Discover the archipelago islands with the comfort of your home
Background
I identified a potential gap in the holiday market to grant holiday makers the opportunity to explore Stockholms archipelago islands while being in the comfort of a holiday house. I wanted to understand ways to foster this opportunity / experience by designing a coherent system for the users to interact with. The initial challenge is the lack of product or system to use. So I’ll have to conceptualise my own.
Goal
Explore a gap in the market for a new holiday experience, design and create a houseboat and onboard interface to support and enhance the experience for the user.
Problem
Just outside Stockholm, 30,000 islands fan out into the Baltic sea. Users are limited to the area they stay at unless they have a boat, but in doing so compromise comfort.
My impact
This system will give users the ability to visit previously unobtainable locations within the comfort of a holiday home, thus opening a new segment to the holiday market.
Goals
Understand how keen users are to partake in holidays that bring elements of exploring the outdoors together with staying in a beautiful comfortable retreat.
Understand user behaviour and habits while planning and booking a holiday.
The needs, behaviours and expectations of users while on holiday.
What resources user’s currently have to assist their booking and travel experience.
Where problems, faults or opportunities may lie in existing human machine interfaces.
Methodology
Competitive research
Analysing existing travel planning and guiding products to better understand the tools that currently exist for users. All websites and services reviewed excelled in their specialist areas, however were limited to just that. None individually would satisfy the need for the service I intend to design for.
Green = includes feature.. Red = missing feature
User interview target demographic
Objectives: To gain insight into the target users wants, needs, goals and pain points.
To find willing participants to interview and to share my questionaire / surveys with, I located the ‘r/travel’ and ‘digital nomad’ Reddit groups and made an attempt to reach out to users willing to take part.
Target demographic:
Age
Gender
Country of residence
Holiday preference
User interview findings
To understand my user better, I set up a few interviews to gather data on the users needs and behaviour. I realised quickly that though the qualitative data was valuable, It was taking a long time to speak to each individual. I then decided to use surveys and multiple choice questionaires to gather quantative data on a larger scale.
Interview data collected from the target demographic.
Quantitative data analysis
I was able to analyse the data, breaking it into qualitative and quantitative. I visualise the quantitative data in pie charts to see it in a more palatable way that highlights the key data points.
Quantitative data visualised using pie charts.
Qualitative data analysis
I collated numerous data points into an affinity diagram to produce a more clear picture of user needs and product opportunities. One of the more significant and regularly occuring points uncovered has been to have a level of customisation, choice and flexibility delivered within an easy to use, safe and supported environment.
Affinity diagram using qualitative data collected from user interviews
Insights
Through further processing and analysis of the findings, I began noting down key moments of insight into ways the user feels, behaves, product opportunities and challenges to overcome.
Key insight taken from the user interviews.
User persona
The potential user of the product varies greatly, the product therefore needs to be flexible and tend to different types of user. To better understand the different types of user I have created three persona groups below.
3x User persona groups informed by the user interviews.
User journey map
After I compiled all the data from the user interviews, I was able to organise the data into pie charts and an affinity diagram, using these I produced 3 persona groups. I took each of these persona groups through a journey map to unlock new insight into other problems and opportunities to work through.
3x User journey maps.
POV Statements
There is a notable demand among users for holiday experiences that strike a balance between adventure and comfort. They value the idea of combining active pursuits with luxurious accommodations in serene and remote surroundings, indicating a preference for well-rounded and rejuvenating vacation packages that cater to both their adventurous spirit and desire for relaxation.
The majority of users exhibit a strong inclination towards adventure and outdoor activities. They prioritize experiential travel and seek opportunities to engage with nature and wildlife, reflecting a desire for immersive and thrilling holiday experiences.
Many users demonstrates a growing consciousness towards sustainable and eco-friendly travel options. They express interest in staying in eco-lodges, participating in conservation activities, and appreciating local cultures, showcasing a commitment to responsible tourism and environmental conservation.
POV statements framing key insights and provoking further exploration.
Sketchbook
This project started as a case study and final major project at university to explore opportunities in the travel industry and design a product / vehicle to enable users embark on new experiences. My transport design background from university helped me along the physical product design. This journey started with quick sketchbook work.
My sketchbook showing the development of the houseboat design.
Final design
The final design of the houseboat was modelled using Rhinoceros 3D and rendered using Blender. The houseboat is situated in the rocky archipelago islands of Stockholm on a warm summers afternoon.
Hardware concept
When I began this case study I understood the importance that the onboard UI would play in how the houseboat would be designed to facilitate the proper use of all features.
I had previously designed this high fidelity mock up of a user interface displayed on a fictional ‘holographic projector’ though this was an interesting study, It is impractical to pursue a fictional technology. The UI that I will design is intended to be used on an iPad or similar tablet that users can download or found onboard.
Early product and UI concept using theoretical hardware.
Task flow
This site map guided by the user interviews shows 3 key task flows that the prototype will focus on:
Onboard services.
Activities and planning.
Preferences.
This site map guided by the user interviews shows the 3 key task flows.
Wireframe
Quick sketching of ideas allowed me to explore design patterns and opportunity for interesting interaction. This has helped me to understand what I would need to carry over to the onboard UI to ensure familiarity for users interaction. This helped to identify different patterns and positioning for familiar interactions.
Sketch 1:
Sketch 2:
Sketch 3:
Sketch 4:
Early wireframe sketch-work
Low-fidelity prototyping
Through various iterations of low-fidelity prototype testing. I understand how users are expecting to interact with the UI and where recall was needed to progress, this helped to highlight gaps in my design. The multiple different prototypes and test stages have helped the UI evolve.
Balsamiq Low-fidelity prototype designed and used to identify features needed in later developments
High-fidelity prototyping
The high-fidelity prototype has been reasonably successful in user tests. A drawer back has been a missing connection between the HMI and the user. The interface is intended to be very interactive and use animation to display settings and information.
In the user tests conducted I had positive results with speed of use and recognition. As this is very conceptual and is not connected to a physical product for users to witness the effects of interaction, It has been a challenge to directly relate the efficacy of the UI.
High-fidelity mock up of onboard interface to assist users journey experience.
Ui kit
The UI kit for Flyta Archipelago was designed for implementation on all user facing content, from the onboard UI to the booking system. I chose to use a dark theme as it appeared the UI would mainly be used once the sun had gone down. The dark theme was intentional to complement the design of the cosy, warm and stylish interior.
Conclusion
While working through this project I have learned a lot about the users experience of a physical product. Primarily the ways an interface to control and assist your use of this physical product can either be of great benefit or detrimental to the experience. A large challenge with producing this high fidelity mock up has been a lack of time to animate all the interactions for the user.
One of the main reasons for having an onboard interface / HMI was to facilitate the interaction between machine and user. An example of one of the actions the vessel has is to lower its privacy screens to become swimming platforms / sun decks. It was important to make the user feel in control of actions like this. I feel that I have discovered invaluable information to form a great starting point to potentially elaborate on in the future