Wande Wanders
UX DESIGNER & WEB DEVELOPER
Project Brief
A series of noteworthy travel guides curated for my travel blog, Wande Wanders.
Background
Throughout 2018, I turned my love for travel and storytelling into a successful travel blog titled "Wande Wanders" (stemming from my middle-name). A passionate content creator, I am always dreaming up new strategies to provide value for my audience. Most of the time, I am inundated with messages from curious individuals eager to learn anything and everything about how to live a life where they travel more. In order to answer these questions for both my direct audience and beyond, I built a series of thorough travel guides inclusive of curated bits of information aspiring travelers will need to know to ensure incredible adventures.
Challenge(s)
• Maximizing engagement rates considering users were stemming from primarily from social media (Instagram, Pinterest), apps notorious for inducing a shorter attention span.
• Setting up an Information Architecture to structure the wealth of recommendation content for quick and intuitive access by users, particularly those interacting with the mobile breakpoint.
• Minimizing bounce rate (% of visitors viewing a single page) by optimizing the load time.
• Setting up an Information Architecture to structure the wealth of recommendation content for quick and intuitive access by users, particularly those interacting with the mobile breakpoint.
• Minimizing bounce rate (% of visitors viewing a single page) by optimizing the load time.
Location(s)
Cuba, Peru, Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Costa Rica, India
Deliverables
Build digital hub for travel guides
Monetize recommendation content
Capture email addresses and maintain database
Monetize recommendation content
Capture email addresses and maintain database
Client
Duration
4 months
Methods/Components
Approach
Research
To start, I sought verify my assumptions and validate the value proposition for my audience through several polls and surveys administered simply via Instagram's polling tools.
Structure + Design
Keeping in mind that the majority of traffic would be driven by Instagram, it was imperative the hierarchy of information was easy to navigate and purposefully structured for mobile permutations. Thus, content is nested under four primary buckets, "Things-to-know","What to do", "Where to eat", "Where to stay". Users are able to access any specific recommendation within 3 clicks.
Testing + Analytics
The products initial launch was mostly successful with at least 60% of users spending at least 3.5 minutes on the site. However an assessment of the Google Analytics uncovered a abnormally large number of users spending zero seconds on the site, presumably due to an almost 4 second load time.
I am aware that users tend to abandon websites that do not load within 3 seconds. As a result, I minimized the number of requests coming from image content by compressing image sizes, transferring PNG icons to SVG formats, and overall reducing the amount of imagery. These small changes resulted in a 1.2 second decrease in average load time and 23% increase in user engagement.
To start, I sought verify my assumptions and validate the value proposition for my audience through several polls and surveys administered simply via Instagram's polling tools.
Structure + Design
Keeping in mind that the majority of traffic would be driven by Instagram, it was imperative the hierarchy of information was easy to navigate and purposefully structured for mobile permutations. Thus, content is nested under four primary buckets, "Things-to-know","What to do", "Where to eat", "Where to stay". Users are able to access any specific recommendation within 3 clicks.
Testing + Analytics
The products initial launch was mostly successful with at least 60% of users spending at least 3.5 minutes on the site. However an assessment of the Google Analytics uncovered a abnormally large number of users spending zero seconds on the site, presumably due to an almost 4 second load time.
I am aware that users tend to abandon websites that do not load within 3 seconds. As a result, I minimized the number of requests coming from image content by compressing image sizes, transferring PNG icons to SVG formats, and overall reducing the amount of imagery. These small changes resulted in a 1.2 second decrease in average load time and 23% increase in user engagement.
Challenge(s)
Maintaining a high engagement rate from Users stemming primarily from social media(Instagram, Pinterest) by optimizing the UX for quick and simple use on a mobile breakpoint.
Results
(within 2.5 months)
• 673 unique users entered email addresses and opted-in to receiving notice of new travel content and guides.
• 18,066 hits were accumulated on solely the Cuba Travel Guide with 85% of traffic stemming from mobile.
• 673 unique users entered email addresses and opted-in to receiving notice of new travel content and guides.
• 18,066 hits were accumulated on solely the Cuba Travel Guide with 85% of traffic stemming from mobile.
Feedback
"I just wanted to tell you, your journey is inspiring. For a very long time now, I've contemplated traveling solo. What's stopping me is the fear of going alone. Going through your blog gave me some hope! I aspire to reach out there and experience the world like you very soon! Love an light to your journey and adventures."
"Just wanted to let you know that your guides are amazing and inspire me to travel more! I love your spirit and what you're doing. Keep it up!"
"Just wanted to let you know that your guides are amazing and inspire me to travel more! I love your spirit and what you're doing. Keep it up!"
Methods/Components
UserExperience Design, Responsive Design, Iconography, Illustration, VisualCommunication, Google Analytics, Web Development, Moderated Usability Testing
Location(s)
Cuba,Peru, Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Costa Rica, India
IN A NUTSHEll
Create a digital hub for a series of noteworthy travel guides, incorporating monetization and capturing user data.
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view live site below
view live site below
"For a long time now, I've contemplated traveling solo. What's stopping me is the fear of going alone. Your guide has given me the insight to realize, I got this!"
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