Meet OMO - your ultimate solo travel companion. Whether you're planning ahead or looking for spontaneous adventures, this social platform connects you with fellow solo travelers worldwide. Share experiences, join activities, and transform solo journeys into shared memories!
Role
Services
UX/UI Design
Project type
ABOUT THE PROJECT
As a solo traveller, I often struggled to meet like-minded people, especially since I prefer not to stay in hostels. This led me to create OMO, a solo travel app designed to help travellers connect, share experiences, and plan activities. OMO offers a social platform that bridges the gap for those seeking companionship, making solo travel less lonely and more social, while still maintaining the freedom of exploring alone.
OVERVIEW
Problem
Solo travellers often experience feelings of isolation as they struggle to meet like-minded people while travelling. The difficulty in finding companionship and shared experiences can negatively impact their overall travel experience. Is there a simpler way for solo travellers to meet like minded people on their travels?
Outcome
OMO helps solo travellers connect with like-minded people while exploring new destinations. The app allows users to meet, share experiences, and plan activities, making solo travel less lonely and more social. Through user research and design, OMO offers a seamless experience that fosters companionship while preserving the freedom of solo travel, reducing isolation and enhancing the experience.
DESIGN PROCESS
OMO was developed using the Double Diamond method, which consists of four phases. The first diamond began with Discovering the challenges solo travellers face in connecting with like-minded people. I then Defined the app’s unique requirements, focusing on enabling social interaction while travelling alone. The second diamond involved Developing solutions through task flows, wireframes, and user testing. Finally, in the Deliver phase, I refined and tested the high-fidelity app, creating a platform that fosters connections while preserving solo travel freedom.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Exploring the world alone can be an exciting and fulfilling experience. However, while solo travel offers independence and freedom, it often comes with challenges. Many solo travellers struggle to meet like-minded people, leading to feelings of loneliness.
The reality is that meeting new people while travelling isn’t always easy. Social media and travel blogs might make it seem effortless, but in practice, it often requires staying in hostels, using dating apps for friendships, or approaching strangers in unfamiliar environments. These barriers can make solo travel less enjoyable and sometimes even isolating.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
SECONDARY RESEARCH
In order to gain a better understanding of the issue of loneliness amongst solo travellers, I conducted research to investigate the problem space. Below are my summarised findings:
Interpersonal constraints, such as loneliness and the perception of having less fun, are known to have a negative impact on solo travel experiences.
49% of UK adults reported that they feel anxiety about being alone on their solo travels.
Solo travel loneliness stems from missing loved ones, lacking companions to share experiences, eating alone, and facing culture shock.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
In order to determine whether my hypothesis was correct, it was best to speak with members of my target audience in order to grasp a better understanding of the problem.
AFFINITY MAPPING & THEMES
Affinity Mapping
After interviewing 6 solo travellers, I identified the following:
Behaviours: Solo travellers often meet people through activities, dating apps, or social spaces like bars. Some avoid certain activities, like clubbing, due to discomfort.
Motivations: They stay in hostels to meet others, value safety, and prefer spontaneous travel plans while researching a few key spots. They also choose destinations based on safety concerns.
Pain Points: Travellers experience loneliness, especially during meals, and find it difficult to trust people they meet. Safety concerns, including racism in some countries, are common.
Common Themes:
Meeting New People: Travellers enjoy independence but seek social connections.
Planning: While they plan ahead, solo travellers prefer flexibility and spontaneity.
Safety: Safety is a top priority, especially when meeting new people.
PERSONA
Following my research and interviews, I developed a persona to represent my target user. The persona helps to build empathy with the users and to provide an in-depth understanding of their pain points, motivations and behaviours.
EXPERIENCE MAPPING
To gain a deeper understanding of the solo traveller’s journey, I mapped out Suzanna’s experience as she attempted to meet new people while travelling alone. This helped me empathise with her challenges, from the initial excitement of planning activities to the frustrations of navigating unfamiliar social dynamics.
USER STORIES & EPICS
TASK FLOWS
Creating and Posting an Activity – Suzanna wants to go for drinks and watch the sunset but doesn’t want to go alone. She uses the app to post an activity, setting the location, adding a description, and filtering by age and gender preferences.
Managing Join Requests and Group Chats – After posting her activity, Suzanna receives several join requests. She checks her notifications, reviews profiles, and accepts or declines requests. Once accepted, she can create or add participants to a group chat.
Planning Future Meetups in a New City – Suzanna is traveling to a new city next week and wants to connect with people in advance for activities and potential ride-sharing. She sets her location and adjusts filters to find nearby users who match her age and gender preferences.
SKETCHES
Sketches were then created using pen and paper to quickly visualise my task flows. They were then converted into mid fidelity wireframes.
MID-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
In order to assess how users will engage with the app and whether they find the experience simple, enjoyable, and helpful, I turned the mid-fidelity frames into a prototype.
USABILITY TESTING
I conducted two rounds of user testing with 5 solo travellers. The tests were conducted in order to identify any design flaws that negatively impact the users experience.
Although there were some minor issues identified, the majority of the participants found the functionality of the app to be relatively simple to understand and use.
BRAND IDENTITY
Branding is important as it will help establish the feel of the brand by defining a colour palette, typography, logo and icons.
Solution
The brand identity shaped the high-fidelity prototype, creating a cohesive, user-centered design for the OMO solo travel app.
Product Marketing Website
In order to get users to download OMO, the app needs to be advertised. A marketing landing page and a responsive web design have been created for desktop and mobile.
The app landing page is where users will find out about what the app does and it is essential to the success of an app launch.
Apple Watch
I translated my design onto an Apple watch, taking into consideration the system standards, as a user may want to use the app on the go to accept requests or chat to other solo travellers.
LEARNINGS
Thinking of the Solution
One of the main takeaways for me is that you should not think about the solution from the jump, and the users should inform your design. The design should try to solve a problem, whilst creating a good user experience throughout.
Open-ended Questions
I also learnt the importance of keeping user interview questions open ended. This helps to generate valuable insights and does not create a bias for the users answers to sway one way.
Human Interface Guidelines
I learnt that when designing for iOS, the Human Interface Guidelines can be used to create optimised designs, and I found this particularly useful when designing for the Apple Watch as well as for iPhone.
Asking for Feedback
Another key learning was to not be afraid to ask for advice and feedback from educational staff and classmates when designing, as another perspective can often prove insightful and help you to imagine your designs differently.
Overall, I am very proud of this project and how much I have learnt in such a short space of time and I am excited to continue learning so much more.