Team: Binru Liu & Yitong Han
The first prototype was created to find out the influence of making a travel plan on the user experience. It was found that the participants are proud of their contribution and look forward to the trip more. The opportunity to work together towards the same goal also brings about a more harmonious relationship between the two generations, allowing them to understand each other’s needs.
Prototype 2: Planning Toolkit — Online
Following user feedback from the first prototype, we decided to design a prototype which allowed for collaboration online. And we planned to do the second user testing. The reason is that we found that there are elderly who do not live in the same city with their children. They may need a remote collaboration tool.
The second prototype is an online collaboration platform. We have transferred the functions of the first prototype online. Each user can work online in real-time and can see what others are doing. We also added the ability to “ add team members “ because the prototype is for remote collaboration. To improve the user experience in the prototype, we applied gamification to the prototype design. In this prototype, the function of collaborative travel planning is turned into a form of a puzzle. Considering the users’ needs, we should give them an opportunity to be involved in the whole trip planning process. Each team member can participate in any part of the planning process and express his opinion. When the travel puzzle is complete, the system will consider the needs of everyone and automatically produce some travel itineraries to suit everyone. Users can also edit these itineraries themselves.
Case Study 2
After the second prototype was completed, I made a trip with my parents. And I invited them to use our second prototype. The intergenerational travel was four days long. We travelled to another city and visited many sites. At the end of the trip, I made some new findings:
1. Middle-aged people have more ideas in the pre-trip planning stage, and they are happy to present their ideas.
2. During the travel, the two generations often conflict about physical strength, living habits, and restaurant choices.
3. When faced with unexpected problems, both generations are active in finding solutions. However, they sometimes conflict over different solutions.
Feedback & Reflection
After user testing, we analysed the user feedback. The digital prototype made remote collaboration more accessible, but it also lacked the feeling of intimacy that comes with face-to-face discussions. Therefore, we should improve the user experience of digital interfaces, especially with the interaction and feedback of the interface.
Finally, we decided to design a mobile App because most people use smart devices these days are smartphones. The mobile phone is also an essential tool for travelling.
