Overview
Zeit is the highly-anticipated brainchild of (adj) Richard Branson of Virgin Empire, which has opened up the portals for people to travel through time. After years of scientific research and stringent ethical review and international collaboration, Zeit is the first in the industry to commercialize time travel. Zeit aims to provide a new way for humans to experience history by living through and seeing how the past cultures go about their day-to-day lives. Zeit offers 289 resort locations that span different eras of time. Each resort has been carefully selected with consideration to safety and proximity to locals of that particular time, ensuring that interaction is controlled as to not affect the course of history.
I was tasked with discovering and creating a brand that resonates with Zeit’s target audience and building a website to allow people to discover and book tickets to their intended destinations. People are able to search through different destination categories (era, geographic location, landscape, and experience) , favorite potential resorts, and customize their travel experience. Reservations can be made directly from this site. People can also learn more about the Zeit mission and learn about the process of becoming a certified time traveler.
My role was to lead this project from beginning to end. I first discovered who the target audience is, and what their expectations are in a travel travel experience. From there, I went on to create branding style guide for the site, and user and task flows, and then wireframes. With the wireframes I created a responsive mockups and a low-fidelity prototype, which then evolved to high-fidelity screens.
Details
Program
UX Academy, Designlab
Role
Product manager, User experience/interaction designer, Visual designer
Timeline
8 weeks (June 2017 - August 2017)
Key activities
Interviews, surveys, personas, empathy map, research finding reports, card sorting, user and task flows, responsive wireframes, brand style guides, responsive UI wireframes, UI Kit, affinity map, low-fidelity prototype (sketch, invision), high-fidelity prototype (sketch, invision)
Research
HYPOTHESIS
Outcome
After conducting interviews, the original hypothesis was incorrect. While subjects who have a robust history of time travel were interested in time travel, it was the interest in human history that was the primary driver of interest in time travel. The subject with the widest travel records was not as enthused as the subjects with general interest in history and anthropology.
Assumption
I believe people with a background and interest in adventure and travel will be the target demographic of Zeit. I will know if this assumption is correct by conducting interviews with subjects of varying degrees of interest in travel
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Interviews
Interviews were the primary source of information for the Zeit project due to young nature of this industry. Only researchers, scientist, and a close knit or specialists have had the opportunity to experience time travel and were unable to comment.
- Three interviews were conducted and yielded the following results:
- All subjects were concerned with the ethical impact of time travel and wanted to know more on the vetting process and how Zeit intended to preserve history
- Subjects were concerned with the personal safety of time-travel
- Subjects wanted to know degree of involvement and hands-on experience they would receive through the experience
- All subjects were intrigued and skeptical of the notion of time travel
Secondary Research
Articles on time travel were reviewed for further information. Research into accounts of avid time-travel fans were also researched, which uncovered another category of time travel enthusiasts heavily immersed in the world of conspiracy theories. This category of time travel enthusiasts would probably not qualify as a certified Zeit traveler.
Competitive Research
The following travel, exploration, and adventure sites were researched for this projects:
- Expedia
- TripAdvisor
- AIrBNB
- SpaceX
- Virgin Galactic
- Skydiving and safari sites
The experiences of the travel and adventure sites fit the objectives of Zeit, and include many of the same heuristics that are needed for users to interact easily and successfully for the Zeit site.
Ideation
PERSONA
Veronica was created as the persona for this product. She is a working millennial with an interest in travel, arts, outdoor activities, and philanthropy.
EMPATHY MAP
Below are the thoughts, feelings, sights, actions, pains, gains, and what she’s hearing around her.
STORYBOARDING
FLOWS
User
Prototyping
A low-fidelity prototype was created using Sketch, Invision, and Craft. Screens were provided to allow users to complete a reservation and explore new destinations in the era category.
Wireframing
UI Kit/Branding
Designing
TESTING
Testing subjects
Four subjects were selected for usability testing. All subjects had previous interactions with existing travel sites, and have frequent travel experiences. Ages ranged from 28-33 with various professional backgrounds.
Scenario + Tasks
You are booking a trip to explore the Jurassic era of time. Complete a reservation on the website. In the booking process, also explore different destinations that you might be interested in looking at. Explore destinations outside of the pre-civilization era as well.
- Explore home page
- View results page
- View destination page
- View a category page
- Favorite a destination
- Begin reservation process
Testing results
Users were able to navigate through the prototype with relative ease. Overall users expressed positive feedback in regards to completing tasks. Suggestions
- 100% of users were able to complete tasks within the 15 minutes time period
- 100% of users found filters intuitive
- 50% of users had trouble identifying ‘Era’ category on homepage
- 100% of users pointed out missing email field in reservation process