Future of Cruise Travel
2022 Specializing Master’s Program
in User Experience Psychology
Razan Hammoud, Veronica Pelazzini, Paulina Benavides Jarillo and myself
Intro
One of the long-term projects of the program is on the future of travel, specifically cruise traveling. Utilizing the knowledge we have gained thus far from the program and with the guidance from the faculty, we organized a research plan and developed personas and customer journeys.
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to investigate the motives, perceptions and emotional journey of individuals throughout their cruise travel experience in order to comprehend their needs and assess them using digital tools in the purpose of improving usual cruise ship travelers.
Goal
A digital tool that would enhance current cruisers’ experiences before and during their trip.
Research Questions
What practical, emotional and cognitive factors are involved in selecting cruise ship trips as a means of travel and pleasure?
Objectives
Understand who is the habitual cruiser
Determine the demographics of cruisers
Indicate factors and occasions that motivate cruisers
Identify the process of selecting a specific cruise trip
Indicate the aspects that may disturb cruisers’ experience
Indicate the aspects that enhance cruisers’ experience
Indicate factors that can be improved before, during and after the cruise ship experience
Identify other actors involved in the decision
(Netnography > Screener > Questionnaire > Interviews > Debriefing > Personas > Journey > Possible Journey)
We developed an interview guide with specific questions to help us gather necessary information about each interviewee’s experience on the cruise. Afterwards, we recruited people who passed our screener questionnaire (for example, we screened out people who only went on a cruise before they were 18). Before each interview, we had the interviewees fill out a very quick questionnaire to learn about their basic status information and background. After all the interviews were completed, we debriefed as a group and extracted information on Miro to help develop user personas.
Research and Protocol Methodology
We had a debriefing session by topic (personal, positive and negative aspects, future opportunities) and it helped us extract specific information and find patterns among the different experiences.
Personas
It was impossible to cover every aspect of all the different experiences from our interviews, so we focused on these two personas: the young, social butterfly and the apprehensive traveler.
In summary, Camila is a free spirit who likes to travel, socialize and document her experience but poor internet connection onboard make her feel disconnected from her friends, while her father Davide likes to plan ahead and organize his trips and would like to be able to disconnect from work but connect and communicate with his children efficiently and easily while onboard.
Customer Journeys
Our group carefully thought out all the interactions, touchpoints, and emotions before, during, and after the cruise travel. You can find some overlaps in their journeys.
First, Camila’s journey is below:
And Davide’s journey:
Findings
#1 Communication
We learned that the main pain point among cruise travelers was communication. They are frustrated with the lack of communication between their friends and family, but also the cruises. Cruise events and facility information were not easily findable according to our interviews. Some cruises had daily events sent to the rooms or left outside the hallways.
Because WIFI is usually expensive, people would opt out of that. This would lead to boredom, lack of communication, lack of necessary information and etc.
#2 Community
It was also hard for young people to find a community of friends on the cruise ship. They would be with their family members but did not have much opportunity to meet new people, be independent, and find groups with similar interests.
#3 Map and Navigation
Navigating on the cruise ship was not user-friendly, according to our interviews. People would have to rely on signs or staff to find events and facilities.
After our findings, we focused on Communication, Community, and Map. We learned that these aspects were lacking and can be improved and that these will help both personas find socializing, communicating, and navigating on the cruise much more efficient and enjoyable.
We started wireframing on Figma, as shown below. The initial focus was on the registration process.
Wireframing
While we were working on solving the pain points, the board told us that we should work on our project as if we were pitching to MSC Cruises. MSC Cruises is an Italian global cruise line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa, and Venice. Its app had some solutions and approaches that our group has been working toward, and it was interesting to see that our research was in fact aligned with their direction.
However, there were some aspects that we believed could be improved in terms of the overall look and feel, user experience, and technology.
Prototyping on Figma
Registration 1/2
The registration process is very important as the user’s answers later work to better cater to individual needs and interests. We divided it into 6 steps:
Booking Number or Bracelet
Cruisername and Bio
Gender
Age
Things You Love
Photo or Avatar
There is also an option to “Take a Look Inside”, which is a way to explore the app without registering.
Registration 2/2
We realized that the user may not want to spend too much time in this process, so we made them easy and quick by adding buttons instead of requiring one to type (except for the optional bio), and one has the ability to skip each step as well.
On Board - Home & Events
After the registration is over, the app takes you to the Home page where the user can explore before the cruiser and start planning!
Here, our persona Camila goes to the Events page, and scrolls around to see the most relevant events for herself. Because she chose “food” as one of her interests during the registration process, she considers the “Pasta Tasting” event at the top.
She has the option to share the event so she shares it with her new friend “Megan”.
On Board - AR Map
After she shares the event info with Megan, she realizes that she does not know where the event is located on the deck. So she clicks on “Take me there”, and the app takes her to the Augmented Reality Guide + Map.
A quick intro and camera access permission show up, then she can move her phone around and see all the events and friends nearby, as well as receive notifications.
She receives a notification for their Happy Hour, which she goes to after the pasta tasting!
On Board - Community
After a fun night with cocktails and socializing with her new friends, Camila receives a message in her group chat the next morning.
Camila recognizes Laetitia and realizes that she has her purse! So she swipes to the left from the group chat, finds Laetitia among the list of group members, and messages her directly! (Or she could have clicked on Laetitia’s photo from the chat.)
The three main categories: community, chat, and map are well integrated so that the user can share and communicate easily while getting the most out of his or her cruise experience!
Thank you!