A better way to inspire adventure
What if planning felt like discovering?
Rethinking travel tools for the TikTok generation
The Disconnect
1. Gen Z discovers destinations through TikTok stories that disappear in 24 hours.
2. They coordinate trips through group chats with screenshots and broken links.
3. Yet they're forced to use tools designed for methodical, desktop-based planning.
The Cost
1. 68% of researched trips never get booked
2. Average planning session: 47 minutes across 6 different apps
3. Users abandon due to overwhelm, not cost or logistics
Trailmix bridges this gap by turning ephemeral inspiration into organized trips—no spreadsheets, no browser tab chaos, no planning fatigue.
The planning journey that breaks dreams
Following John's 90-minute descent from excitement to abandonment
8 PM - The Spark
John sees Tokyo ramen TikTok. Screenshots it. "I need to go there."
9:30 PM - Rabbit Hole
12 browser tabs open. Screenshots piling up. Group chat chaos begins.
11 PM - Breaking Point
Overwhelmed, not excited. Momentum dies. Another "someday" trip.
Our interviews with 15 Gen Z travelers revealed this isn't John's failure; it's the predictable outcome of a broken system.
Trailmix Features
Trip planning made social and fun.
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.
How can AI transform experiences?
My first iteration explored an AI chat interface for onboarding.
Personalized Welcome
AI-driven greeting that adapts to your travel style and preferences.
Smart Onboarding
Conversational AI guides you through setup with personalized questions.
Social Planning
Seamlessly invite friends to collaborate on your next adventure.
- Too many different concepts competing for attention
- Diluted the core focus of social travel planning
- Plan to revisit and refine this AI-driven approach in the future
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.
Future Exploration
Investigating real-time collaboration features that do not compromise the focused, personal experience our users value.
Keep exploring!
