Yelp Project

PROJECT 3 
YELP TRAVEL ITINERARY
KONSTANTIN FICKLSCHERER
EUGENIA KIM
TALIA SIEGEL

THE BRIEF
DEVELOP AN IN-APP FEATURE
THAT ALLOWS YELP USERS TO
CREATE TRAVEL ITINERARIES
AND RECORD THEIR
EXPERIENCES.
YELP PROJECT 3 | THE BRIEF
“ “

YELP OBJECTIVES
+ Grow user base
+ Increase user-created content (reviews, ratings, media)
+ Become the go-to app for travelers
YELP PROJECT 3 | BUSINESS & BRAND OBJECTIVES

SITE MAP
YELP PROJECT 3 | BUSINESS & BRAND OBJECTIVES
Travel
Feature

THE PROCESS
+ Competitive Analysis
+ Screener/Interviews
+ Personas & Features
+ Sketching
+ Wireframing & Prototyping
+ User Testing
YELP PROJECT 3 | THE PROCESS

YELP PROJECT 3 | COMPETITIVE INFORMATION
COMPETITIVE INFORMATION
+ Yelp of Other Countries
+ Map Feature
+ Reliable Reviews
+ Itinerary Organization

FEATURE COMPARISON

ELEMENT ANALYSIS

HEURISTIC ANALYSIS

FEATURE LISTING TRIPIT

FEATURE LISTING TRIPCASE

USER FLOWS
Tap Yelp app
on home
screen
See Yelp landing
page
Tap “Travel” See “Travel” page
Tap “My
Trips”
See “My Trips”
page
Tap “San
Francisco”
See “San
Francisco” main
itinerary page
Tap “Add
Event”
See “New Event”
page
Type in Title
section
See completed
Title section
Type in
Location
section
See restaurant
and address
populate
underneath
Tap on
restaurant
auto-
population
See completed
Location section
Tap date/timeSee completed
“New Event” page
Tap “Add”See updated San
Francisco itinerary
+ New Event User Flow

USER FLOWS
+ New Event User Flow
Tap “TripIt”
app
See “TripIt”
landing page
Tap “Add
Plans”
See “Add Plans”
page
Tap
“Activities”
See “Activities”
page
Tap
“Restaurant”
See “Restaurant”
page
Type in
“Restaurant
Name”
See completed
“Restaurant
Name” section
Tap “Next”See “Select Date”
section
Select the
date See correct date Tap “Next” See “Select Time”
section
Select the
time See correct time
Tap “Next”See “Address”
section
Enter
address
See completed
address
Tap “Next”See completed
restaurant details
Tap “Save”
See updated San
Francisco
planning page

USER FLOWS
+ Photo Taking User Flow
Tap on
Photos/
Videos
Itinerary Drop
Down List Screen
“Take Photo”
Screen
Tap “Photo”
Itinerary Screen
Action Screen
Tap on
Action
Screen
Tap “Add to
My
Photos…”
Tap “Add to
Itinerary”
Tap Selected
Itinerary
Tap “Video”
Tap “Select
from Library”
“Take Video”
Screen
Photo Library
Tap Camera
Button
Tap on Select
Photo
Tap Video
Camera
Button
Upload Photo
Screen
Photo/Video
Album
Photo/Video
Album
See Recently
Taken Photo
Tap UploadPhoto/Video
Album
See Recently
Uploaded Photo
Add Photo Screen Camera Screen

USER FLOWS
+ Photo Taking User Flow
Home Screen
Tap on
Camera
Video
Tap PhotoPhoto
Gallery
Camera Screen
Tap “Take
Pic” Submit Tap Submit
Tap Submit Type Caption Followers
Direct
Tap Submit
Adjust
Filter
Adjust
Lux
Setting
Adjust
Other
Settings
Tap Back
Back
Processing Screen Edit

THE TAKEAWAY
+ Competitors only offer individualized features
+ Simple features are important

YELP PROJECT 3 | SCREENER & INTERVIEWS
SCREENER & INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEW FINDINGS

INTERVIEW FINDINGS
+ Pleasure Points+ Pain Points
Hard to Navigate
Inaccurate Reviews/Ratings
Doesn’t Like Social Media
Privacy
Dislikes Mainstream
Dislikes Wasting Time
Doesn’t Like to Post
Sync-ing Issues
Info Too General
Incomplete Info
Overwhelming
Phone is Small for Planning
US Centric
Trustworthy & Accurate
GPS Location
Sample Itineraries
Range of Choice
Easy to Find Close Options
Accurate Reviews/Ratings
Deals on Lodging
Full Trip Planning
Deals on Flights
Easy to Use
Easy Search Filters
Easy to Share Pics/Videos
Privacy that Works
Finding Hidden Gems
Trusted Friends Recs
Simple Layout
*bold notes most mentioned

INTERVIEW FINDINGS
+ Pleasures: Sharing & Ease-of-Use
+ Pains: Lack of trust in Yelp reviews
+ Privacy is important

THE PERSONAS
YELP PROJECT 3 | PERSONAS
JANE
28YO MARKETING MANAGER
Jane is a single, young female who likes to travel to countries on her bucket list
when she’s not working. She has a work hard, play hard mentality and works
long hours when she’s not on vacation. As Jane currently does not support
anyone, she is not worrying about saving money, but rather values creating
memorable experiences. On vacation, Jane likes to completely relax and, if
possible, not be using any technology. She plans her travels with extreme care
and detail in advance to make sure that she can mentally decompress without
stressing about travel details. Jane is a well experienced traveler who has tried
almost every travel related app or tool at least once. Also because she travels
to so many places, it is important for her to document and archive all of her
previous trips. She is always looking for more efficient and advanced tools to
help her trip planning and documentation process.
ILOVETOTRAVELWHENIWANTANDHOWIWANT!
Cares About: Details, cool new experiences that are verified by
reliable sources, diversity of options and flexibility
Favored Tools to Plan: TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google Docs
Tech Empathy: High | Has iPhone, iPad, Macbook | Travels 7+ times
a year
“
“
NEEDS FROM TRAVEL FEATURE
+ Flexible planning tools
+ Sharing capabilities with friends and family
+ Detailed archive of past trips
+ Ability to have a destination “wish list”
+ Reliable ratings and reviews
+ Easy social media access
PAIN POINTS
+ Want ONE app to be multifunctional
+ Updating itinerary constantly
+ Bad information/Wrong information and reviews
+ Incompatible trip planning tools
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Add feature that archives old trips with photos/ videos
+ Suggest travel based on deals/fare alerts
+ Make features easily shareable

THE PERSONAS
MIKE
30YO ACCOUNTANT
Mike is a young professional male who works at a well-known accounting firm.
He has always been kind of a party animal but recently started to tone it down
because he’s thinking about proposing to his longterm girlfriend. Mike wants to
propose on a trip to a memorable place, but he has never planned a trip for
himself - he has always just tagged along on mass group trips that were
planned by other people. His budget for this trip is set, but he has left a little
room for flexibility as this is a special occasion. He is more money conscious
now that he’s thinking about saving for the future, but he wants to make sure to
get the best that his budget can afford. And although Mike doesn’t like posting
any pictures of himself on social media, it’s important that he captures all of his
trip either through photos or videos so that he and his girlfriend can preserve
their memory of the special moment in the future.
IT’SALWAYSAPARTYWHENYOU’RETRAVELING!
Cares About: Cares About: Group discounts, Going to Popular
Places, Having fun!
Favored Tools to Plan: TripAdvisor, Google Docs
Tech Empathy: High (but only for financial purposes) | Has Android,
iPad, IBM | Travels 0-2 times a year
“
“
+ Ability to plan several months ahead
+ Effortless uploading to social media
+ Easy aggregation of recommendations
+ Trustworthy reviews
PAIN POINTS
+ Not knowing which sites, reviews or ratings to rely on
+ Documenting the trip
+ Staying and planning within a budget
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Add a budgeting tool
+ Make photo and video sharing and uploading easy
+ Allow friends to comment or edit shared itinerary

THE PERSONAS
PAUL
34YO TEAECHER
Paul is a “hidden treasure” traveler who loves to explore new cities with friends
in a unique way. He doesn’t follow any “Top 10” lists or any conventional travel
advice. He loves to read blogs written by fellow travel gem seekers who know
all of the secret hole in the walls and places. Paul takes pride in being able to
lead his friends to these amazing locations on a small budget and shares all of
his trip photos and videos using Instagram with anyone who wants to see. He
doesn’t really use technology outside of his classroom because he spends
most of his time interacting with real people or reading ofﬂine (books,
magazines, journals, etc.). Paul’s trips take a lot of research in advance but he
leaves a lot of room for spontaneity. Because he’s always absorbing travel
information, he needs a place to be able to save possible future travel spots so
that he can remember to visit them all.
THEWORLDISFULLOFHIDDENTREASURESTHATARE
WAITINGTOBEFOUND.
Cares About: Unique travel experience off the beaten path, Sharing
travel experiences with friends
Favored Tools to Plan: Travel Blogs, NYTimes, Travel Guides,
Books
Tech Empathy: Medium | Has: MacBook, iPhone | Travels 2-4 trips a
year. - Usually one long trip during the summer.
“
“
+ Needs a place to collection travel gem information
+ Reliable info about coolest, hidden places to visit
+ Note or commenting feature on itineraries
+ Ability to share with friends and strangers
PAIN POINTS
+ Hard work finding hidden gems
+ Accidentally going to a tourist spot
+ Wasting budget on “unworthy” travel sites
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Create feature where he can easily share itinerary
+ Allow ranking of itineraries in app by “Unique” category
+ Allow commenting on itinerary so Paul can get
feedback and feel special

THE PERSONAS
TOM
40YO LAWYER
Tom is a well-to-do lawyer who lives in one of the busiest cities in the world -
New York. He’s married with two daughters (ages 2 and 5) and usually doesn’t
get to see his family for most of the work week. To make up for this, Tom makes
sure to spend at least 2 weeks on a nice vacation with his family every year.
Tom books the best ﬂights and hotels for the location they agree on and usually
looks for a pre-made itinerary from About.com or Google that he can follow for
the duration of the trip. Sometimes he asks other family friends with kids for
suggestions on where to go. Cost is not an issue and Tom likes to book most
activities in advance. The less time he has to spend on planning the details, the
better it is for him. Safety is his biggest concern (especially since he may have
to spend some time working while his wife and daughters go off on their own)
but he also wants to make sure that everyone is having fun wherever they are.
TIMEISMONEY…IWISHIHADMORETIME.
Cares About: Fast/easy booking and ﬂights, Fun activities for both
kids and parents
Favored Tools to Plan: TripAdvisor, About.com (pre-made
itineraries), Kayak, Excel
Tech Empathy: Medium | Has: MacBook, iPhone | Travels 1-2 trips a
year
“
“
+ Fast and easy way to book travel and activities
+ Easily organizable information
+ Ability to book or prepare for trip in advance
+ Security and privacy
PAIN POINTS
+ Too many choices
+ Having to build own itinerary
+ Not liking all parts of a packaged deal
+ Finding family when transitioning from work to leisure
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Add a location tracker for fellow traveler’s devices
+ Make pre-made itineraries customizable
+ Have curated suggestions for similar travelers (ex: family of 4
with children)

THE PERSONAS
AVA
23YO STUDENT
Ava is a student on a budget, but that doesn’t stop her from traveling. She
saves as much money as she can from odd jobs, birthdays, and occasionally
skipping a meal so that she can travel. She travels to cheaper destinations that
might not seem so glamorous but she doesn’t mind. Ava builds a network of
friends wherever she goes as she is a very social person and loves to meet
people. She researches cheap food joints so that she can spend money
elsewhere. She also makes detailed Google Docs that she shares with her
roommates in case they need to reach her. Ava doesn’t mind couch surfing and
has often surfed to save money. She is very travel savvy and knows all of the
budget sites and places to find deals. Ava doesn’t worry too much about where
she’ll stay or eat during the trip. Ava loves every minute of traveling and
documents in her journal and occasionally on her phone if it’s working.
TRAVELISMYLIFE.IWILLWORKFORTRAVEL.
Cares About: Tight budget, making travel friends, Street foods, free
activities, hostels, couch surfing
Favored Tools to Plan: FaceBook, Foursquare, Yelp, TripAdvisor,
Airbnb, Google
Tech Empathy: High | Has: Old Macbook, Old iPhone - sometimes
apps or programs don’t work/synch | Travels 5-6 trips a year
“
“
+ Way to connect with fellow travelers or foreigners willing to host
+ Easily upload/transcribe travel journal into online album
+ Way to save researched lists of places to see/eat at, etc.
+ Reliable pricing for activities
PAIN POINTS
+ Prices that are misrepresented
+ Finding people who will host her for cheap or free
+ Knowing who to trust
+ Staying safe as a solo, female traveler
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Have a lot of alternative lodging options (airbnb, couchsurfing, etc.)
+ Make sure prices are accurate and clear
+ Show deals specifically for price conscious, budget travelers

THE PERSONAS
EMMA
58YO REAL ESTATE AGENT
Emma is a hard working real estate agent who has built up a large retirement
fund. As she gets older, she realizes she missed out on a lot of things when she
was younger and wants to make up for it now. She enjoys traveling with her
husband and their dog Pepper. They love to stay at B&Bs and visit scenic areas
with pleasant weather. Emma makes sure that each trip is budgeted carefully
because she wants to retire in the next 5-7 years but her budget is fairly
generous. It helps that Emma’s husband qualifies for senior discounts wherever
he goes. Emma isn’t tech savvy but her children/grandchildren constantly
update her with the newest technology. Emma loves that technology allows her
to find so many other options especially when traveling so although she isn’t the
most tech efficient, she is always trying. Emma has social media accounts for
both FaceBook and Instagram, but she doesn’t use either.
IWANTTOTRAVELANDLIVELIFETOTHEFULLEST.
Cares About: Enjoying life, making memories with family and
friends, comfort, beauty in nature
Favored Tools to Plan: Travel Guides in the bookstore,
Newspapers, Travel Magazines, Google
Tech Empathy: Medium | Has: iPhone, Macbook Air | 4-6 mini
getaways a year (trips usually under 6 hours of flight)
“
“
+ Need notepad/note-taking feature
+ Needs frequent reminders about what has been planned
+ Layout must be simple and easy to read
PAIN POINTS
+ Information overload
+ Overcomplicated apps/websites
+ Losing track of information (even when saved somewhere)
+ Finding pet friendly places
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
+ Add a filter for pet friendly locations
+ Make another filter by accessibility options
+ Use a minimalist layout that only has the necessities
+ Make sure photos are showcased in app

THE PERSONAS
Paul
“The world is full of
hidden treasures
waiting to be found.”
Ava
“Traveling is my
passion – I will do
anything to be able to
go somewhere.”
Emma
“Every day is precious
and I want to live life to
the fullest.”

YELP PROJECT 3 | POTENTIAL FEATURES
POTENTIAL FEATURES
ITINERARY SHARING/EDITING ELITE YELP USER DEAL AGGREGATION
BUDGET TRACKER SAVE/ARCHIVE ITINERARIES LOYALTY REWARDING
REVIEW FILTERS PRIVACY SETTINGS FORUM
ADD TO ITINERARY BUTTON BUDGET FILTER NOTES/NOTEPAD
CURATED ITINERARIES MAP DESTINATIONS FOLLOW OTHER YELPERS

YELP PROJECT 3 | BRAINSTORMING
BRAINSTORMING

YELP PROJECT 3 | SKETCHING
SKETCHING PROCESS
+ Created lo-fi sketches to see which features were plausible

YELP PROJECT 3 | WIRE FRAMING
WIRE FRAMING
+ Moved into med-fi/hi-fi wireframing
+ Saw importance of button placement and copy
+ Cut down to necessities

WIRE FRAMING

WIRE FRAMING (CONT’D)
San Francisco
Paris
Denver
New Trip
334 Reviews
Restaurant Awesome
Restaurant
$
Looking for a restaurant in SF?
Current Saved Archived
San Francisco Paris Denver
add more trips
San Francisco
(May 9, 2015-May 12, 2015)
Tuesday - May 9
Wednesday - May 10
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Conference Call
11:00 AM - Go for run
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Brainstorming session
3:00 PM - Check-in
7:00 PM - Dinner
10:00 PM - Drinks
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Breakfast
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM - Scuba Diving
3:00 PM - Lunch
6:30 PM - Meet Friends
8:00 PM - Dinner

WIRE FRAMING (CONT’D)
San Francisco
(May 9, 2015-May 12, 2015)
Calendar View MAY
San Francisco
(May 9, 2015-May 12, 2015)
Budget Tracker
San Francisco
(May 9, 2015-May 12, 2015)
San Francisco
(May 9, 2015-May 12, 2015)

YELP PROJECT 3 | PROTOTYPING
USER TESTING
“The title
‘Travel’ is
confusing
to me.”
“Why is the
camera sitting
there?”

YELP PROJECT 3 | USER TESTING & FINDINGS
USER TESTING
“Why is
there a
list?”
“What is the
difference
between these
two?”
“Where did
these albums
come from?”

DESIGN CHANGES
+ Eliminate feature of storing personal photos
+ Only upload photos to specific location
+ Remove camera icon in itinerary screen

ITERATION

USER TESTING, ROUND 2
“What does
‘Archived’
mean?”
“What if I want to
see my bookmarks
for the trip? Or
photos & reviews?”

ITERATION, ROUND 2

YELP PROJECT 3 | PROTOTYPE
CLICKABLE PROTOTYPE

Looking for an afternoon bite?
Lookingforanafternoonbite?
Dough
334 Reviews Desserts
$
Restaurants
Bars
Coffee & Tea
Make a Reservation
More Categories
Plan a Trip
3:30 PM
1
2 3 4
Annotations
1 Originally labeled as “Travel,”
but was changed to “Plan a
Trip” for clarity. Leads user to
the traveling page, where they
can also create their itineraries.
2 After tapping here, buttons
regarding check in, reviews
and photo/video pop up.
3 Leads user to their proﬁle page
(assuming they’ve registered
and are logged in).
4 Hamburger button exposes
other pages of the app.

Looking for travel deals?
Looking for hotel deals?
Travel My TripsBack
See More
Expedia Budget Flights to Tahiti
254 Reviews Flights
$$
Virgin America All-Inclusive Las Vegas…
334 Reviews All-Inclusive
$$
Filter Destinations…
1
2
3
Annotations
1
2
3
Leads to itinerary page.
Able to ﬁlter one’s search.
Allows users on a budget to
look for deals.

My TripsBack Map
Active Past Friends
Add Trip+
Things to do in San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Sat. April 18 - Sun. April 21, 2015
Paris, France
Sun. April 26 - Wed. April 29, 2015
Bangkok, Thailand
Wed. May 20 - Wed. May 29, 2015
Delicious Restaurant
254 Reviews Restaurant
$$$
1 2
3 4 5
6
7
Annotations
1
2
3
Brings user back to “Plan a
Trip” page.
Brings user to map with all of
their bookmarked pages or
locations on their itinerary.
Trips user is currently planning.
4
Past trips/itineraries that the
user has saved. It was
previously titled “Archived,”
but was changed after user
testing.
5 Friends the user is following.
Previously titled “Following,”
but was changed after user
testing.
6 Itineraries for upcoming trips.
7 Suggestions for the most
upcoming trip.

My TripsBack Map
San Francisco, CA
April 18 - April 21, 2015
+ Add to Itinerary
Active Past Friends
SAT April 18, 2015
SUN April 19, 2015
MON April 20, 2015
TUE April 21, 2015
See More
My San Francisco Bookmarks
1
2
3 4
5
6
Annotations
1
2
3
4
5
6
Add new event to itinerary.
See city the user is going
to as well as the dates
they will be there.
Share itinerary with fellow
Yelpers, via e-mail, or archive
the itinerary.
If user taps on any dates,
there will be a drop down of
their plans thus far.
Removed camera icon.
Added bookmarks to the
bottom of the page, as well
as San Francisco-related
photos and reviews if the
user scrolls down.

SAT April 18, 2015
SUN April 19, 2015
MON April 20, 2015
TUE April 21, 2015
My TripsBack Map
Add to Itinerary
San Francisco, CA
Active Past Friends
+
See More
E-mail
Share on Yelp
Archive
Cancel
1
2
Annotations
1
2
Pop up that appears upon
tapping Share icon.
Changed copy and
removed “Save” button.

Beach
Baker Beach
9:30
AM
Golden Gate BridgeTour
Meet at 123 Someway St.
11:30
AM
Hertz Car Rental
Drop-off - SFO Airport
2:30
PM
SFO to JFK
Virgin America 125
8:30
PM
My TripsBack Map
Active Past Friends
San Francisco, CA
SAT April 18, 2015
SUN April 19, 2015
MON April 20, 2015
TUE April 21, 2015
+ Add to Itinerary
1
2
3
Annotations
1
2
Originally titled “Add Event,”
but changed to “Add to
Itinerary” after user
confusion.
Had multiple iterations of
date layouts.
3 Date dropdown — showing
that day’s schedule.

1
Annotations
1 Removed the “Add” button
and moved it to the bottom
of the screen for the user to
tap once they are done.

1
2
Annotations
1
2
User types the event title.
User types location here. If
Yelp recognizes the spot, there
will be a drop down list where
the user can select the
location (as can be seen here).

1
Annotations
1 User selects date and
time here. Modeled
after the iPhone ticker.

1
Annotations
1 After tapping “Add to
Itinerary,” user sees new
event listed within the
date they selected.

My TripsBack Map
Active Past Friends
Remove Trip
Tell us about your trip to London!
London, England
Mon. January 5 - Fri. January 9, 2015
Austin, TX
Tue. November 25 - Sun. November 30, 2014
Madison, WI
Mon. September 15 - Wed. September 17, 2014
Hotel Lorem Ipsum
Write a review Hotel
$$$
1
2
Annotations
1 User can remove past trip.
Below user can see the list of
past itineraries they have
saved. They can still view and
share them.
2 At bottom of screen, Yelp
requests reviews from the
user’s most recent trip.

My TripsBack Map
Active Past Friends
Add Friend+
Dan Smith
Jane Miller
Ted Jacobs
Matt Michaels
People You May Know
Sarah Peterson
Alex Koplin
Luke Miller
Talisa Chang
Zoë Silverman
1
2
Annotations
1
2
User can easily add new friend.
Below, the user sees the Yelpers
with whom they are already friends.
User can see friends’ trips and
itineraries.
Yelp suggests additional Yelpers the
user may know.

1
2
Annotations
1
2
If user taps the middle button,
these three additional buttons
pop out.
User taps “Photo or Video” in
order to add media to a
location.

Back
1
Annotations
1 User must select a location
where they will post their
photo/video (in this case, it
is Bar Tartine). This is the
Yelp model. We removed the
“Add to Itinerary” option.

3:30 PM
1
2
Annotations
1 After selecting a location,
user selects whether they
want to take a photo or
video.
2 User can select photo from
iPhone library.

1
2
3
4
Annotations
1
2
Bar Tartine’s album on their
business page.
After user takes a photo,
they will see their photo in
the top left corner.
3 User receives conﬁrmation
that the upload was
successful. They also see
that the photo was added
to their itinerary (in this
case, the San Francisco
one).
4 Pop up disappears after
user taps “OK.”

Back List
1
2
Annotations
1
2
The page the user will see if
they tap on the “Map” button.
The red markers indicate the
user’s bookmarks or
locations on their itinerary.

1
2
3
4
5
6
Annotations
1
2
User’s proﬁle page.
User can send private
messages to fellow Yelpers.
3 Brings user to “Friends”
page.
4 Allows user to see the
reviews they personally
have written.
5 Allows user to see the
photos and videos they
personally have posted.
6 Brings user to itinerary
page.

1
2
3
Annotations
1
2
3
The screen the user sees after
tapping “Photos and Videos”
on the “About Me” page.
The photos shown in this
page are only ones the user
has personally posted to
locations.
User can see the photo they
just uploaded to the Bar
Tartine page.

YELP PROJECT 3 | NEXT STEPS
NEXT STEPS
+ Build loyalty program to reward frequent users
+ Reliable curated itineraries
+ Personalize privacy settings
+ Add a budget tracker

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