Horizon
Travel Agency

Redefining Online Travel Experiences

Discover a world of personalized travel opportunities with Horizon. Our innovative solutions are designed to make travel planning effortless and intuitive, inspiring customers to explore new horizons with confidence and joy.

Project Context and Challenges

💻 About the Project

This application is designed to help users search for and plan personalized trips, tailored to their preferences and budget, within the travel agency sector.

 

📌 Project Goal:

Design an intuitive platform that simplifies travel planning, offers tailored packages, and builds trust with users.

 

🚀 Key Challenges:

  1. Standing Out: Differentiate Horizon from competitors with personalized offers and an AI assistant.
  2. User Needs: Address diverse user expectations for a seamless booking experience.
  3. Naming Offers: Create clear, intuitive names for travel packages.
  4. Building Trust: Develop a reliable platform that inspires user confidence.
  5. Budget Optimization – Efficient cost management in UX research and design, ensuring maximum value within the allocated budget.

Roadmap

The UX Process  – from research to implementation.

UX process was divided into six essential stages, each contributing to a user-centric platform design.

UX Research

Conducting market analysis and competitor benchmarking to identify key trends and opportunities.

User Interviews

Interviewing potential users to uncover their needs, frustrations, and expectations, shaping user-centric solutions.

Personas

Creating detailed user personas to represent target audience behaviors, motivations, and pain points.

Empathy Map

Mapping what users think, feel, say, and do to deeply understand their emotional perspective and priorities.

User Journey Map

Visualizing the user journey to identify pain points, improve experiences, and streamline key touchpoints.

Card Sorting

Developing a clear structure of categories and names to help users quickly find the offers they need.

UX Research

📊 Market and Competitor Analysis

As part of the UX research, I conducted market and competitor analysis to understand user needs and define key directions for Horizon’s platform. I focused on identifying critical trends such as the growing popularity of sustainable travel (Eco-travel), short trips to European cities (City Breaks), and combining work with travel (Workation).

⚠️ Identifying Gaps and Challenges

Competitor analysis helped me uncover significant gaps in the market, such as the lack of intuitive interfaces and limited personalization of offers. As a result, I proposed unique solutions for Horizon, including:

1️⃣ Offer Personalization – tailoring travel packages to individual user preferences.
2️⃣ Ease of Use – creating a more intuitive interface compared to competitors.
3️⃣ Budget-Friendly Premium Packages – combining affordable pricing with unique, personalized experiences.

🛠️ Foundation for Further Development

These findings laid the groundwork for subsequent design stages, such as user interviews, persona creation, and  journey mapping.

User Interviews

🗣️ User Interviews & Analysis

I conducted interviews with three distinct user groups, each representing different travel styles and needs, to better understand their requirements.

1️⃣ The first group consisted of families with children, who prefer all-inclusive packages with amenities such as kids’ clubs, animations, and airport transfers. They also value clear pricing without hidden costs and transparent booking terms.

2️⃣ The second group included singles, who seek budget-friendly options with flexible choices like last-minute deals, and the ability to customize trips to match their preferences, especially for adventurous and sightseeing-focused travel.

3️⃣ The third group comprised seniors, who favor organized tours with guides, emphasizing the importance of having access to a travel advisor and comfortable travel conditions, such as minimizing the number of transfers.

📌 Key Findings:

  • Personalization: Tailored offers are essential for all groups, especially for families with children and seniors.
  • Transparency: Clear booking terms enhance trust in the service.
  • Amenities: Providing dedicated services that cater to specific needs of each group can serve as a key differentiator for Horizon.

📊 Impact on Design Process

The insights gathered formed the foundation for creating user personas and empathy maps, enabling a deeper understanding of users and a better alignment of the offerings.

 

 

PERSONAS – KEY FIGURES

Personas are the foundation of Horizon’s user-centered travel solutions. By conducting six interviews and extensive research, we identified three key personas that reflect the diverse needs of our audience:

  • Families with children – Seeking family-friendly amenities and clear pricing.
  • Singles – Prioritizing flexibility and spontaneity.
  • Seniors – Preferring organized and stress-free travel.

 

These personas have played a crucial role in designing tailored solutions for our users.

Personas created

Interview questions prepared

Key insights identified

Hours of user interviews conducted

Empathy Map

The empathy map is a tool that allows us to deeply understand the needs, concerns, motivations, and expectations of our primary persona – Anna Kowalska. Using this framework, we were able to step into her perspective, enabling the creation of solutions tailored to the real needs of Horizon’s users.

📌 Key Areas:

  • What does she hear? Family and friends recommend safe, family-friendly solutions with clear booking terms.
  • What does she see? Online offers are often overloaded with information and lack transparency.
  • What does she think and feel? She fears hidden costs and the absence of child-friendly activities. She dreams of stress-free vacations for her entire family.
  • What does she say and do? She speaks positively about safe, family-oriented travel options while searching for clear and comprehensive solutions.

🎯 Challenges:

  • Lack of clear booking conditions.
  • Limited personalization of offers tailored to families.

📊 Benefits of the Empathy Map:

  • A deeper understanding of user needs and challenges.
  • Creation of more intuitive and user-focused solutions.
  • Strengthening the design process through empathy and real user insights.

User Journey Map

🔍 Understanding the User Experience

To gain a deeper understanding of Anna’s experience as a user, we analyzed every stage of her interaction with the Horizon platform – from seeking inspiration to finalizing her booking and preparing for her trip. This process captures her emotions, needs, challenges, and expectations when using a travel platform.

⚠️ Challenges in the Early Stages

During the initial search phase, Anna faces difficulties finding family-friendly offers tailored to her needs, as well as concerns about hidden costs. While comparing offers and communicating with the travel agency, she values clear and prompt responses to her inquiries, which help reduce uncertainty. Personalization of the offer and transparent booking conditions play a crucial role in building her confidence and trust in the platform.

✅ Final Steps & ✨ AI Assistance

The final stages, such as completing the booking and preparing for the trip, are particularly important for Anna as she expects a seamless and stress-free process. With the support of Horizon’s AI Assistant, she receives tailored recommendations, reminders of key deadlines, and practical tips to help her organize her trip effortlessly.

🚀 Opportunities for Improvement

Anna’s User Journey Map highlights key opportunities for improving Horizon’s services, such as:

  • Enhancing platform usability
  • Personalizing offers
  • Ensuring transparency in terms and conditions

This user-centered approach ensures that not only are her expectations met, but also that her travel experience is smooth and enjoyable at every stage.

cart sorting

Optimizing Travel Offer Naming

📌 Research Goal

The goal of the Card Sorting test was to determine whether the names of travel agency offers are intuitive and aligned with user expectations. We used the closed card sorting method, where participants assigned names to predefined categories.

🛠️ Process

🔹 Conducting the test with a group of users
🔹 Analyzing the intuitiveness of name assignments
🔹 Identifying problematic names requiring refinement

📊 Key Findings

✅ 75% of names were correctly assigned, indicating that most were intuitive for users.
⚠️ 20% of names required adjustments, mainly through added descriptions or rewording.
❌ 5% of names were unintuitive and needed a complete change.

🚀 Implemented Improvements

✔ Adjusted names with low assignment accuracy
✔ Added descriptions for ambiguous names
✔ Clarified differences between categories, e.g., luxury vs. all-inclusive

Search directions

Card Sorting Results Table – Name Intuitiveness Analysis

Card Sorting Results – Accuracy of Destination Names

Search result

Project Summary

UX Optimization

The project focused on creating an intuitive and efficient travel platform. Through UX research, competitive analysis, and usability testing, we developed solutions that streamline the booking process and enhance user experience.

Product

🔹 Developed user personas and an empathy map to gain deep insights into user needs.
🔹 Mapped the Customer Journey to identify and eliminate key frustration points

Branding

🔹 Built a cohesive communication and naming strategy.
🔹 Defined a unique brand identity based on transparency, simplicity, and personalized offerings.

AI Integration

🔹 AI Assistant guides users through the booking process.
🔹 Automated offer recommendations based on user preferences.

v

Communication

🔹 Transparent Navigation – Eliminating hidden costs to increase user trust.
🔹 Cost Optimization – Maximizing value within available resources while ensuring effective UX solutions.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

During the analysis and optimization of the platform, several key challenges were identified that impacted the user experience:

  • Difficulty in matching offers to individual user needs.
  • Lack of intuitive navigation, leading to potential frustration during trip planning.
  • Limited personalization options and absence of dynamic offer recommendations.

Recommendations:

N

Implement an AI Assistant

Introduce an intelligent assistant that analyzes user preferences and suggests tailored offers. This will enhance personalization and make the booking process more efficient.

N

Expand the offering with additional services

Introduce complementary options, such as recommendations for local attractions, transportation, or insurance, to enrich the platform’s value and attract more users.

N

Automated recommendations and dynamic packages

Implement a system that suggests customized travel packages based on previous user choices, increasing conversions and overall satisfaction.

By implementing these improvements, the platform will become more intuitive, flexible, and effective in meeting user expectations while standing out from the competition.