Idea In The Lead

The idea in the lead is the travel inspiration/planning app. It was one of my first ideas and it's something that would definitely make my life much easier. I've done some initial research and believe there is a gap in the market as although there are some platforms that serve similar content, I think there is definitely room for improvements.

Idea Overview

Planning a trip aboard? Not sure where to go? Or what activities there is to do there? You need inspiration.

This app will connect the locals/previous visitors and new tourists to let them know about the popular spots and especially hidden gems. This will help the tourists get to know their destination easily so that they can make the most of their trip.

When I'm deciding where to go on holidays, I want to make sure there is plenty of attractions, eateries and activities to explore near by. Currently when trying to find inspiration I'm jumping between a number of apps including Instagram, Google Maps, Pinterest, Tripadvisor, Youtube and more. I want to combine features from each of these platforms to create one space where you'll find all the travel related inspiration you could ever need. Holiday planning has just got easier!

Essentially, a social media for travel enthusiasts:

• Search your chosen destination or get inspired with images and videos from around the world.
• Ability to save posts and create folders to start planning that special trip.
• Share your trip folder with those who are travelling with you, allowing everyone to contribute to the planning.
• Once you've returned from your trip, you can also share your experience. The pros and cons, your tips and tricks for future holiday makers.

Current User Journey

I thought it would be useful to write out my current process for finding travel inspiration and planning a trip so I can begin to think about the basic features I want my app to include;

1. Find a destination: sometimes the destination is known which in that case I can move onto point 2, but most of the time it is unknown and therefore I start to gather inspiration from the likes of Google, Instagram and Pinterest.
2. Mode of transport: depending on how I need to get there I would look at different platforms, for example, by plane (skyscanner), by train (trainline), by boat (stenaline). I'm trying to get a sense of the price and length of time travel.
3. Where to stay: looking at platforms such as airbnb, again trying to get a sense of the cost per night and it's location from city centre/points of interest.
4. Things to do: the main bulk of my researching is making sure there are enough attractions, eateries and activities near by. I find inspiration from Google, Instagram, Youtube, taking note of things like cost, opening hours, student deals etc. I then add these places to a Google Maps folder so that I can see their location on the map.
5. Rough itinerary: with all the places I'd like to visit pin pointed on Google Maps, I can then start creating an itinerary (grouping places that are close by each other), I do this in the notes app.

With all that information collected, I can evaluate the costs/findings and start booking. I've listed at least 9 apps above!