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Planning a group trip can quickly turn into a logistical nightmare—miscommunication, scattered tools, and conflicting opinions make the process overwhelming rather than enjoyable. I experienced this firsthand on a recent trip with friends, where endless back-and-forth discussions drained the excitement. One person wanted a beach getaway, another preferred the mountains, and our group chat became a flood of conflicting suggestions, budgets, and missed updates. Without a centralized tool to streamline preferences, budgets, and itineraries, the process felt like solving a complex puzzle instead of planning a fun adventure.

  • Unstructured processes and scattered tools (WhatsApp, Google Docs, spreadsheets).
  • Difficulty aligning preferences, schedules, and budgets.
  • Time-consuming expense tracking with delayed payments.
  • Lack of real-time collaboration for updates or itinerary changes.

Business and User Goals

Business Goals:

  • Build a platform to simplify group travel planning.
  • Address inefficiencies caused by fragmented tools.
  • Deliver a seamless experience to increase user retention.

User Goals:

  • Planners (e.g., Priya Sharma):
    • Collaborate easily with the group to plan trips efficiently.
    • Manage itineraries, bookings, and expenses in one place.
  • Participants (e.g., Rohan Mehta):
    • Stay informed and provide input without being overwhelmed.
    • Track and settle shared expenses effortlessly.

Problem Statement

"Planning group trips is often chaotic due to unstructured workflows, miscommunication, and fragmented tools. There is a need for an intuitive platform to streamline trip planning, manage expenses, and foster collaboration for smoother travel experiences."

The Solution

Core Features:

  1. Poll-Based Preference Gathering:
    • Users vote on destinations, dates, and budgets.
    • Automated reminders ensure timely responses.
  2. Centralized Itinerary Dashboard:
    • Displays all trip details (travel, accommodation, activities) in one place.
    • Real-time updates with notifications for changes.
  3. Expense Tracker with UPI Integration:
    • Automatically splits costs and tracks shared expenses.
    • Simplifies payments via UPI (Google Pay, PhonePe) & reminders.
  4. Edge Case Handling:
    • Recalculates costs if participants drop out.
    • Notifies participants of failed payments with retry options.

Flows (UI Screens)

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Approach

Research and Insights:

  • Conducted interviews with planners (like Priya) and participants (like Rohan).
  • Analyzed competitors, including:
    • TripIt, Roadtrippers: Limited collaboration features.
    • Splitwise, TravelSpend: Focused only on expense tracking.
    • WhatsApp/Google Docs: Effective for communication but messy for planning.
  • Identified pain points: fragmented tools, delayed payments, and lack of collaboration features.

Design Process:

  1. User Personas and Flows:
    • Created user personas for planners and participants to understand their goals, behaviors, and pain points.
    • Developed detailed user flows for common scenarios, such as creating a trip, managing expenses, and handling last-minute changes.
  2. Wireframing and Prototyping:
    • Designed low-fidelity wireframes for core features.
    • Conducted usability tests with target users to gather feedback.
    • Iterated designs to improve clarity and usability.
  3. Edge Case Handling:
    • Addressed scenarios like participants dropping out, failed payments, and unresponsive group members.

Results and Impact

  • Time Saved: Reduced planning time through structured workflows.
  • Expense Settlement Rate: Shared expenses were settled within 48 hours.
  • User Retention: Increase in repeat trip creation.
  • Satisfaction: Net Promoter Score (NPS) improved.
  • Engagement: Participants responded to polls within the first reminder.

Feedback and Iteration

Positive Feedback:

  • Users loved the centralized itinerary dashboard and real-time updates.

Challenges Identified:

  • Support for larger groups beyond the initial 20-person limit.

Next Steps:

  • Expand group size limits and add language support for non-English users.

Conclusion

"Travel Simplified" transforms group travel planning by eliminating chaos and fostering collaboration. With features like poll-based decision-making, centralized itineraries, and automated expense tracking, the app ensures a seamless experience for planners and participants alike. By saving time, reducing stress, and improving group coordination, it enables users to focus on creating memories instead of managing logistics.