Packed
UX Research + UX Design
Overview
The Packed project is a UX research and design class project which lasts for 5 weeks. For this project, my teammates and I are interested in exploring a way to save the hassle of packing and improve people’s experience while packing for a trip, as well as designing a novel service that could excite users even before the trip. Based on our research and user testing, we finally developed the idea of a “no-pack” rental service which helps you prepare and pack for your trip by shipping the clothes, toiletries, electronics, and activity gear that you want for your destination in just a few steps.
My Role:
UX Researcher ​
Duration:
May 2022 - June 2022 (5 weeks)
Tools:
Figma | Miro | Google Doc
Project Idea Video
Project Timeline
Exploration
Secondary Research
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Most people love traveling because it provides novel experience and relaxation. However, pre-travel preparation and packing might not be as exciting as traveling. We wonder if there’s a way to anticipate people even before the trip while creating a better trip experience later on.
Secondary Research on Travel & Packing
Design Space
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We hypothesized that experience design intervention to the packing stage will make the mundane packing process extraordinary and improve the overall travel experience with better preparation.
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Thus, we have the design space as shown here.
Design Space Question
Participant Recruitment/
Targeted Audience
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We imagined our design would be unusual and novel, so our targeted users are the ones who are interested in trying new things and love to travel.
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To get a more honest and holistic picture of what users expect for travel packing, for all of our tests, we recruited participants who had travel experience in the past 2 years, and are planning to have a trip in the coming year.
Primary Research -
Semi Structured Interview
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We used snowball sampling to recruit 7 participants to do the semi-structured interview to collect the open-ended data about their emotions while planning and packing, and trip planning and packing behavior ​​
Primary Research Findings
Research Insights + Draft Solution
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Based on our research findings, we had 4 design insights as listed here which inform the design direction for us, and we do validate the hypothesis that an improved packing experience would lead to an overall better travel experience.
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Thus, we came up with a draft design solution of:
A “no-pack” rental service that will provide you with everything you need for your trip based on what you tell us about your trip
Research Insights
Concept Testing
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After developing our design idea, we did concept testing with 7 participants to validate whether our service would be welcomed or not by the customer, and also helps us to find out what the customers want in the travel package that we’re going to prepare for them.
Concept Testing Questions
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We find out that participants are interested in using our service. And what they are interested in renting are mainly three categories:
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Stuff which is not easy to carry with (i.e. Bluetooth speaker)
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Stuff that they won’t use daily (i.e. Microspike)
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Unusual clothing
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Snippet of Concept Testing Findings
Our Design Solution
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After collecting the information about what do people want our service to pack for them, we developed this design solution:
A rental service that saves you the hassle of packing for your trip by shipping the clothes, toiletries, electronics, and activity gear that you want for your destination in just a few steps.
Ideation
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After consolidating our design idea, we started developing our prototype which consists of two parts - the digital prototype and the experience prototype. The use of the experience prototype is to create a more realistic experience when using our service so that we could collect more feedback on how people feel about the service in the context.
Digital Prototype
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The digital prototype is an online platform that aims to build anticipation and prepare all the stuff the user wants for the trip and excite the users before the departure.
Experience Prototype
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Role-playing: One team member is playing the front desk staff and giving information on the arrival of the “Packed” service
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Use of props: When participants enter the “hotel room”, they will see a suitcase with all the stuff they want with a greeting note and instructions on the service
Evaluation
Test Plan
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We decided to do 3 in-person moderated testing considering that we want to collect real-time feedback in a pre-trip and arrival at hotel/Airbnb context.
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Our testing goal is to see if participants are increasing the anticipation for their trip by using our service and have rapid design iterations based on participants’ feedback
General Evaluation Results
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After conducting all 3 user tests, we did the data analysis and found out what do the participants like about our service and the area for improvement for our existing product and service.
Likes
Area for Improvement
Iteration
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We only got one week to deliver the user testing, so we did the rapid design iterations between each testing session based on the participant’s feedback. We are focusing more on the experience side of our service rather than the usability for the design iterations.
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Prototype Version 1.0
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After conducting the first user testing, we got the feedback from participant 1 that she was expecting to come onto the site and have everything packed and ready for her. Therefore, we developed prototype version 2 with a curated package after taking a quiz.
Prototype Version 2.0
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After our second testing session with the participant, we got the feedback that she wanted to have more freedom to choose what she wants for the item and want more variety of it. So we developed prototype version 3 which allows more space for customization compared to prototype version 1.
Prototype Version 3.0
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After conducting the third testing session with participant 3, we found out that users want to combine the traditional shopping experience with a customizable package together, and then our final prototype was developed.
Final User Flow
Reflection
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"Packed" is a rapid research and design project which puts a lot of focus on the end-users “be-goals”, and this is the first time I was using the experience prototype for user testing. What we tried to do is to get the users’ feedback on their feelings when using our service in a more real-life context. Reflecting on this work, here are what I have learned from it: ​​
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Although we are focusing on the experience of the participants, it is important not to ignore the usability side. More solidified usability of a service/product being in the place would help get more user feedback on the “experience” side.
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It is important to construct a “real-life” context while conducting user testing. A real-life context or an environment mimicking it would help collect more honest data of the end-users.