Problem statement

Gen Z backpackers often struggle with finding unique and authentic travel experiences. They have a strong desire for daily inspiration and challenges that align with the adventurous spirit of Gen Z. Popular destinations are overcrowded and commercialized, making it hard to discover adventurous experiences.

The ask

To make the Lonely Planet relevant again. The ask is to create a non-sticky utility tool that matches our independent, confident & adventurous persona and is relevant throughout the Gen Z backpacking journey.

Business opportunity

To ensure Yolo Planet fits seamlessly into the travel landscape, we conducted an ecosystem analysis. We examine the whole travel experience of Gen-Z backpackers.

This journey isn't a linear process; it includes the phases of pre-travel, during travel, and post-travel and will start again with the pre-travel.

This involved examining the current travel apps, social media platforms, travel blogs, and community forums that Gen Z backpackers use.
Ecosystem analysis

Key takeaways

Instagram and TikTok dominate the Pre phase.During the journey, Gen Z get information at hostels and from other backpackers.

Post phase of a trip directly inspires the Pre phase of their next trip. Opportunity Area: To digitize how Gen Z backpackers try to get off the beaten path.

Learning from others in
our market space

After conducting eco system analysis and learning from our competitors, Gen-z tries to get off the beaten path by asking people around the hostel during their travels and we have three types of competitors: social media, travel guides, and games.

Social media platforms and travel guides assist travelers in gaining and sharing experiences but offer no more than this. Games, promote competition and are highly engaging. BeReal stands out as the only social media app that is not overly engaging or "sticky."
Criteria

Be Real

Pokemon Go

City Game

Wanderlust

Yolo Planet

Not sticky
Encourages competition
Closed community
Takes users out of comfort zone

Understanding
Gen Z’s travel behaviors

We conducted deep user research to uncover insights into the travel behaviors, pain points, needs, and preferences of our target audience. Through qualitative interviews and affinity mapping, we identified behavior patterns among 32 young backpackers in Thailand's
Kao San and hostel areas, studying their diverse travel cultures.

Distilling research
into personas

After synthesizing the insights gathered from interviews and research about Gen Z backpackers, we created potential persons. Person is a detailed character profile for our typical user. It helps us understand who our users are by gathering information about their age, interests, goals, and how they use your product.
Follower Frank
(Primary Persona)

“I usually play it safe and just follow what my friends do”

He is traveling in a different country with his friends. He is afraid of having a bad experience after trying unfamiliar things.
He doesn’t want to take risks. Often his friends cheer him up
to try something new and fun.

Pain Points

  • Can't get over his fear to try unfamiliar things
  • Afraid to try cheap options and ends up overspending
  • Feel unsecure travelling alone
  • Relies on other people while travelling

Walkarounds

  • Gets cheered up by his more adventurous friends
  • Ends the trip sooner or changes the travel plan
  • Always sticks to the group
  • Follows his friends and gains the experience
Loner Leo

“No plans, I just go with the flow to find under the radar places and I enjoy traveling alone”

He enjoys backpacking without plans, exploring randomly alone or with like-minded people. He seeks unique, less popular activities for a more authentic travel experience. He enjoys himself during the trip and doesn't need to look a for companion.

Pain Points

  • Feels like traveling with someone limits his freedom
  • Cannot find unique experiences in touristy areas
  • Finds typical touristy experiences too expensive
  • Can’t always find a place to sleep because of yolo planning

Walkarounds

  • Travels alone or only with people with same energy
  • Ends the trip sooner or changes the travel plan
  • Tries to find local experiences and get off the beaten path
Planner Paula

“Most of the timeI plan and my friends just follow me”

She wants to try some fun activities that are not as popular and accessible in her hometown. They are not as fun when you do them alone, that’s why she prefers traveling with other people.
She is the person in the group who arranges these activities.

Pain Points

  • Some experiences are less fun alone
  • Friends don’t want to get out of their comfort zone
  • Some exciting activities are not accessible in her hometown
  • Can’t always find a place to sleep because of yolo planning

Walkarounds

  • Asks her friends to join or tries to find another group of people
  • Cheers up their friends and convinces them to join or goes alone
  • Tries them while traveling in other countries
  • Rents a car and sleeps in a car trunk

How might we get Frank to do a daily challenge?

Onboarding states

First launching the app, Frank goes through the onboarding screens which briefly introduce him to Yolo Planet and he gets to know what is a daily challenge.

Notification

While hanging around Khao san road, Frank sees a notification saying that his friend, Moses has just completed a challenge in BarcelonaFrank clicks to see what’s going on and sees a video from Thewa recording the moment the jumped out of the bus.

Challenge Reveal

Frank got curious about the challenge that Thewa did, so he click to the challenge screen to know what is today challenge.He closes the app and starts to complete his challenge.

Reminder

While Frank is outside, he gets a notification that says that he has only three hour left to complete his challenge.Going back to the app. There is a pop-up asking if he completed or not.

Photo as proof

The camera open for him to take a photo or record a video as a proof of completing his challenge.

Time for rewards

Successfully uploading the proof, Frank sees the screen showing that he earns new badges. He also received items for his character. He can choose to share in other apps like Instagram.

Success!

Frank gets to the leaderboard screen where he can see his place in the ranking among his friends. And Frank is definitely motivated to do the challenge again tomorrow.

Digging deeper into the user flow

The underlying structure

What I learned

First of all, I learned how to work as a team by taking on individual responsibilities and collaborating effectively.
‍
During interviews at Khao San Road,
I learned how to make interviewees feel comfortable with the questions, how to start conversations, and how to avoid asking leading questions.
‍
Learnt how to synthesize the insights gathered from interviews, how to present our findings to the audience effectively and exchange ideas and feedback upon our work.
‍
For hard skills, I learnt about business opportunities, other competitors, user flow, process flow, structure and sitemaps,
persona and wireframe.
‍
For soft skills, I learnt team collaboration, negotiation, presentation skills, exchanging ideas and giving feedback.

Thank to my team, 3TL

Meet out team, we are 3TL -3T(Tim ,Tam, Thewa) & L(Lin-me).
We collaborated together with differences views, ideas and
approaches. We fight for our ideas but successfully collaborated
at the end, leveraging each others strengths, giving honest
feedbacks, precious friendship and beautiful teamwork.