Prepper is a mobile application prototype that allows users to sift through interest-based images of their destination. Those interests are easily added to their itinerary and map for further planning. The Prepper prototype was created a personal project with three of my friends. Prepper was created using the high-fidelity prototyping software Axure. The first iteration of the prototype was created after conducting minimal-risk research with a Qualtrics survey. The second iteration was created after conducting in-person interviews demoing the first iteration.
University Project
Project Manager, UX Researcher
Fall 2017
Axure, Illustrator, Qualtrics Research, User Interviews
I was assigned the role of project manager for the Prepper project. As the project manager is was my job to coordinate the team, assign other roles, keep the team focussed, make final decisions, and assist the team. I came up with the idea for the Prepper project and my team was comprised of other students who voted for my idea. I assisted in the research, designing, and prototyping processes.
Carly D'Allen
Race: Caucasian
Status: In-R
Sex: Female
Age: 24
Education
Carly is a senior at Kennesaw State University going towards a degree in Geographic Information Systems.
Background
Carly was born in Alpharetta, Georgia and currently commutes to university. Carly’s father owns a successful international event management company so she has a lot of experience traveling and working in other countries. Carly’s favorite travel destination is Japan where she has been twice and is planning on visiting again in the winter of 2018.
Situation
Carly, Grace, and Austin are planning a group trip to Japan in the winter of 2018. Carly and Austin have experience with Japanese customs, rules, and culture. They also already use other services to plan out their trips. Carly is looking for a service that would make it easier to save locations she wants to visit that she can also refer back to during her trip.
Grace Schwartz
Race: Caucasian
Status: Single
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Education
Grace graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2016 with a degree in Health Sciences.
Background
Grace was born in Kennesaw, Georgia and currently works from home day-trading Crypto Currencies. Grace has travelled her whole life with her family and has also assisted in planning group trips for university students with Austin. Grace has visited many countries in the Americas but has never visited another continent.
Situation
Grace is planning on attending the trip to Japan in the winter of 2018 with Austin and Carly. Both Carly and Austin have been to Japan before but Grace has not. Grace is looking for a service that will help her learn necessary information about her destination such as customs and culture, as well as key phrases to help her get around.
Rishika Laliwala
Race: Indian
Status: Single
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Education
Rishika is a Junior at Kennesaw State University and is currently taking a semester off of school.
Background
Rishika has travelled all over the world with her family. She currently works as a manager of one of her parents Subway franchises. Rishika loves to travel and particularly likes countries in Western and Southern Asia region. For example Nepal, India, and Turkey.
Situation
Rishika likes to visit countries that are not very Westernized. Because of this most apps make it difficult to find good pop-up restaurants or street food. Rishika is looking for an app that pulls public information so she can get the widest array of locations to visit.
I was certified by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) for minimal risk research. This certification allowed my team to conduct surveys using Qualtrics, and conduct in-person interviews for the prototype. The Qualtrics survey was filled out by 52 students and provided us beneficial data for the project.
The first iteration of the prototype was developed using the the data from the Qualtrics survey and followed the user flows and mock-ups. The prototype was created using Axure and took advantages some features that other prototyping tools do not use. We took advantage of Axure’s ability to allow the user to type text and respond to their input. For the prototype we made it so if the user types “Japan” in the search, they will be able to view the Japan travel content. This content cannot be accessed through other means in the prototype.
Our team conducted in-person interviews with three people from our target demographic. The interviews consisted of a study of how the interviewees navigated the first iteration of the prototype. We asked them to perform specific tasks and explain their thought process. We also asked non-leading questions about their experience with the prototype, our brand, and the idea in general.
The second iteration of the prototype was developed using the insights gained through the in-person user interviews. The interviews provided us an unbiased outside opinion on our prototype, brand, and idea. The second iteration was given a complete overhaul and changed to a light-color theme instead of dark. We redesigned the logo to make the backpack design more distinguishable. We changed the loading screen to strengthen the brand and automate the change to the next page. We added a log-in/register screen. Essential Information for trips was added to the Itinerary page. We also took advantage Axure’s ability to allow the user to click and drag content on the Day View of the Itinerary. By clicking the up arrow on the bottom, users can drag the first image into the 7:00am timeframe as a functionality example.