My City Explore App

Concept — My City Explore

When visiting a new city, travelers often rely on social media, blogs, or friends — but information is frequently outdated, unverified, or biased.
My City Explore was designed as a trusted, one-stop city guide that provides verified recommendations, ratings, routes, and local insights, helping travelers explore confidently.

My Role

• Problem statement definition
• UX research & user interviews
• Persona creation
• Ideation & wireframing
• Prototyping & usability testing
• Final UI & product design

  (This project was fully executed independently.)

Problem Statement

Design a centralized platform that helps travelers quickly access reliable, up-to-date city information to plan trips efficiently and confidently.

Key User Pain Points

Through interviews and research, I identified common challenges travelers face:

• Too much time spent gathering travel information
• Difficulty organizing recommendations in one place
• Outdated or unreliable online reviews
• Trouble estimating travel time and distances
• Limited ability to customize travel routes
• Trip planning often feels tiring and overwhelming

Research Insights

User interviews revealed four traveler types:

• Solo travelers
• Couples
• Families with children
• Group/friends

For this project, I focused on solo travelers and couples, as they were the primary interview participants.

Key findings:

• 72% prefer planning trips in advance
• Most travelers rely on Instagram, TikTok, Google, travel blogs, and friends
• Some users prefer spontaneous discovery, while others conduct deep research before traveling

Persona Pain Points

• Spending too much time collecting relevant information
• Saving screenshots or notes to track places
• Feeling overwhelmed by planning
• Encountering outdated ratings
• Struggling to find time to organize travel plans

Value & Pleasure Points

• Centralized travel information in one place
• Easy access to accommodation and transportation details
• Google Maps integration and directions
• Time savings through smarter trip planning
• Personalized recommendations and route options

Ideation & Sketching

Based on key user needs, I sketched the structure for navigation, settings, and menus, focusing on placing most solutions within accessible and intuitive sections.

Wireframes & Visual Design

I explored color, typography, and layout to improve usability and readability:

• Primary color: Bright blue to evoke a travel/sky/water holiday feel and highlight key actions
• Supporting tones: Light and dark greys for comfortable long-text reading
• Typography:–
  – PT Serif for readable body text
  – Fira Sans for clear titles and headings

Final Prototype & Iteration

Using feedback from usability testing, I refined the final prototype to allow users to:

• Select destinations
• Discover recommended places
• View ratings and reviews
• Customize travel routes
• Plan trips more efficiently

This resulted in a user-centered travel discovery app designed to reduce planning stress while improving trust and exploration confidence.