How can we help people travel sustainable?
PlanIt - a sustainable travel app
Date: May 2025
What I did: I did this project alone
Timeframe: 4 weeks
Design thinking process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test
The project
Goal: Your goal will be to create a user-friendly digital platform that helps users plan sustainable travel.
Brief: You will follow the Design Thinking process to develop an innovative product that solves a real problem. The product must be usable by an individual. You can choose one or more topics to focus on. The focus is on creating a low-fidelity flow
Target users: Environmentally conscious travellers, Adventure travellers, Backpackers, Individuals seeking alternative travel experiences, NGOs and environmental organizations.
Introduction
Many people want to travel around the world, but with the increased awareness around the environmental impact this causes, some issues arises.
How can we help people travel sustainable?
I have been briefed to create an app that aims to help solve this question. I want to make it easier for people to make environmentally friendly choices when traveling.
To be able to make the most difference, to achieve real change, this app will aim to make sustainable travel choices accessible and desirable for everyone.
To solve this problem, the main focus of the app will be traveling, an app that gives you the best options to plan and book your travels. And that app happens to be offering sustainable options.
To explore this, I have set up a research plan based on the Design Thinking Process. The research plan is based on the given timeline of four weeks. This process will help me find solutions that will be in the best interest of the users and business.
Research goals
High priority
Who will this app be for and what are they like?
What would motivate travelers to use this app?
Why is the product important?
Low priority
How would the app work and help users?
When would this app be used?
Where would this app be used?
User interviews
In order to get more in-depth-understanding of the target audience, I will conduct user interviews. This will give me qualitative insight into the needs of the target users and what factors are important to them regarding sustainable travel. I set up a semi-structured interview guide with the possibility to add on questions where it felt natural and or necessary. This will give me the opportunity to dig deeper to gain valuable insight.
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Participants
Requirements
Recruitment
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80% female 20% male
Everyone found sustainability at least somewhat important when traveling.
Affinity mapping
Findings from research interview and literature review
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Travelers (who) struggle to make sustainable travel choices (what) due to financial restraints, time restraints, lack of knowledge, and the overwhelming feeling of trying to do their own research (why).
If we can solve this problem, it would make sustainable travel more accessible for all travelers, and they will be able to make better choices without the stress it currently causes.
It would also benefit our business as the app will be a trusted travel platform that contributes to a positive travel experience where users can feel good about their travel choices.
Personas
I have created two personas, one primary and one secondary.
Based on my research, most people feel good when they choose sustainable choices, however, the majority does not seek out how to be sustainable nor want it to be at the expense of comfort and the experience.
Therefore, I have chosen to make the primary persona the “Average Joe”. The person that represent the majority of travellers. Where sustainability is somewhat important. The ones that choose sustainable if the option is right there in front of them, and it tells them why this is a good choice. The person that will then choose the sustainable choice because it will make them feel good, and they did not have to go out of their way to make that choice. This app will improve their planning and travel experience by offering lots of great options, and those options happens to be sustainable, which will add on and make them feel good about themselves.
Because I believe that is how we will be able to make the most difference. To reach the most people. To achieve real change.
The secondary persona is a person that already cares about making sustainable choices. They already do research when traveling, and this app will make it a lot easier for them to find sustainable alternatives and options. They are probably the ones that will contribute to add suggestions of options to add in the app, because sustainability is very important to them, and they want to make a positive impact. This app will improve their planning and travel experience by making it easier and more available for them to find the right choices.
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Average Joe works full time as a consultant. They enjoy traveling and spend time with friends. They are already making some sustainable choices, however, they do not put in the effort to do research and seek out sustainable choices. They will choose sustainable if the option is right there in front of them and it says why it is a good choice, as long as it is not at the expense of the experience.
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Age: 31
Location: Oslo, Norway
Job: Consultant
Family: Lives with partner
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To make more sustainable choices when traveling
To make habits of smaller things that can make a difference (ex. always bring water bottle to avoid plastic)
To learn more about being a sustainable traveler
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Feel like they are contributing to something bigger
Travel with a good conscience
Feeling good about themselves for making the right choice
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Bad reviews or lack of reviews
Lack of information regarding sustainability
If something takes a lot longer than it has to
If it is more expensive but does not add any value for them
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Sustainable Summer works full time at an environmental organization. They enjoy travel, exploring nature, hiking, and yoga. They spend a lot of time researching how to make sustainable choices in their everyday life, as well as in their travels.
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Age: 29
Location: Oslo, Norway
Job: Environmental organization
Family: Lives alone
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To contribute to reduce the damage done to earth
Help others make sustainable choices
To make more sustainable choices when traveling
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To do what they see as the right thing
Feel like they are making a difference in the world
Travel with a good conscience
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Bad reviews or lack of reviews
Overwhelming feeling when doing research of sustainability when planning
Financial restraints will affect their choices
Time restraints will sometimes affect their choices
How might we…
... make it easier to make sustainable travel choices?
... make a solution that can benefit both “Average Joe” and “Sustainable Summer”?
... make information about sustainability more available?
... make a solution that offer options that are financially and timely feasible?
... make a solution that offer sustainable options that is not at the expense of the experience?
Mind mapping
I started my ideation with brainstorming that I turned into Mind mapping which is then presented as the tree model.
Brainstorming: I used brainstorming to start generating ideas. In this stage there are no “bad” ideas and I just started to write down everything I could think of. This takes the pressure off and one idea can often lead to another, and this can lead to great ideas you wouldn´t have thought of otherwise.
Mind Mapping: After writing down several ideas while brainstorming, I started to connect my ideas through mind mapping. This lead me to come up with more ideas that were building on each other as well. Mind mapping is a visual technique that connect your ideas and it gives an organized overview.
The Tree Model: This model is used the most when mind mapping. It has a hierarchical structure where it begins at a single point and branches out with relating ideas.
