Harmony Travel

PROJECT FOCUS
TRAVEL AGENCY WEBSITE + SOCIAL

This was a project made for Interactive Design program at  Valencia College as a demonstration of my UI/UX and web design skills.

Role & Responsibilities

UI/UX Designer / Web designer
User research, Wireframes, Prototypes, Mockups and Testing

About the company

Harmony Horizon Travels was founded in 2014 by Han Mitchell, a seasoned traveler and events enthusiast. The company was born out of Han's passion for curating unique travel experiences centered around vibrant festivals and cultural events. Recognizing the growing interest in combining travel with cultural immersion, Han aimed to create a platform that caters to various age groups, providing diverse travel options for festival enthusiasts.


Project Goals

1
2
3

Enhance User
Experience

Increase
Engagement

Promote
Packages

Problem/Challenge statement

Harmony Horizon Travels, a company specializing in festival-focused travel experiences, struggled to provide a digital platform that effectively communicated its vibrant brand and appealed to its diverse audience. The existing website lacked engaging design elements, intuitive navigation, and clear calls-to-action, resulting in reduced user engagement and difficulty promoting travel packages.

The challenge was to design a visually captivating and user-friendly website that would enhance engagement, build trust, and clearly showcase Harmony Horizon’s unique travel offerings.

What I set out to accomplish at the beginning of the project

• Enhance User Experience: Create a visually appealing and user-friendly website to provide an immersive experience for potential travelers.


• Increase Engagement: Increase user engagement by incorporating interactive elements and features that resonate with the target audience.

• Promote Packages: Highlight and promote travel packages for different age groups.

Designing for core business Packages

Promoting packages by including them in hero and page

Drawing from my experience as a sales agent at Walt Disney World, I observed that travelers often seek comprehensive packages that consolidate multiple elements, such as accommodations, tickets to various theme parks (even those unaffiliated with the company they initially contacted), and additional activities. This insight informed my decision to design a hero section with a carousel featuring the most popular destinations and packages. This approach allows users to immediately explore curated travel experiences while streamlining their decision-making process

Original Hero:

• Limited User Engagement: The design did not resonate with the diverse age groups of festival travelers, reducing engagement and conversions

Updated Hero:

• Improved Navigation:  Simplified the menu structure and added clear calls-to-action to encourage exploration of destinations and packages.
• Fresh Aesthetics: Brightened the visual identity with a light, welcoming color scheme and bold imagery reflective of the festivals.

What didn't work

Pop up form:

• Initially, I introduced a pop-up form to make it easier for users to request a form. While it was convenient and quick, I found it limited in its ability to provide sufficient content and context. This lack of detail made it harder to build user confidence in what they were requesting.

Dedicated page for selected destination:


• To improve the user experience, I created a dedicated section that dynamically displayed the selected destination. This approach allowed for more detailed information, increasing the likelihood that users would engage with the call-to-action (CTA) while feeling more confident about what they were receiving.

Contact us form:

• For users who still had additional questions, I included the form within the "Contact"/"About Us" section as a fallback option. This ensured they had another avenue to reach out with any uncertainties.

Designing for core business Destinations

Improving navigation and story of the page

The accommodations page highlights why users should book with us, with a clear CTA: "Why Stay With Us." It has a simple search system, like Airbnb, that organizes places into categories such as House, Apartment, Villa, Chalet, and Bungalow. Big, clear pictures and detailed info help users feel confident, while a "Similar Accommodations" section shows more options to explore. The design makes booking easy and straightforward.

Home Page:

Destination detail page:

About/Contact Page:

Accommodations Landing Page:

Accommodations Page Detail:

What I Would Have Done Differently

If this were a live site, I would have recommended running A/B testing to see which layout works best for converting visitors. For example, testing different versions of the hero carousel to see if users prefer large images or short descriptions.
I would also suggest doing user testing with real people to catch any issues with navigation or design that might not be obvious in the initial phase.Lastly, adding personalized recommendations based on location or user preferences could improve the experience and increase engagement.

Takeaway

This project showcases my ability to create designs that connect with the target audience, balancing both functionality and aesthetics to deliver impactful digital experiences. Through the use of interactive elements like hover effects, carousels, flip cards, videos, and sticky animations, I learned how to enhance user engagement and craft a dynamic, immersive journey that not only grabs attention but also encourages users to stay engaged.

Date
Spring 2024
Website Prototype
Harmony Travel Prototype