Product Discovery: Helping a Friend Prepare for Her trip
During a casual brainstorming session with my friend, who works as a Product Manager, she shared how she learns at the Academy . I would like to say thank you to her, she introduced me to a framework…
During a casual brainstorming session with my friend, who works as a Product Manager, she shared how she learns at the Academy. I would like to say thank you to her, she introduced me to a framework called Challenge Based Learning (CBL), which focuses on solving real world problems through clearly defined challenges. Inspired by our conversation and my own learning process, I challenged myself to apply this framework to my product discovery. I used CBL to explore my friend’s problem and identify potential solutions. So, here are the details.
ENGAGE
Big Idea
Empathy
Essential Question
How can I help my friend prepare for her trip?
Challenge
Help my friend prepare for her trip
RESEARCH & INVESTIGATION
Synthesis
The big idea behind this research is empathy, which is the ability to understand, share, and connect with another person’s feelings and perspectives by adopting a “putting yourself in their shoes” mindset. I aim to understand her experiences, emotions, behaviors, and challenges before and during her trip in order to uncover opportunity areas for a solution. To support this, I categorized the interview into five types of questions, each with a specific purpose. Below is the list of questions.
1. Context
Help me to understand her travel background. This approach not only builds comfort but also helps me understand the context and boundaries
- Ask my friend about her most recent trip: where she went and why she traveled there?
- What does my friend usually prepare before traveling?
- What type of traveler is my friend?
2. Pain Points & Challenges
Help me identify what’s difficult, frustrating, or confusing in trip preparation.
- Which part of the trip preparation causes my friend the most stress or takes the most time?
- Has my friend ever forgotten to bring something important before leaving? What happened at that time?
- How does my friend handle sudden changes or unexpected situations before departure?
- What apps or tools does my friend use to organize her trip preparation, and what does she wish could be better about them?
- If my friend could remove one thing that makes trip preparation complicated, what would it be?
3. Feelings & Motivations
Help me understand the emotional connection with travel and preparation.
- How does my friend usually feel while preparing for a trip?
- What makes my friend feel confident that everything is ready?
- Why does my friend enjoy traveling? What kind of feelings is she looking for from the journey?
4. Habits & Behaviors
Help me learn current systems and daily actions.
- How does my friend keep track of ticket bookings, packing lists, and itineraries?
- Does my friend share her travel plans with others? If so, how?
- What does my friend usually do the night before departure?
5. Goals & Dreams
Help me to imagine the ideal world or product solution.
- What does “being ready for a trip/departure” mean to my friend?
- In her opinion, what could make the preparation process smoother and more enjoyable?
The questions above are the main interview questions. I also added follow-up questions to allow for deeper exploration, and encouraged her to share anything on her mind. This helped uncover additional insights, such as her thoughts on how she prepares for a trip and how she feels while traveling.
Below is an insightful summary based on the interview with my friend.
My friend approaches travel with excitement but also experiences stress during the preparation phase. She understands the importance of being well prepared, especially when it comes to bringing medication for emergencies and managing complex visa requirements that demand time and extensive documentation.
Packing is another part of the process she finds unenjoyable.To manage these challenges, she relies on structured habits such as researching destinations in advance, using Google Sheets to organize itineraries, tickets, and accommodations, booking through online platforms, and purchasing both flight and global travel insurance. She typically prepares and packs several days before departure to avoid last minute stress.
Emotionally, her travel experience is enriched by meeting fellow travelers, particularly those from Indonesia, where shared stories and even accommodations create meaningful connections. Ultimately, she travels to gain new experiences and learn new things, and her strongest motivation is feeling fully ready before departure, guided by a simple reminder: “Don’t be late.”
The big idea behind this research is empathy, which is the ability to understand, share, and connect with another person’s feelings and perspectives by adopting a “putting yourself in their shoes” mindset. I aim to understand her experiences, emotions, behaviors, and challenges before and during her trip in order to uncover opportunity areas for a solution. To support this, I categorized the interview into five types of questions, each with a specific purpose. Below is the list of questions.
1. Context
Help me to understand her travel background. This approach not only builds comfort but also helps me understand the context and boundaries
- Ask my friend about her most recent trip: where she went and why she traveled there?
- What does my friend usually prepare before traveling?
- What type of traveler is my friend?
Help me identify what’s difficult, frustrating, or confusing in trip preparation.
- Which part of the trip preparation causes my friend the most stress or takes the most time?
- Has my friend ever forgotten to bring something important before leaving? What happened at that time?
- How does my friend handle sudden changes or unexpected situations before departure?
- What apps or tools does my friend use to organize her trip preparation, and what does she wish could be better about them?
- If my friend could remove one thing that makes trip preparation complicated, what would it be?
Help me understand the emotional connection with travel and preparation.
- How does my friend usually feel while preparing for a trip?
- What makes my friend feel confident that everything is ready?
- Why does my friend enjoy traveling? What kind of feelings is she looking for from the journey?
Help me learn current systems and daily actions.
- How does my friend keep track of ticket bookings, packing lists, and itineraries?
- Does my friend share her travel plans with others? If so, how?
- What does my friend usually do the night before departure?
Help me to imagine the ideal world or product solution.
- What does “being ready for a trip/departure” mean to my friend?
- In her opinion, what could make the preparation process smoother and more enjoyable?
The questions above are the main interview questions. I also added follow-up questions to allow for deeper exploration, and encouraged her to share anything on her mind. This helped uncover additional insights, such as her thoughts on how she prepares for a trip and how she feels while traveling.
Below is an insightful summary based on the interview with my friend.
My friend approaches travel with excitement but also experiences stress during the preparation phase. She understands the importance of being well prepared, especially when it comes to bringing medication for emergencies and managing complex visa requirements that demand time and extensive documentation.
Packing is another part of the process she finds unenjoyable.To manage these challenges, she relies on structured habits such as researching destinations in advance, using Google Sheets to organize itineraries, tickets, and accommodations, booking through online platforms, and purchasing both flight and global travel insurance. She typically prepares and packs several days before departure to avoid last minute stress.
Emotionally, her travel experience is enriched by meeting fellow travelers, particularly those from Indonesia, where shared stories and even accommodations create meaningful connections. Ultimately, she travels to gain new experiences and learn new things, and her strongest motivation is feeling fully ready before departure, guided by a simple reminder: “Don’t be late.”
Persona
To better understand my friend’s goals, needs, behaviors, and pain points, I created a user persona. This also helped me synthesize the research findings and clarify key insights before moving into the solution phase.
To better understand my friend’s goals, needs, behaviors, and pain points, I created a user persona. This also helped me synthesize the research findings and clarify key insights before moving into the solution phase.
Refined Challenge Statement
I developed a formula to clarify my challenge statement based on the interview summary results.
The formula
Help my friend prepare her trip by adressing her pain points supporting her behaviours so she can reach her travel goals.
Let’s clarify her pain points, behaviours, and goals.
Pain points: She struggles with the risk of forgetting essential medication, finds visa applications stressful due to complex and time-consuming documentation, and dislikes the packing process.
Behaviours: She prepares for trips by researching in advance, organizing travel details digitally, booking tickets and insurance online, maintaining consistency with airlines, and packing a few days before departure.
Goals: Seek meaningful travel experiences and stay motivated to be fully prepared and on time for her trips.
So this is a refined challenge statement,
Help my friend prepare her trip by addressing her challenges with medication management, handling important documents, and packing items, while supporting her organized tickets, insurances, and accommodation vouchers, so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
I developed a formula to clarify my challenge statement based on the interview summary results.
The formula
Help my friend prepare her trip by adressing her pain points supporting her behaviours so she can reach her travel goals.
Let’s clarify her pain points, behaviours, and goals.
Pain points: She struggles with the risk of forgetting essential medication, finds visa applications stressful due to complex and time-consuming documentation, and dislikes the packing process.
Behaviours: She prepares for trips by researching in advance, organizing travel details digitally, booking tickets and insurance online, maintaining consistency with airlines, and packing a few days before departure.
Goals: Seek meaningful travel experiences and stay motivated to be fully prepared and on time for her trips.
So this is a refined challenge statement,
Help my friend prepare her trip by addressing her challenges with medication management, handling important documents, and packing items, while supporting her organized tickets, insurances, and accommodation vouchers, so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
Final Synthesis
Final Synthesis
From the refined challenge statement, here is the final research synthesis.
My friend is an organized traveler who relies on online platforms to book tickets, insurance, and accommodation. However, she still faces challenges in managing medication, handling important documents, and packing items. These fragmented preparations can cause stress and increase the risk of forgetting essential items, particularly when time is limited or emergencies occur. She needs a centralized way to manage all travel essentials in one place so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
From the refined challenge statement, here is the final research synthesis.
My friend is an organized traveler who relies on online platforms to book tickets, insurance, and accommodation. However, she still faces challenges in managing medication, handling important documents, and packing items. These fragmented preparations can cause stress and increase the risk of forgetting essential items, particularly when time is limited or emergencies occur. She needs a centralized way to manage all travel essentials in one place so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
SOLUTION
Based on the final synthesis, this is my possible solution for my friend
I will help my friend prepare for travel by organizing all her travel essentials in one place, so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
As the solution, I will develop a mobile app that helps my friend prepare for travel by organizing all her travel essentials in one place. This addresses the stress and risk of forgetting essential items caused by fragmented preparations, especially when time is limited, or emergencies occur, enabling her to stay prepared, on time, and focused on meaningful travel experiences
Core features
Feature
Description
User Problem Solved
Key Value
Trip Creation & Dashboard
Create trips with destination, dates, and countdown. View preparation progress in one dashboard.
Users lose track of preparation tasks when information is scattered.
Clear overview of trip readiness and deadlines.
Document Vault (Offline)
Securely store passport, visa, tickets, and insurance documents with offline access.
Important documents are stored across emails, apps, and files.
Easy, reliable access to critical documents anytime.
Medication Manager
Add medications, dosage, and schedules. Set reminders before departure and during the trip.
Travelers forget to pack or take essential medication, especially in emergencies.
Health safety and peace of mind while traveling.
Packing Checklist
Editable checklist with optional pre-built templates.
Packing is stressful and error-prone.
Faster, more confident packing without forgetting essentials.
Preparation Reminders
Automated notifications for packing, documents, and medication.
Time pressure causes travelers to forget important tasks.
Keeps users on schedule and fully prepared.
Emergency Information
Store insurance contacts, emergency numbers, and embassy details for destinations.
In emergencies, critical information is hard to find quickly.
Immediate access to help when it matters most.
Based on the final synthesis, this is my possible solution for my friend
I will help my friend prepare for travel by organizing all her travel essentials in one place, so she can stay prepared, on time, and focus on meaningful travel experiences.
As the solution, I will develop a mobile app that helps my friend prepare for travel by organizing all her travel essentials in one place. This addresses the stress and risk of forgetting essential items caused by fragmented preparations, especially when time is limited, or emergencies occur, enabling her to stay prepared, on time, and focused on meaningful travel experiences
Core features
| Feature | Description | User Problem Solved | Key Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trip Creation & Dashboard | Create trips with destination, dates, and countdown. View preparation progress in one dashboard. | Users lose track of preparation tasks when information is scattered. | Clear overview of trip readiness and deadlines. |
| Document Vault (Offline) | Securely store passport, visa, tickets, and insurance documents with offline access. | Important documents are stored across emails, apps, and files. | Easy, reliable access to critical documents anytime. |
| Medication Manager | Add medications, dosage, and schedules. Set reminders before departure and during the trip. | Travelers forget to pack or take essential medication, especially in emergencies. | Health safety and peace of mind while traveling. |
| Packing Checklist | Editable checklist with optional pre-built templates. | Packing is stressful and error-prone. | Faster, more confident packing without forgetting essentials. |
| Preparation Reminders | Automated notifications for packing, documents, and medication. | Time pressure causes travelers to forget important tasks. | Keeps users on schedule and fully prepared. |
| Emergency Information | Store insurance contacts, emergency numbers, and embassy details for destinations. | In emergencies, critical information is hard to find quickly. | Immediate access to help when it matters most. |
Interaction Design
Task Flow
.png)
User Flow
UI Design
Prototyping
Home/Trip Dashboard
Packing List
Emergency Contact
App naming
From the idea of a travel companion app that helps travelers stay safe, prepared, and stress-free by keeping documents, medication, packing, and emergency information in one place, I named this app SafeMyTrip. It feels more personal, simple, memorable, and it clearly reflects its core purpose, protecting travelers throughout their journey.
Development Plan
App Overview
App Name: SafeMyTrip
Category: Travel Preparation & Safety
Core Value Proposition: Helping travelers prepare safer, more organized trips by providing structured packing and medication checklists, emergency contacts, and document storage in one place.
Tech Stack
React Native: Single codebase for iOS & Android
Key Libraries
- Navigation: @react-navigation/native
- State: Zustand or Redux Toolkit
- Forms: react-hook-form
- UI: NativeWind (Tailwind for RN) or React Native Paper
- Local Storage: MMKV
What I learned from this challenge
- CBL makes my learning more efficient and effective because it encourages me to actively participate, think critically, and directly apply knowledge in meaningful contexts.
- In the idea of Empathy, I learn how to see the “why” behind actions, not just what people do, but why they do it. So I can avoid quick conclusions or solutions.
- In interview-based research, categorizing topics before creating questions makes it easier to develop more detailed prompts and guide the conversation naturally. This approach helps improve the quality of the discussion and enables us to uncover deeper, more meaningful insights from users.
Future Improvement
- Improving the user interface to deliver the best possible experience, aligned with the product’s core purpose and user needs.
- Providing a PIN/ biometric lock feature to protect user security and safeguard sensitive data.
- Designing an app logo for SafeMyTrip to make it easily recognizable and findable in a smartphone’s app list.
- Conducting interviews with other travelers to refine features and functionality, ensuring the app is more helpful in supporting people as they prepare for their trips.