Revolutionizing Travel Planning with AI:
A Smarter & Effortless Way to Explore

Your Ultimate Travel Guide Starts Here

9:41

Tsushima, Japan

Historical tour of Tsushima

$139/person

21.1 miles

3.2 miles

3D/4N

Jogaku Temple

$139/person

21.1 miles

3.2 miles

3D/4N

Historical trip of Italy

$139/person

21.1 miles

3.2 miles

3D/4N

Explore

Bucket List

Trips

Profile

Generate

Historical tour of Tsushima

$139/person

21.1 miles

3.2 miles

3D/4N

What’s your budget?

$ 0

$ 2000

The Team

Founder

4 UX Researchers

Product Designer (That's me🙋)

Timeline

4 Months

My Role

Product Research

Collaborated with PMs, Engineering

👀

A Sneak peak

On average, travelers visit
38 websites before making a booking.

So we asked 30 travel enthusiasts, What apps/methods do you use to plan your itinerary?

The Problem?

Trip planning is time consuming, disorganized, and impersonal for modern travelers.

The solution

Skip to

AI Powered

14s

Current favorite song

Stick Season

Impact

The redesigned Citi B2B Payments Dashboard was successfully launched after an intensive 4-week design sprint

50%

Percieved Adoption Rate

Sample size: 8

🏆

People's Choice Award

Capstone Project Showcase

60.4

System Usability Scale Score

Time on Task

🚀

Deep Dive

Business Goal

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that provides hyper-personalized travel experiences, leading to user acquisition and potential monetization opportunities

My Personal Challenge

Understanding Scope, Market Research, Following Data driven insights

Gap in the market

No collaborative AI-powered trip planner that helps groups coordinate plans seamlessly.

Key Partnerships

Travel booking platforms: Hotels (Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda)
Flights (Skyscanner, Kayak API)
Tours (basic partnerships for experiences)
AI/ML tech providers (OpenAI, Llama for route personalization).
Influencers for early beta testing & launch push.

Key Activities

Travel booking platforms: Hotels (Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda)

Great for itinerary organization

Customer Relationships

Optional personalization adjustments to fine-tune profile over time.
"Smart match" system recommending trips based on user's evolving personality

Channels

Mobile App (Primary) — iOS & Android (direct download).

Customer Segments

Frequent travelers (both leisure & business) looking for quick trip curation.
Millennials and Gen Z travelers who prefer personalized, plans.
First-time travelers seeking simple and fast itinerary solutions.
Small groups & solo travelers needing flexible planning.
Occasional travelers who want easy plug-and-play trips without research.

Great for itinerary organization

Timothy

Chandan

Business Model Canvas

Research

in-depth interviews with frequent travelers, Secondary research

In-depth interviews

30+

Survey responses

50+

Research papers analysed

Insights from research

"I want an itinerary that feels personalized, not just generic suggestions"

Lack of personalization

70% struggle to find activities that match their interests

"I love traveling with friends, but fitting everyone's suggestions into an itinerary is messy"

Disjointed collaboration

50% experience difficulty coordinating with friends while planning

"I want an itinerary that feels personalized, not just generic suggestions"

Decision fatigue

Sifting through numerous websites to find information

Competitive Analysis

No existing platform dynamically adjusts itineraries based on user personality

Competitor

Tripadvisor

Wanderlog

TripIt

Pros

Strong reviews & recommendations

Good group planning features

Great for itinerary organization

Limitations

Lacks collaborative planning tools

Doesn’t auto-generate itineraries

No AI-powered personalization

Gap in the market

No collaborative AI-powered trip planner that helps groups coordinate plans seamlessly.

Scroll to see more analysis

Manual Exploration

The user has to add recommendations and add them to the itinerary

Manual Exploration

The user has to search locations and and add them to the itinerary

Manual Exploration

The user has to search locations and and add them to the itinerary

Problem to solve

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that is scalable and capable of generating future revenue streams.

User Goal

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that is scalable and capable of generating future revenue streams.

Ideation

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that is scalable and capable of generating future revenue streams.

Dreamer

Wild Ideas and No restrictions

Explore places using fun facts or riddles with hints on the map.A platform/device that gives directions for rare finds.
Historical flashbacks with vintage photos or ads.
UI with vintage elements related to each state.
App displays a checklist of “how to be a local in...”
Users can apply filters to customize options.
Location-based audio narratives with notifications.
Group listening feature for audio narratives.
Synchronized playback for listening groups.
Users input exploration time, walking time, and preferences for ideal route suggestions.
Digital scrapbook (audio, video, badges) sent to users post-visit for social sharing.
Route filters: budget, popularity, rare finds, ratings, crowd levels.
Itinerary and planning tools.
Geo-location-based podcasts.
Gamification elements for engagement.
Treasure hunt game: earn points, credits, or restaurant discounts by completing tasks.
Platform that narrates stories about places as users visit or drive by.
App suggests local transportation options for an authentic experience.
State-specific welcome messages (e.g., "Howdy, partner!" in Texas).
Unlock vintage postcards upon entering a new state or completing challenges.
Mid-century travel poster-style illustrations in the UI.
Retro sound effects tied to the cultural vibe of each state.
"Surprise me" feature suggests hidden gems based on available time and location.
Conversational UI with a fictional character as a travel guide.
Group itinerary planning with shared editing access.
Engaging, interactive map interface for routes.
Select themes to generate personalized routes.
Use GenAI to generate personalized routes.
Notifications for spontaneous pop-up events or markets nearby.
Local transportation suggestions, including bikes and quirky transport options.
Highlight lesser-known festivals, traditions, and community events.
Calendar of seasonal events like farmers’ markets and parades.
Curated food trails guiding users to authentic local eateries.
Region-specific cuisine recommendations (e.g., lobster rolls in Maine).
Reviews, comments, and pictures under audio narratives.
Fun fact and trivia swipe-able cards.
Downloadable generated routes.
Route pins with detailed location cards (safety, parking, maps, etc.).
Users choose content format: audio, quizzes, fun facts, videos, or photos.
AI-generated live camera maps with interactive trivia and 3D elements.
AR-enhanced travel guidance with interactive storytelling.
Meta glasses as a travel buddy providing real-time suggestions.
AI-driven itinerary and trip planning based on user preferences.
Voice assistant syncing with geo-location for real-time recommendations.
Travel influencers’ routes available for users to explore.
User reviews contributing to filters and badges.
Unlocking 3D historical models and artifacts based on exploration time.
Public leaderboard displaying collected artifacts.
Bonus XP and coupons for visiting partnered locations.
Digital slam book for capturing and sharing trip memories.
State-themed elements inspired by unique state names (e.g., "The Garden State").
Social networking and engagement features for travelers.
Celebrity voice guides tailored to user interests.
Suggestions for current events at the travel destination.
AI-personalized recommendations while maintaining privacy.
AI-generated plans visualized in a user-friendly format.
Display trending social media content related to the destination.
AR filters overlaying historical images and videos at landmarks.
AI personas narrating stories as historical figures.
Collecting stories from local figures and presenting them as time-travel experiences.
Localized welcome messages on the homepage (e.g., “Hello from the Hoosier State”).
Follow historians and their audio narratives on destination history.
Add places with audio narratives to personalized itineraries.
User-generated content: travelers record and upload their experiences.
GPS-triggered audio narratives at landmarks.
Short trivia quizzes post-audio narrative for engagement.
Sending digital postcards via email after completing challenges.
Interactive, gamified elements to maintain user interest.
Accessibility considerations (parking accommodations, etc.).
Real-time leaderboard tracking user progress and discoveries.

Let me know if you want me to refine or categorize these further! 🚀

Realist

in-depth interviews with frequent travelers

Critique

in-depth interviews with frequent travelers

Approach

9:41

Ask AI

Perfect! Now let’s choose the

dates.

Indianapolis

Understood. Here is a

personalized itinerary for you–

Indianapolis, Indiana

3 days, 2 nights

You can view, edit, and

save this itinerary.

Chatgpt based interface

Avoid complex user flows with advanced filters and menu

Avoid complex user flows with advanced filters and menu options

9:41

Ask Ai

Perfect! Now let’s choose the

dates.

Indianapolis

Understood. Here is a

personalized itinerary for you–

Indianapolis, Indiana

3 days, 2 nights

You can view, edit, and

save this itinerary.

AI Chatbot

The user reaches their destination with minimal clicks

Avoid complex user flows with advanced filters and menu options

9:41

Perfect! Now let’s choose the

dates.

Indianapolis

You can view, edit, and

save this itinerary.

AI generates routes in Information cards

The user reaches their destination with minimal clicks

Avoid complex user flows with advanced filters and menu options

Feature 1

Colaborative AI Generated Itineraries Based on Trip Details
to create a plan that fits everyones needs

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

For example:

One traveler may prefer museum visits, while another prefers outdoor hikes.
Traditional planning requires constant discussion and compromise.

Solution

An AI-powered itinerary builder that automatically considers everyones preferences and generates customized trip plans based on user-provided details.

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

Feature 2

Manual itinerary generation based on AI Internet Search

Solution

When planning a trip, users must manually search for locations, Activities, hotels, activities, and transport options and fit them in their preferred budgets leading to long and inefficient workflows.

Solution

An AI-powered search feature, which will search the internet to find best hotels, restaurants, locations to created a curated list with just a click to help you build a custom itinerary

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

Scenario

Group travel often results in conflicting interests, making itinerary planning a hassle.

List view

Map view

Usability Testing

Manual itinerary generation based on AI Internet Search

Solution

An AI-powered search feature, which will search the internet to find best hotels, restaurants, locations to created a curated list with just a click to help you build a custom itinerary