Zeit

Zeit is a fictional subsidiary of Richard Branson’s Virgin empire and they are the first to democratize Time Travel tourism.

ROLE

UX/UI Designer

CLIENT

Zeit (Educational)

DATE

April - June 2022 (80h)

TYPE

Website

Zeit must strategically position its new product ⚡️

Have you ever wished you could go back in time and relive some of our history's most fascinating events? Look no further, because the future of technology is here.

Since Time Travel tourism is a never-before-seen product, it is vital that Zeit gains the trust of travelers in order to succeed. The product must feel familiar and honest, therefore, understanding what drives people to travel, try new things and trust companies is essential.

THE CHALLENGE

Gain the trust of an audience in order to successfully launch an innovative product.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Create a familiar and transparent responsive e-commerce website.

Take a sneak peek at the final prototypes

Understanding the other players

The first phase of this project was market research, which consisted of:

Competitive analysis
Design patterns research

Initially, I determined which travel websites were the most used and found the pros and cons of all, then I selected the top three and found which design patterns worked and why. This included the navigation, the search bar and finally the destination “cards”.

Interviewing participants

In my user research I was able to recruit four participants. I did not brief them about the fact that this product is Time Travel, but rather asked them questions regarding their background, experience traveling, what they like, what they dislike, how they travel, what they think about space travel and how important brand identity is for them. Here are the main takeaways from each participant:

👩🏻‍💼 Participant 1

- Travels for adventure and cultural immersion
- Activities are really important to her travels, but aims to do activities that support local communities
- Prefers discovering unconventional, non touristy places
- Branding is really important, she values transparency, consistency, beautiful UX
- She trusts companies with a good reputation and that take a stand on ethical principles
- Is supportive of new technology when it comes to scientific discovery but is disgusted by endeavors such as space tourism due to the inequality and waste of resources

👷🏼‍♂️ Participant 2

- Travels for mainly authenticity and to experience new cultures but also to relax and enjoy, always eager to interact with locals
- Strongly dislikes itineraries and touristy places
- Extremely spontaneous, non planner, plans based on opportunities that come up
- Risk prone when it comes to new technology, if it is from a reputable company
- Space tourism does not interest him because it is inaccessible and if it were the environment is too controlled and sterile, like in a cruise ship
- Admires brands that push boundaries, take a stance and evolve with the times

🕵🏽‍♀️ Participant 3

- Flexible lifestyle, she is not physically constrained so she can travel freely
- Opportunistic traveler- really into researching and finding cheap deals
- Anthropology background, she is really interested in experiencing new cultures and places as authentically as possible
- Excited about technological advancements that she can benefit from
- Open minded about brands, values the product based on ease of use, good design and utility
- Values transparency in companies
- Space tourism is a waste of money and the myriad of cultures on earth merit that economic support rather than spending it on flights to space

👨🏼‍💼 Participant 4

- Curious about new experiences and cultures, travels for adventure
- Prefers non touristy places but enjoys a mix of city and nature
- Willing to pay for value
- Intrigued by space tourism, sees it as a great technological advancement and once in a lifetime opportunity
- Loyal to brands that have high moral standards & good design

Research findings

After conducting the interviews I had to find patterns in order to create my persona, so I measured various aspects about each interviewee.

This also led to my creation of an empathy map, where I recorded the motivations of my user for going on a Time Travel trip based on the persona I created.

Identifying the project goals

After this initial research phase, I was able to define the project goals into three main categories– technical, business and user goals. I placed them in a Venn diagram and found areas of overlap.

Information Architecture

I used a card sorting method to define the categories for the website.

I decided on a hybrid card sorting method because most of my participants work-full time so I wanted to make it as easy as possible.

Results 1.0

The Categories

The categories I came up with were:

Culture
Art & Design
Music & Entertainment
Nature
Sports

Receiving Feedback

“Culture” was too general
Some of the cards belonged in more than one category (can they be in two?)
“Nature” was confusing (suggestion: Natural World or Wildlife),
Genres make sense but they could be more specific
They could also be filtered based on time period
Use tags for experiences so that each card falls into a genre but is even more descriptive/specific

Based on the input I conducted a second study with adjusted categories.

Results 2.0

Final Categories

The adjusted categories I came up with were:

Culture - Civilizations, History & Philosophy
Politics - Iconic Events & Milestones
Sciences - Natural World & Biology
Entertainment - Music & Theater
Sports - Events
Arts - Art & Design

Dendrogram – Best Merge Method at 80%

Similarity Matrix

Creating the wireframes

Included are the responsive wireframes for desktop, tablet and mobile devices depicting the "Trip Details" page for each.

Building the brand

Another part of the Zeit requirements was the branding. I wanted to create something modern, but familiar. Most importantly it needed to be clear and easy to recognize. Below is the final Style Tile.

LOGO

TYPOGRAPHY

COLORS

ICONS

BUTTONS

Usability testing and finding insights

While in general the feeling was that the website was very clear and easy to navigate, there were some details that needed adjusting. I created an affinity map subdivided into the categories of questions that I asked each user, along with their responses.

Affinity Map

The Solution 💡

Final Desktop UI

Final mobile UI

Final thoughts

Learnings

🗣 Asking the right questions without giving away the product.

Since this product is something that is completely innovative, it was a challenge to ask the right questions without divulging that it would be for time travel. I needed a general overview and idea of user habits when it came to the topic of travel, an understanding of how risk-averse or prone they were as well as what made users trust or mistrust brands, rather than focusing on UI details.

🌎 Positioning organized travel to an audience that wants authenticity.

All the users I spoke to are mainly looking for authentic experiences. It was a challenge to design a platform for a business model that is inherently rigid when the users want freedom. I had to adjust my initial wireframes and give users the option of adding on activities or booking private trips, in order to accomodate as many preferences as possible.

Next Steps

✏️ Designing the user profiles and Zeit HQ trip.

Designing user profiles and information about booking the initial trip to the Zeit HQ in order to attend the briefing.

🛠 Development.

Handing off the design to a developer and working together for smooth implementation.

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