The airline industry, despite its vast benefits, has long faced environmental concerns. Travelers want eco-friendly options, but current platforms fall short.
Here's where the concept of Leafy Trails was born.
Most travel platforms lack a comprehensive focus on eco-friendly flights, making it challenging for green travelers to make informed choices.
Craft Leafy Trails as the leading choice for green travelers, offering a curated selection of sustainable transport options, making eco-friendly bookings straightforward, transparent, and easy.
To lay the foundation for Leafy Trails, an in-depth understanding of the target audience and market was essential.
I took a close look at popular travel sites like Expedia, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Kayak. I wanted to see how they handle eco-friendly travel options. Here’s a breakdown of what I discovered.
Comprehensive travel information and user reviews
No specific filter or indicator for eco-friendly options.
Broad search capability across flights, hotels, and car rentals
Offers some eco-labeled hotels but lacks comprehensive sustainability metrics for flights or stays
Ability to filter accommodations by 'sustainable' or 'eco-friendly'
Lacks a carbon footprint estimator or similar tools for flights
Extensive hotel listings with detailed guest reviews
Recognizes 'green hotels' but does not encompass the broader travel experience
Travel forums and Q&A provide user insights into sustainable options
No direct booking or explicit green certification for listed entities
User-generated reviews and ratings for almost any travel-related entity
Community can share eco-tips, but platform doesn't centralize or promote sustainable travel
Includes a flight's carbon footprint in its search results
Doesn't provide actionable solutions like carbon offsetting or green alternatives
Meta-search tool comparing multiple travel sites for best deals
Acknowledges flight carbon footprint, but stops short of providing eco-alternatives or offsets
Discussions were held to delve into user needs, behaviors, and pain points concerning travel booking.
During my User Interviews, I chatted with five distinct travelers. We explored their travel habits, inquired about their grasp of carbon footprints, and delved into obstacles they faced with current platforms.
What stood out? A shared desire for a clearer path to green flight options; a clarity they felt was missing on most sites.
Drawing from our in-depth conversations with travelers, we crafted a user persona, capturing the essence of the eco-conscious traveler's needs, behaviors, and aspirations.
To understand our user better, I mapped out Tina's entire travel journey. This shows how an eco-conscious traveler thinks and plans.
Tina's journey highlighted the essence of Leafy Trails: Combining sustainability with a user-friendly experience.
Highlighting affordability in eco-friendly choices, assuaging budget concerns.
To create a user-centric platform, I began by mapping out the structure of Leafy Trails.
Laying out a site map, we established a clear blueprint for our website, ensuring an intuitive journey for users seeking eco-friendly flight and train options.
Using task flows, I charted a user's journey from thinking of travel to finalizing their eco-friendly booking.
Diving deeper, the user flows provided insight into the decision-making processes and interactions users might experience while navigating through Leafy Trails.
In the initial design phase, I sketched out the basic layout and structure of Leafy Trails. These rough drafts captured the essence of the user journey and set the stage for more detailed designs.
Building upon the foundation set by the low-fidelity sketches, I enhanced the clarity and began integrating detailed elements. This stage bridged the gap between basic structure and a closer representation of the final product.
Finalizing the design, I fleshed out the high-fidelity wireframes, incorporating intricate details, color schemes, and typography. These representations provided a near-accurate view of how Leafy Trails would look and feel to the end user.
I did the usability test with 3 users, from my research phase
In my in-person usability tests, users were tasked with signing up and booking a flight through Leafy Trails.
See iterationsThis version of Leafy Trails was designed as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), focusing on essential features.
I'm thrilled to introduce the final and complete prototype. It reflects the iterative process, incorporating user feedback to create a user-friendly and eco-conscious travel experience.
In summary, as the designer behind Leafy Trails, I've driven the journey to make travel more sustainable and user-friendly. I've incorporated user feedback, ensuring a seamless eco-conscious travel experience. Leafy Trails is committed to a user-centric, sustainable future for travel.
