A better way to inspire adventure
Building inspiration into trip planning
We all want more adventure for our buck. According to McKinsey & Company, 77% of travelers say their biggest effort goes into hunting for deals—not just destinations.
That’s why we built Trailmix: an app that puts short-form, snackable content front and center, so planning your next trip feels less like homework and more like inspired fun.
Travel planning is fragmented
Our interviews with 15 travelers (ages 18-28) revealed a broken planning process:
- 4+ apps required for a single trip (Instagram, Google, booking sites, notes)
- Information gets lost between platforms and browser tabs
- Planning momentum dies when switching between tools, causing trip abandonment
Trailmix Features
Trip-First Design
Tell us where, when, and who you want on your next trip.
Short-Form First
Users can filter their feeds on local or international locations.
Organized Collections
Traverse your saved city collections with dynamic filters.
Building trust through visual design
Travel apps often feel either too corporate or too casual. We needed to balance trustworthiness for planning with engagement for discovery.
The challenge: Users judge travel apps by their polish because they are making real decisions with real money.
Typography
Color Palette
Iconography
Core assumptions with real users
We needed to validate whether users would actually engage with travel content differently in our proposed format.
The Test
We created low-fidelity prototypes and tested with 12 potential users. Each session involved showing existing travel content, demonstrating our proposed interface, and asking users to complete planning tasks.
Surprising insight: Users did not want another social feed, they wanted curated, actionable content that felt personal.
User needs, not assumptions
Our initial designs assumed users wanted robust social features. User testing revealed they prioritized planning efficiency over social interaction.
Impact: The revised approach reduced onboarding steps by 60% and increased task completion rates in our usability tests.
Key insights from 10+ user interviews
After testing our revised designs, we conducted deeper interviews to understand what was working and what needed refinement.
Visual consistency builds trust
Users specifically mentioned that the trip summary screen felt polished but wanted that same level of design throughout the app.
Group planning flow needs clarity
Users loved collaborative trip planning but felt confused about roles and responsibilities.
AI chatbot feels helpful, not intrusive
Our text-based AI assistant tested exceptionally well because it felt proactive rather than reactive.
Accessibility choices benefit everyone
Users praised our font choices and color contrast, reinforcing that good accessibility benefits all users.
Validating our approach through early metrics
What we learned about building for Gen Z travelers
This project taught us that successful travel tools need to feel personal, not just functional. Gen Z travelers do not want more options, they want better curation and seamless integration between inspiration and action.
Research assumptions early
Visual consistency builds trust
AI assistance is trusted when helpful
Scaling personalized travel discovery
The work continues, but we have validated genuine demand for bridging travel inspiration and practical planning.
Summer 2025
We are launching our beta with 50 selected users to test our complete planning-to-booking flow.
Future Exploration
Investigating real-time collaboration features that do not compromise the focused, personal experience our users value.
Keep exploring!
