Highlights
My Role: Solo UX/UI Design & Research
The Core Challenge: Building an advanced prototype filtering system by linking user quiz choices to Figma variables, and writing If/Then conditional statements that control when specific travel guide cards appear or hide.
Tools & Methods: Figma (Variables, variants, If/Then Logic) and 10-minute informal interviews to open-ended responses.
Travel made personal
A site travel planning experience that helps users discover personalized suggestions and advice to save time organizing trips. With a personalized questionnaire before entering the site.
What I’m solving
Planning trips is overwhelming due to scattered information, too many options, and lack of personalization.
Goal
- Make travel planning easier and faster all in one place instead of using other forms of research.
- Help users discover personalized recommendations than generic ones.
- Let travelers share unique tips to discovering advice from real people.
Research Methods
Short 1v1 Interviews
A quick, 10-minute conversations with everyday travelers to easily map out the trickiest parts of planning a trip.
Short Writing Responses
Reached out to active Discord communities to gather open-ended and real-world stories from everyday travelers.
Grouping Responses
Sorted the user interview responses into common themes, which helped me figure out exactly what filters users needed most.
Process
I had to teach myself the inner workings of Figma from scratch with the help of peers and media. From figuring out how to build a basic button to adding complex If/Then statements, conditions, and booleans on a single interaction in order to have personalized filters.
Final
Since regular travel advice can get generic, I added a quick questionnaire at the start to filter the user’s needs. Then, they see unique tips and recommendations shared by locals or people who’ve actually been there. I also kept the drawings warm and handmade to match the concept of a friendly community made by real people.
Reflection
The Challenge:
As a first-time Figma user, building this prototype was a massive learning curve. I spent hours on YouTube mastering everything from foundational layout principles like margins and padding to advanced prototype “coding.”
Pivot Point:
The hardest part was building the filtering system. When I realized travel cards could have multiple tags (like Jibaritos y Más having budget and food), I had to restructure my entire variant naming system to show_[Place/Tip Name Here] so my If/Then conditional logic could work properly.
Next time, I’ll make sure to fully understand my travel card states and structure before writing variables!
Future Iterations:
If I had more time, I would add a community submission page to show how the site handles users on adding their own tips to advice.