Raido Alerts Designed for the Traveler 1
RaidoAlerts Designed for the Traveler
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Introducing Raido, the map app with live filters showcasing areas with disease outbreaks, terrorist threats, and natural disaster warnings.
Invis
ion
Link
: http
s://in
vis.io
/DH
9KIG
DKW
RaidoAlerts Designed for the Traveler
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Raido also features safe arrival messages with GPS coordinates to send concerned to loved ones.
To demo Raido, check out our invision link: https://invis.io/DH9KIGDKW
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RaidoAlerts Designed for the Traveler
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
I’m a Creative Professional with a Passion for Flow Arts, Virtual Reality and Travel.
About the Creator
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Hi, I’m Shuang Chen
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Work Experience
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GE Digital2015 - 2016
Societe Generale2014
Deutsche Bank2012-2014
Deutsche Bank2011-2012
Five Years Experience working for Fortune 500 companies in New York City, London, and Silicon Valley. Extensive background in communication design, website development, and social media marketing. I love creating prototype mocks, conducting user research, and playing around with Sketch.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Raido Inspiration
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“You’re going off to Europe? Isn’t it dangerous now?!” - Co-worker at GE Digital
The inspiration for Raido arose from my love of traveling. This past summer, I wanted to go on an European backpacking trip. I was full of anticipation while my coworkers and friends were overly concerned about me. At the time, France and Germany just experienced a series of shootings and bombings. My outlook was if I can survive living in Oakland, I can survive backpacking Europe by myself. Afterall, statistically I would have a higher chance of getting shot in Oakland than in Europe.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Raido Inspiration
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In an attempt to help abate concerns of me flying off, I tried to download an app that will have the most recent travel alerts. The only ones I could find were official government apps that were horrible designed. I couldn’t find anything with detailed information on travel warnings in a visually appealing manner. Thus, I decided to create my own version which I’ve named Raido.
Statistically I would have a higher chance of getting shot in Oakland than in Europe
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Raido Inspiration
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The inspiration for the name came from my trip to Iceland back in 2012. Raido is an Icelandic Bind Rune meaning
‘Safe Travel’. It conveyed the purpose of my travel alert app really well. There’s random times in my portfolio that I’ve
called Raido as Reizen which is the Dutch word for ‘Travel’. Reizen was the name initially but as I dove further into the
branding of my app, I realized Raido is more fitting.
“Raido represents travel, both in physical terms and those of
lifestyle direction. The rune predicts a journey, vacation,
relocation, evolution, change of place or setting. It allows seeing a larger perspective. Seeing
the right move for you to make and deciding upon it.”
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Competitors
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Smart Traveler App by the US Government is the only app from my research similar to my aspirations for the Raido App.
Smart Traveler offers the same features of travel alerts and warnings but the information is not visually appealing. Upon opening the app, it shows a list of countries. Target demographic on both apps are travelers who are mindful about their safety abroad.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Heuristic Evaluation
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Appearance/Aesthetics Issues -None
Content Issues Easy to scan Minimal text/information presented Important content is above the fold Search box is easy to identify and easy to use
Navigation IssuesConsistent Navigation Easy to identify your location on the site Consistent way to return Home Organization of information makes sense
Efficiency/Functionality Issues -None
[H4 Feedback] [Severity 3]There is a search section under countries but not warnings or alerts.
[H4 Feedback] [Severity 1]Upon hitting the STEP button, instead of another list section, it brings up a random pop-up
[H4 Feedback] [Severity 3]Countries button doesn’t always bring it to the “home” screen
[H4 Feedback] [Severity 3]No breadcrumbs, lost of site location when going into countries section
[H7 Feedback] [Severity 3]User has to scroll for so long to go through countries and travel warnings to find relevant information
[H8 Feedback] [Severity 3]Too much text in each section where it’s information overload
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Competitors
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On the Australian App Store, there is the Smart Traveller AU App that has more features than the US Smart Traveler such as registering your travels, International Scams, and LGBTI travellers information.
Similar to the US Smart Traveler, it has countries listed instead of presented in a map format. Listing countries does not make it intuitive or user friendly. This is the main drawback of both of these apps that I hope to resolve with the Raido app.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Heuristic Evaluation
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Appearance/Aesthetics Issues -None
Content Issues Easy to scan Minimal text/information presented Important content is above the fold
Navigation Issues Organization of information makes sense
Efficiency/Functionality Issues -None
[H7 Feedback] [Severity 3]User has to scroll for so long to go through countries and travel warnings to find relevant information
[H8 Feedback] [Severity 1]List in Travel Tips does not seem to follow a logistical format
[H8 Feedback] [Severity 3]Too much text in each section where it’s information overload
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Competitive Analysis
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Name Products / Services
Size / Following
Unique Selling Proposition
Strengths Weaknesses
SmartTraveler Alerts US travellers about threats abroad
@TravelGov +500,000 Twitter
Followers
Official government from the US State
Dept
Has the official US warnings and alerts
Not organized well, hard to navigate, no
visuals
Foreign Government Travel Apps
Alerts AU travellers about threats abroad
AU: 100,000+ likes on Facebook
Official AU travel app with legal information
to AU citizens
Offers LGBTI tips, Power of attorney
info, travel registration
Information not presented in an easy
to digest visual manner
TripAdvisor Gives travel advice 350 million average monthly unique
visitors
Contains the most travel advice on 1
site
Already the trust site to go to for travel
information
Information overload, hard to find answers
News Channels (CNN)
Informs on current events
~ 5 million viewers Known to be a respectable source of
information
Most up to date information
Not easy to search for quick updates
Facebook Connects friends in a social network
1.71 billion monthly active users
It’s where you catch up with all your
friends
Gives live update as to friends in danger
areas
Safety Check only works after natural
disasters
Survey Goals
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Demographic Profile Gender Age
Travel Habits Frequency of Travel
Pleasure Business
Number of countries visited Most Concerned Threat
Disease Outbreak Natural Disasters Terrorist Threat High Crime Areas
Perceived Safety Abroad Which continents perceived most dangerous
Cancelling a trip due to threat Emergency while abroad Sources to check on travel destinations for safety
In order gain insights into the traveler demographic and their needs, I created a survey to better understand:
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Survey Results
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During the short duration of my survey, I had a total of 27 respondents. The demographic is mostly split between 12 male and 14 female travelers with 1 respondent as non-cisgender. Due to mostly reaching out to my facebook friends, the common age is 25 to 34 in the sample.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 16
The majority of my respondents traveled for Pleasure. The average frequency is A Few Times a Year for Pleasure and Not Often for Business Travel with some traveling Monthly for work and pleasure. This is a good sample for both business and pleasure due to moderate frequency expected of travelers using the app.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 17
In my user sample, majority of my respondents have gone to less than 30 different countries. Four respondents traveled to over 31 different countries. So there’s a good diversity in frequency of travelers as well as experience in traveling.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 18
70% of respondents research the safety of a country before traveling. So there is a need for an informative travel app about safety alerts.
Survey Results
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Upon placing the responses into a word cloud, the most common sources for travel research are: Google, government ratings/sites, news sites, asking friends, and blogs. So far, information seems to be scattered when it comes to travel safety. No unified response aside from “Googling the country”.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 20
The most concerned threat is Disease Outbreak and Crime when traveling. Followed by Terrorism and then Natural Disasters. This might be due to previous experiences by travellers surveyed as demonstrated by the next question.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 21
Six Respondents had to cancel a trip due to perceived safety. Four of the cancellations was due to violence in the form of bombings and civil unrest.
Two of the cancellations was due to Zika. It’s interesting that it correlates pretty well with the previous results on levels of perceived threat.
Why was the trip cancelled?
There was a military koo and I was unsure of how it would effect the trip
Honduras, post removal of Peace Corps due to civil unrest
Egypt and Indonesia due to bombings
Not the issues above, but I did cancel a trip to Guatemala over violence expected during an election.
I was going to go to a bachelorette party in Puerto Rico earlier this year, but the bride-to-be cancelled bc of Zika and the average age of those attending (looking to have children in the next few years)
We were going to go to mexico, but I was pregnant and Zika was present, so we did not buy plane tickets.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 22
Africa is seen as the most dangerous out of all the countries listed with Australia deem as the safest. Even with the most recent European bombings, respondents still find Europe safer than North America. South America is ranked second in terms tourism danger. This question was to gain a better perspective of what countries respondents perceived to be safe vs dangerous.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 23
What was the emergency?
Bad flu in Costa Rica (was sick when I left NYC) I was dehydrated and badly needed an IV
Only one respondent had an emergency abroad, it was disease related. Majority of travelers usually have a great trip even with the
frequency of the travel with the sample respondents.
Survey Results
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com 24
Most respondents listed search engines as their source to get the most recent travel information. Social media came in second. Due to the young age group of respondents, news outlets came last. Six respondents elaborated to include TripAdvisor and
other Travel sites such as Airbnb. Reddit as a live forum to gain insights into recent events was also mentioned.
Where to go for travel information?
TripAdvisor, Reddit, Youtube, Travel Blogs / Guides
When travel within the US, I tend to check TripAdvisor and I read recommendations from locals on Airbnb
I try to talk to people who have been there and get their advice. Where to avoid, what to do, how to stay safe, how to have the most fun possible. Also with question 9- Continents and countries are very different, and preparedness for those places- I cannot go to Antarctica tomorrow because I am not prepared, but if I knew what to do and what to expect I would feel much safer. :)
Survey Results
Personas
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After doing conducting the survey, came the question of Who Will Use My App?
After some research it seems that the most common users will be Backpackers, Business Travelers, and Vacationers.
I gave them life as:Luna the Backpacker
Angelina the ExecutiveGilles the Vacationer
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Personas
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Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Personas
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Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Personas
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User Scenarios
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Luna is ready to embark on her gap year after finishing her design degree. She's excited to venture out to Southeast
Asia. Her first stop is the Philippines. However, in certain regions there's a terrorist threat alert. Her parents are
extremely concerned for her safety, they would like regular updates on her arrival. Luna finds this to be
frustrating since she rather just enjoy the new country she's in without having to message mom and day every
day. She would rather have an app do that automatically whenever she travels to a new region.
Luna the Backpacker
User Scenarios
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As Chief Digital Officer, Angelina is the face of Orientüm. She is expected to talk at numerous international
conferences. A focus area for her company is South America. Due to the Zika outbreak, she is cautious about accepting speaking engagements there. The CEO is aware
and is willing to work with her on alternative options such as telecommuting or having him step-in. However, he
wants her to give at least a week notice in order to change flights. Angelina is now scrambling to obtain the
most current map on Zika affected areas.
Angelina the Executive
User Scenarios
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Gilles is a Frenchman who not only knows how to have a good time but also knows how to host spectacular parties. His name is tied with legendary underground raves, so his
wedding is no exception. After a long search of the perfect wedding destination, he has settled on a beautiful private
island in the Thailand. However, the decided date falls right in the middle of the Typhoon Season. Gilles would need to check on the app to not only ensure the safe arrival of his
guests but to access to current Typhoon notifications. If all goes well, he wouldn't need to move his party inland.
Gilles the Vacationer
StoryBoard
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Out of all the personas, Luna’s story really connected with me. I am a huge backpacker who loves a sense of
adventure. Her story with her parents reminded me of my own ordeals whenever I booked a one-way
ticket somewhere.
Sketches to the Wireframes
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Upon figuring out my target users, came the fun part of Sketching, Laying out, and Wireframing
my app to life.
Sketches & Exploration
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First sketches of Raido in order to create the Information Architecture. I went about creating the
first initial sketches for how each of my user personas will be interacting with the app as well as the layout of
the features.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Information Architecture
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Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Page Flows
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Page Flow to check on the hazard of Philippines in terms of travel safety and being able to tapping on the country/filter to get more information about the color filter.
Page Flow to Check on Region
Map Home
Pop-Up Informing User of Travel
Alert
User Taps on C
olored Filter Use
r Tap
s on
Map
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Page Flows
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Sending alert notifications to loved ones whenever they reach a new
destination/region.
Page Flow for Safe Arrival Alerts
Map Home
Menu
User Taps on Menu
Send GPS Location Upon
Safe Arrival
User Taps on Send GPS
Deselect/ Select
Contact
Add Contact
Send Message
Edit Message
Use
r Tap
s on
Map
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Page Flows
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Page flow to focus on one filter to see regions currently affected with Zika.
Page Flow to Focus on one Filter
Map Home
Menu
User Taps on Menu
User Selects / Deselects Filter
New Map
Use
r Tap
s on
Map
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Lo-Fi Paper Prototype
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Checking on the hazard of Philippines in terms of travel safety and being able to tapping on the country/filter to
get more information about the color filter:
User Opens AppHome page with Map
Map GPS coordinates locates userUser taps on the country and filter for information
User Task Flow to Check on Region
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Lo-Fi Paper Prototype
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Sending alert notifications to loved ones whenever they reach a new
destination/region:
User Opens AppHome page with Map whereabouts (GPS)
Taps on menu button on topMenu reveals “Send GPS Location” User taps on “Send GPS Location”
On the text field, user adds “MOM”Clicks on the “+” on the right side
Verification of add gets sent
User Task Flow to Add Contact for Alerts
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Lo-Fi Paper Prototype
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User only wants to focus on one filter to see regions currently affected with Zika:
User Opens App Home page with Map whereabouts (GPS)
Taps on menu button next to colored regions on topMenu reveals selection/deselection of colored filters
User taps deselects all other filters to focus on one alert Scrolls over to new region from GPS location
User Task Flow to Focus on one Filter
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Wireframes & Exploration
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Due to the difficulty of creating wireframes with a map app, I used contour maps of countries to start with. I chose Philippines and
South America as the two countries of focus due to my User scenarios. With these maps, I used it to play around with filter
colors.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Wireframes & Exploration
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Checking on the hazard of Philippines in terms of travel safety and being able to tapping on
the country/filter to get more information about the color filter:
User Opens AppHome page with Map
Map GPS coordinates locates userUser taps on the country and filter for information
Wireframe to Check on Region
Wireframes & Exploration
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Sending alert notifications to loved ones when they reach a new destination/region:
User Opens AppHome page with Map whereabouts (GPS)
Taps on menu button on topMenu reveals “Send GPS Location” User taps on “Send GPS Location”
On the text field, user adds “MOM”Clicks on the “+” on the right side
Verification of add gets sent
Wireframe to Add Contact for Alerts
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Wireframes & Exploration
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Sending alert notifications to loved ones when they reach a new destination/region:
User Opens AppHome page with Map whereabouts (GPS)
Taps on menu button on topMenu reveals “Send GPS Location” User taps on “Send GPS Location”
On the text field, user adds “MOM”Clicks on the “+” on the right side
Verification of add gets sent
Wireframe to Add Contact for Alerts 2
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Wireframes & Exploration
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User only wants to focus on one filter to see regions currently affected with Zika:
User Opens App Home page with Map whereabouts (GPS)
Taps on menu button next to colored regions on topMenu reveals selection/deselection of colored filters
User taps deselects all other filters to focus on one alert Scrolls over to new region from GPS location
Wireframe to Focus on one Filter
Raido Final Prototype
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To pay homage to the Bind Rune, the Raido logo is of an R Rune.
After working countless hours on creating the Raido prototype, there were various changes upon the progression of the app seen in my work
in progress. One of the changes was the color green to purple for Disease Outbreak Alerts because Green doesn’t show up as well on
real maps taken from Google Maps. Another change was the label for weather to Disaster Precautions to include earthquake prone regions.
Another change was the formal acceptance of the name of Raido for the app instead of Reizen. Thus you will hear me mentioning it as the Reizen app in the upcoming prototype video, it was the previous app
name before going with the creative direction of Raido.
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Raido Final Prototype
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Raido Prototype I of the user flow for a user in the Philippines only interested in seeing the regions affected by Terrorist Threat alert by
the US Department.
User Actions:
User taps on colored filtersUser taps on menu
User deselects filtersUser goes back to the map
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Invision Prototype
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To follow along in the user task, play with our invision link:
https://invis.io/DH9KIGDKW
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Raido Final Prototype
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Raido Prototype II of the user flow for Luna, the Backpacker Persona, on adding
her mom to receive a safe arrival notification with her GPS coordinates.
User Actions:
User taps on menu to select “Send GPS Location”User selects the ( + ) button to add new contact
User confirms access to ContactsUser writes in “Mom”
User hits return to pull up Mom’s contactUser taps on ( + ) button to add Mom
User selects “Mom” User taps on the paper airplane to send
User taps send after previewing the messageUser taps “OK” upon message sent confirmation
Alerts Designed for the Traveler RaidoShu4n62gmail.com
Invision Prototype
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Vide
o Li
nk: h
ttps:/
/you
tu.b
e/G
4mpY
V5bZ
Js
To follow along in the user task, play with our invision link:
https://invis.io/DH9KIGDKW
Future Aspirations
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After conducting some user testing in San Francisco, my future aspiration
for Raido is to eventually add the LGBTI filter. San Francisco is very
diverse with a queer-friendly outlook. It would benefit my user
teters to display countries to avoid for queer travelers looking to go
abroad without getting persecuted.
To see future updates, check out my Behance:
www.behance.net/shu4n657f7
Tools Used & Resources
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@
@ = 10 Working Hours
Resources:
Google MapsiOS GUI Kit
Behance MocksSmart Traveler US
Smart Traveller AU
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