Design Research
Prototyping & Wireframing
UX/UI Design for Mobile App
Copywriting
Brand Identity
Icon System
Illustrations
Mallory Blackwell: Design Research, Website UX/UI, Brand Identity, Icon System, Copywriting
Victoria Nieves: Design Research, Trademark, Copywriting, Ad Campaign
Krista Coffman: Design Research
Naim Carbajal: Design Research, Infographic
Not a fan of research?
Deep-diving into research on this project uncovered a lot of information I never knew about the negative impacts of the tourism industry on the environment.
Sustainable travel means finding a way that tourism can be maintained long-term without harming natural and cultural environments. It’s being conscientious of your impact and the carbon footprint you’re leaving.
Maintaining the quality of natural resources and reversing its degradation when possible
Ensuring the social prosperity and wellbeing of local people
Building and developing economies without straining resources
A National Geographic survey of 3,500 adults in the US revealed strong support for sustainability. But the challenge is helping travelers take meaningful actions.
42% of travelers from the survey would be willing to prioritize sustainable travel in the future
BUT only 15% of these travelers are familiar with what sustainable travel actually means
Booking.com’s global 2021 Sustainable Travel Report revealed more promising statistics about travelers. It seems that travelers want to be able to travel more sustainably but don’t have the resources.
83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is a vital issue
53% of US travelers were more determined to make sustainable choices when looking to travel again in the future
30% of US travelers said they would be more encouraged to make sustainable choices if travel companies proposed alternative destinations to reduce overcrowding
National Geographic’s survey discovered the consumers most familiar with sustainable travel are young: 50% are between 18 and 34. While not specifically targeting a younger audience, it was important to keep in mind that the younger generation would likely be the ones using our service the most.
In our research, we discovered that some businesses we choose to give our money to were voted as more sustainable than others, but what exactly made a company “sustainable” or “ethical?”
Paying fair, livable wages; just and ethical treatment; clean and safe work environments
Relying on natural resources
Investing in people, technologies, and society that are positively impactful
long-term
Some destinations like Slovenia and Spain have been proven to be the best places to visit while leaving a lighter footprint. But what makes these destinations more sustainable than others to travel to?
They have a governing body to manage sustainability
They show commitment to protecting natural resources, people, and heritage
They actively reduce energy consumption
Ljubljana was voted Europe’s greenest city in 2016 because of its:
Public transportation systems
Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure
Committment to protecting green areas and saving waste water
Knowing that our target audience was a younger demographic, my team interviewed some travel-lovers in this age range to find out their thoughts on sustainable travel. Here are our main findings:
People aren’t familiar with what sustainable travel really is.
Several interviewees were confused by questions regarding their willingness or experience with traveling sustainably because they hadn’t heard of the term before or knew what it entailed.
People don’t know how to make sustainable choices.
When explained what traveling sustainably meant, our interviewees admitted to not knowing how to go about traveling greener because they’ve never come across these options when searching through travel websites.
People are willing to travel greener if they knew how to.
Some interviewees mentioned having stayed in hostels, communal living, and work-trades, and enjoying their experiences. However, they hadn’t made sustainable choices abroad further than where they were choosing to stay.
People find trip-planning overwhelming to begin with.
Our interviewees mentioned feeling frustrated with the complexity of planning a trip, visiting many different websites between booking hotels, flights, etc. According to a new Traveler Attribution study conducted by Expedia Media Solutions, consumers are visiting 38 different websites on average to plan their getaways. With all of this difficulty planning vacations to begin with, it’s nearly impossible to throw sustainability considerations into the mix.
Travelers don’t know what sustainable traveling is
Travelers don’t know how to make sustainable choices for their trip
Travelers can’t see the impact their choices make on the environment
Travelers are overwhelmed with the amount of information on sustainability that’s out there
Matches you with a travel agent to help you plan a sustainable vacation
Search for sustainable destinations, restaurants, shops, hotels, etc. around the world
Provides comparisons between booking sites to show the most sustainable hotels and destinations around the globe
Book sustainable lodging around the world and see verified eco-credentials and conscientious traveler reviews
They don’t help users organize an entire trip from start to finish (from choosing a destination to booking hotels, flights, and more)
They don’t help users continue to make sustainable choices throughout their trip
They are limiting—only showing a handful of extremely sustainable destinations, lodging, etc. around the world
After our research, my team listed out How Might We questions to brainstorm ways to solve our users’ pain points. We focused on how we can make sustainable travel easier to understand and less overwhelming, and how to make a supportive, intuitive application that users continue to come back to.
Travelers need a way to organize a trip from start to finish while making sustainable choices that make a positive impact on the environment.
We created a service that helps you plan a trip sustainably and track the positive impact of your choices along the way. The website for the organization will provide all necessary information on how to travel sustainably and allow you to book all accomodations. The mobile app will help users track their carbon footprint throughout their trip and offer resources for sustainable places and activities in their area, with alternative transportation options.
Users will interact with both the website and the app in different ways, so we layed out user journey maps for both.
Knowing that our demographic was mainly younger people between 18 and 34, we user tested various phases of the app to determine its real-world capabilities with users around our age.
Roam is the only travel application that helps you plan your entire trip sustainably and track the impact of your choices along the way.
Roam is your sustainable travel companion. By encouraging sustainable choices throughout your journey, we can help make the earth a greener place together.
Simple illustrations were created to keep the app feeling personal, inviting and encouraging.
Illustrative icons were designed to compare restaurants and other shops based on their sustainable and ethical practices. This helps inform and guide the user on what companies are the greenest to give their money to.
The app awards users badges based on their sustainable actions to encourage the user to continue traveling greener.
You booked one of our certified eco-flights!
You shopped at local, small businesses!
You booked your trip at one our certified sustainable stays!
You visited lower-traffic destinations!
The website allows users to explore locations around the globe and book greener hotel and flight accommodations. Profit percentages that Roam receives from hotels and airlines go directly toward offsetting the user’s carbon emissions, so every stay and flight booked through Roam is a sustainable one.
Hotels and airlines are compared using a progress bar showing the different levels of sustainability and an icon system that will rate these accommodations based on environmental and community factors.
Pain points addressed include showing travelers what sustainable travel is and how to approach it, and consolidating information so that traveling greener feels more achievable.
The main purpose of the mobile app was to hold everything the user might need on the go during their trip, and to help them keep making sustainable choices throughout it. The home page displays quick-access information such as the user's current trip, starting a new trip, fun facts and sustainable goals, and essentials the user might need to find quickly. Viewing their current trip will show them the breakdown of their carbon footprint so far, bookings, and a history of locations they’ve visited during the trip.
Pain points addressed throughout the app include showing users how to travel greener and helping users to see the impact their choices make on the environment.
The explore page shows the user local and sustainable places to visit in the area. They can search through restaurants, stores to shop at, outdoor activities, local favorites, and more. This promotes small and green businesses to turn tourism into something positive. The map will take users to any destination of their choosing, and will breakdown your transportation options as well as compare the carbon emissions of each mode of transport.
The user’s profile displays their current carbon footprint throughout their trip, and breaks it down into categories to show them where their carbon emissions are coming from. Users can see how their carbon footprint has changed over time and have the option to offset their footprint, which is offered in the form of donations to local carbon initiatives. Users are also able to view their badges and achievements, sustainable goals, favorited places, and past trips.
Although booking primarily occurs on the website, the app allows users a quick version to begin a new trip on the go. Users will select their destination, dates, and browse or upload booking reservations, or be taken to the website to book a new reservation. This quickly starts a new trip page for the user that can now be accessed on their home page.
Notifications from the app encourage users to stay on track with their sustainable traveling. Types of notifications users would get include upcoming trip reminders that offer help on how to prepare for their trip, reminders of their daily sustainable goals, notifications when the user receives badges and achievements, and more.
Traveling greener is as easy as one click.
See for yourself—feel free to interact with this prototype.
Or click here to open the prototype in a new window.
This project was incredibly fun because it was a problem my team was passionate about solving. I learned a lot about what could be accomplished by a group of designers devoted to their work and how design has the power to solve real issues in the world.
Seeing what was accomplished in the time period of our class, I would love to be able to spend some time to dive deeper into this brand we created. I’d love to add motion graphics to the app, and flesh out the brand identity into more advertising campaigns, social media design, and printed collateral.