into consideration.
1
Add a button for the user to create an initial travel plan
2
Allow users to create multiple itineraries & add tabs at the top of the Itinerary page for them to move between their itineraries
3
Fix the scrolling on the Itinerary page and make the carousel on the Itinerary page more obvious
Takeaways
An AI travel agent could be very useful to people, saving them time and effort when planning their travels. However, there was much more to consider when designing with AI in mind, such as where the training data would come from and how the algorithms would work in order to be effective.​