User-Centered Research and Evaluation

Vegoo

A personalized travel plan tool for people with dietary restriction

Team ABC

Cathryn Lin, Hongyu Mao, Amy Deng, Bonnie Guo

My Role:

Researcher, Project Lead

Project Duration:

Feb 2022 - May 2022

CMU HCII

User Research and Evaluation 2022 Spring

Skills

User Research
User Testing
Literature Review
Prototyping
Wireframing

Prompt

Design for better trip planning

Problem:

How might we provide people with dietary restrictions a tool to help them better plan their trip?

 

Based on our research, we realize that people with dietary restrictions have a greater number of considerations that they must make when planning trips, rendering their trip planning processes to be more cumbersome. They may face emotional distress when accommodating friends and need extra effort in packing and flight booking. My team focuses on the research goal to centralize all of their planning needs to alleviate their struggles.

Research Methods:

Semi-structure Interview
Affinity Mapping
Speed Dating
Artifact Analysis
User Journey Map
Empathy Map
Storyboarding
Crazy 8s

Solution:

We propose Vegoo be used in the trip planning phase. Vegoo is a trip planning app that can help facilitate easier planning for those with dietary restrictions, whether they are traveling solo or in a group. By collecting data on the end-users tastes, Vegoo will create personalized recommendations that will drive future decisions..

Process:

We performed semi-structured interviews to understand:

  • The basis behind people’s dietary restrictions (e.g. why they became vegan or vegetarian).

  • How users currently plan trips despite their dietary restrictions and what current problems they have with these methods.

  • How they can accommodate traveling in a group or with friends, despite their dietary restrictions.

We also used artifact analysis as our primary contextual method. We asked the participants to employ a tool they last used in trip planning to demonstrate to us how the trip was planned. Artifact analysis is critical in understanding users’ tacit knowledge through direct observation, and it guides us in revising how the tool says about the group’s behaviors, culture, and preferences. It also provides us an opportunity to see beyond personal experiences and interpret our participants’ world of travel planning.

To test our hypothesis about user needs, we employed speed dating to test our storyboards, and reflect on design opportunities and how a user/users would interact with said idea.

  • Affinity Mapping

    Synthesis of ideas and opinions, grouped by common user needs

  • Speed Dating

    Ideation with storyboards to validate user needs

  • User Journey Map

    Visualization of users’ behaviors during trip planning

  • Empathy Map

    Organization of user’s feelings to create a sense of empathy

Insights：

Moral concerns in traveling:

The underlying reason why they have dietary restrictions influences their travel plan decision.

“I wouldn’t want to visit zoos because they profit off of the exploitation of animals. I chose to become a pescatarian because I stand against animal cruelty.”

Emotional Distress:

When traveling with friends, they feel bad when their friends have to accommodate them.

“I felt quite stressed and guilty when my friends want to surprise me with a birthday cake. I did not want to upset my friends but I had to tell them I can not eat it because of my dietary restriction.”

Extra Preparation:

Some of them have formed the habit to prepare snacks, cook, and select the airline based on prior experience.

“I always pack snacks like granola bars before traveling, just in case there are no vegan options. I think American Airlines provide vegan meal options, so I just stick to this airline.”

On-Site Restaurant Search:

Most people won’t plan specific restaurants to go before they travel on site but they will research the general area.

“I use happy cow (an app for vegetarians) to make sense of the eating options at the destination, but I would not make a specific plan before traveling.”

Solution:

Vegoo

Vegoo relieves the end-user’s stress of having to accommodate dietary restrictions when traveling with others in a group. When first using the app, end-users can enter their identity and dietary profile. Then, they can form a group and check each of their group member’s identity/preferences as well. Finally, they can receive system recommendations for food options for either themselves or for their group as a whole.

In summary, Vegoo will help facilitate easier planning for those with dietary restrictions, whether they are traveling solo or in a group. By collecting data on the end-users’ tastes, Vegoo will create recommendations that will drive future decisions.