Hanwha Group
PlanZ:
Customize, Discover, and Share Your Perfect Trip
AI & Short-form Content Based Travel Planning App
Role
Product Designer
Entrepreneur
Co-founder
Team
Jungho Hwang, PM
Julie Quan, SWE
Duration
Jun - Aug 2024
Tools
Figma
Illustrator
Context
PlanZ is a internal startup that my team co-founded during the Global Internship Program of Hanwha, the 7th largest company in South Korea. I was a product design intern for this program over the summer of 2024, and with my team of global interns we developed a business plan and a fully functioning MVP. This case study is heavily design-focused, but please feel free to reach out to me if you want to know more about the product!
Inspiration
As a team of international students attending U.S. universities, the common interest we all had was centered around effective traveling in unfamiliar places. As none of us had lived in the U.S. before, we shared similar experiences of being confused whenever we would travel to another state. D
The Problem
The problem statement we first established was as the following:
There is no effective way for travelers to plan their ideal trip in unfamiliar foreign countries.
Scope
Though this problem applies universally for all travelers in any country, we decided to narrow down the scope of our project so that we could start with the most effective solution and expand globally. We decided to focus on foreigners who travel in South Korea because:
South Korea has a great abundance of apps that are extremely effective in helping locals reserve restaurants, search for places, and navigate routes. However, this great efficiency was not applicable for foreigner travelers. We saw this discrepancy as a great potential problem space for developing an innovative solution.
The growing popularity of Korean culture has led to a rapid increase in interest of travel in South Korea.
By specifying the initial target user group, we were able to move on to tackling more specific pain points and user research.
UXR & Pain Points
In order to identify more specific pain points, I conducted user interviews on non-Korean individuals that had experience in traveling both in Korea and other countries. From our findings we identified the key pain points as the following:
01
Scattered & limited information for planning
Destination discovery, route calculations, and open times are not accessible in a centralized platform, and most tourist spot information is concentrated only in Seoul.
02
Unfriendly booking systems
Booking systems are located on different platforms and often have requirements that inhibit foreigner use.
03
Challenges in group traveling and planning
The lack of a centralized platform for sharing itineraries and making group decisions often leads to miscommunication and a frustrating planning process.
04
Cultural discrepancies and language barriers
International travelers are unfamiliar with local customs and cultural nuances, and language barriers hinder accessing information.
Market Research
In order to further understand the market we were diving into, my team did extensive market research in how travelers plan their trips. The major thing we discovered was that social media serves as a key player in gaining inspiration for traveling, especially in Gen Z users.
Target User
With this knowledge we further narrowed our target audience.
GenZ & Milennials (ages 18-35)
highly active on social media
This represents roughly 40% of all social media users.
This demographic values unique and authentic travel experiences, often drawing inspiration from social media influencers and user-generated content.
International and domestic travelers hunting for hidden gems in South Korea
For the initial stage. We want to expand to the world.
Solution Concept
Considering this target audience and the pain points, we decided to focus on user-generated content, personalization, and centralization.
Solution Features
Short-form browsing for easy gain of travel inspiration
Showcasing trip presets that highlight niche, trendy travel spots apart from major tourist attractions
A highly customizable travel planning feature
Foreigner-friendly interfaces and centralization of information
AI support for recommendations and cultural advice
Design
The Feed
User-generated Travel Itineraries
The home screen of the app starts with the main feed, where the list of travel itineraries trained to the user's taste is shown. This content is created by PlanZ, collaborating content creators, and just normal users of the app, and users can choose to view content from people that they follow as well. I chose to display specific tags for each itinerary, or "journey", on the main feed so users can make more informed choices when picking the journeys they want to explore further. Also, by allowing users to directly save these journeys with just a click of a button from the main feed and the journey details page, the steps to add a travel plan are simplified in that the user doesn't have to jump back and forth between tabs to search for the location in the journey and add it to their travel plans.
Foreigner-Friendly Centralization
Initially, our team decided to connect directly to Korean reservation platforms such as Naver and Catchtable, but we realized that even if we provide direct links, international travelers who are not accustomed to these apps may still struggle. So we decided to give the user the option of using a reservation proxy feature, so that with the information they provide to the app, an agent can make the reservation they need for them.
Personalized Searching
We also wanted to consider the many different tastes of travelers when it comes to traveling. Just from our user interviews, we gained knowledge that some people focus more on traditional experiences while others want more niche, trendy experiences—and while some may enjoy more active activities, others may prefer a quieter, laid-back time to themselves. In order to allow users to find places that would fit their preferences in the most efficient way, we added tags that would filter search results.
Because we incorporated a wide variety of tags, showing them all on the screen made the interface look very cluttered. So I organized these tags into sub-categories and put them under expandable sections. I also decided to make the filter icon appear in the search bar to indicate that the results shown on the screen are filtered results.
Browsing
Browse / Map View Toggle
One of the largest pain points was that users needed to switch between different platforms to browse for potential travel spots that interested them and actually search for their location and figure out detailed information about them. We therefore decided to simplify this process by adding a simple toggle that would allow users to easily switch between browsing and map features without having to leave the app or click on a different tab.
Direct Linking to Itineraries / Spot Details
I also decided to add a button to each short-form video, or "Zip", that would directly link the user to the journey or spot that the video is describing. This way, users don't have to manually search for the spot, but just click on a single button that would take them to a page that would provide them with the information they need.
Plan
Importing of Pre-saved Content
By making the saved trips (itineraries the user planned before) and journeys / spots from other users accessible from the planning page, users can easily view the content they found interesting and add it to their travel itineraries in just a few clicks.
Customizable Searching
By using the same searching system as in the feed, users can find spots that fit their interest. The map ensures that users can view the approximate location / route to this spot and determine if this spot is an appropriate step to add to their itinerary.
Recommending Travel Spots, Saving Trips
Based on the spots the user adds to their itinerary, additional recommended spots appear as pins on the map. The pins are differentiated between the spots the user actually added vs. the spots that are suggested through the app. Users can easily switch the order of the spots within the travel plan and see modified routes and recommendations.
Once the user finishes planning the itinerary, they can save it within the app so they can come back to it any time.
My Page
Uploading Journeys / Spots
Users can add their own content of journeys and spots that they've traveled to, providing their own input to the app's information. By making the thumbnail images and detail images customizable, users can give their own touches to the spot information and share their personal experience and perspective.
Adding New Location Information
I then realized that not all travel spots, especially more niche locations, may not be available in the database of the app because the data is based heavily on user input. Therefore, we needed a feature that allows users to add new information that doesn't appear in the search results! I added a new section to the search modal where users can add a custom address, and find the precise location on the map and even use their current location to help them find the accurate address of the spot.
Adding Custom Tags
Another concern was that users may want to search or tag their journeys and spots with categories that aren't provided in the app's list of tags. So, I added a customizable tag feature where users can input their own tags, like hashtags on social media, and add it to the journey they are uploading.
Chatbot
By adding a chatbot accessible from all pages, users can immediately receive friendly feedback, recommendations, and cultural tidbits.
Onboarding
By gaining information about the user, we can gain more insight on who uses our app most frequently and how our content should be catered to certain user groups.
Final Prototypes
Feed + Foreigner Friendly
✅ Discover travel plans from other users,
explore deeper, make easy reservations.
Short-Form Browsing
✅ Spot discovery separate from just Googling
✅ Inspiration from travel content creators
✅ Authentic previews from real-life users
Customizing Travel Plans
✅ Users can edit saved presets, replacing or adding their own spots
✅ Interactive maps to show distances and travel times between spots
✅ Suggestions based on optimal routes, travel times, and nearby hot spots.
User-generated Content
✅ Users upload their personal experiences and itineraries
✅ Add new locations and tags
AI Chatbot
✅ A travel companion with personalized recommendations and cultural insights
✅ A local friend providing cultural tidbits and tips about local customs
The Pitch!
With a fully developed MVP and a well-established business plan, we were able to successfully pitch PlanZ to five VCs in San Francisco!
Reflections
Working for 9 full weeks on a single project, especially when we had to come up not just with an innovative solution but also a plausible business plan, definitely was an experience with its challenges. However, I believe I gained so much more knowledge regarding the following:
Designing user interactions while considering market strategies
Distinguishing the spaces of multiple features that interact with each other
And of course, I wouldn't have been able to achieve all this without my amazing team. Not only were they superb team players and communicators, but they were also just really enjoyable company! I have come to believe that loving the work you're doing is a definite prerequisite for a fulfilling work experience, but loving the people you work with has a stronger power to help you fight through the endless challenges together.
This is our sprint sheet!
