TRIPPIN • HANDED OFF 2025
Tour guiding mobile app 0→1 design
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
TEAM
1 PM
3 Engineers
1 Designer
SKILLS
End-to-end design
User Research
Product Strategy
Design Systems
OUTCOMES
Achieved onboarding clarity for both groups
Guides and tourists can complete registration and setup more efficiently
Strong interest in AI rerouting
75% of tested users said they would use the AI-powered tour reroute feature during unexpected situations
Gamification drives engagement
Tourists actively participate in quizzes and challenges, increasing interaction with local partners and rewards
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Language barriers and split tooling prevent guides from delivering engaging experiences for mixed-language groups
In most tours, groups are made up entirely of travelers from the same country, led by a guide who speaks their native language. Tour guides often face challenges when managing multiple aspects of a tour simultaneously.
Some of their tasks are:
Keeping track of guests
Communication with drivers about stops
Handle unexpected situations and last-minute changes
Stressed Tour Guide AI Generated Image
SOLUTION
Trippin will use AI to bring travelers of different nationalities onto the same tour, and keep the guiding experience enjoyable
By leveraging real time AI real-time translation to deliver tour content in each guest’s language, guides can preserve narrative flow and create engaging experiences with their personal style. Trippin owner called me to help as product designer on this project and my task was to develop that idea further and include all important features to help guides do their job and keep tourists engaged.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Research shows that a tour guide's competence is the biggest factor in overall guest satisfaction
On this link you can find a field study that used participant observation on Scandinavian package tours with mixed-language groups. Research found that people buy the experience when someone informed talks about local details which are hard to find online and makes them feel like local people.
Research Results Diagram
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Trippin addresses gaps by combining support for guides with multilingual experiences for tourists
To understand the current market offerings, I looked at a few popular apps similar to Trippin. Here are relevant competitors, along with their strengths and limitations in relation to this project:
Viator (Tripadvisor Experiences)
Viator is one of the largest marketplaces for connecting travelers with local tour operators. It has a huge user base and integration with Tripadvisor, giving freelance guides a way to reach millions of travelers. However, it is primarily a booking platform, but doesn’t offer support for guides during the tour itself.
Limitations: It doesn’t assist with multilingual commentary, real-time schedule management, or other in-tour logistics that Trippin aims to address.
Airbnb Experiences
Airbnb Experiences connects local tour/activity hosts with travelers. The platform enables guides to offer creative tours and gives them flexibility to host when they want (we don't want that in Trippin). The strength here is the emphasis on personal connection . For a new guide, Airbnb provides an easy way to monetize her skills. Its mobile app makes scheduling and communication with guests really easy.
Limitations: It is also focused on booking and reviews rather than the live guiding process. It doesn’t provide specialized features for multi-language tours or tools to help during the tour (no built-in translation, route management, or group audio features).
Vox Connect
It’s a system that lets guides broadcast their live audio commentary directly to tourists. This effectively turns the tourists’ devices into tour receivers, so everyone can hear the guide clearly via their own earbuds.
Strengths of Vox Connect include enhancing accessibility (tourists join via a simple web link, no app download needed). It directly addresses some of guide's challenges: ensuring everyone hears the guide and serving international groups without repeating in different languages.
Limitations: Being a specialized tool, Vox Connect focuses mainly on audio communication. It doesn’t handle other aspects like tour content management, or scheduling which means that guide would still need separate solutions for those,
SERVICE QUALITY
How to ensure guiding service quality with freelance guides
Guides can first lead tours only in their own country. After submitting important personal data and setting working hours, they must pass a certification exam with a Trippin staff member to prove knowledge of local history and context.
Each tour requires at least 80% content coverage, tracked by the AI assistant Viki. Higher Coverage Scores increase a guide’s chance of being assigned to tours.
Tour Guide Onboarding Set of Screens
Note: I will give a detailed explanation about AI Assistant Viki's functionalities
REROUTING
What happens to the tour if an unexpected situation occurs
If weather or other issues disrupt the plan, the AI assistant Viki suggests alternative routes or waiting. The guide can choose an option immediately or let tourists vote through the app.
Viki warns guide to reroute
Once a decision is made, the itinerary updates automatically and any ticket changes or refunds are handled in the background. This keeps the guide in control while involving tourists in the decision, reducing confusion and keeping the tour on track.
Democracy included in critical situations
EMERGENCY FEATURES
Emergency Response Integration
When an emergency occurs, the guide taps the always-visible SOS button. The app calls the local emergency number and, where allowed, records the conversation. It then automatically sends the group’s GPS location, the affected tourist’s medical info (if consented), and the guide’s contact to emergency services, enabling faster, informed response while the group stays calm.
A set of screens in case of an emergency
Note: The SOS feature ensures quick emergency response by sharing location and medical details automatically when possible. For services without API access, this information is communicated directly via phone call.
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
How Trippin can earn from this
Trippin earns revenue through partnerships and tour pricing. We negotiate bulk ticket discounts and revenue share agreements with verified partners such as restaurants, museums, reserves, and sports venues.
Tourists pay one all-inclusive price covering tickets and transport. Guides are paid a fixed fee per tour plus a percentage per tourist, which grows with their certification level and performance metrics.
A progression system based on ratings, coverage score, and completed tours drives quality and rewards top-performing guides with higher earnings and more tour opportunities. This model keeps standards high, ensures tourist satisfaction, and builds sustainable revenue for the platform.
Earnings Diagram
Tourists also play location-based games during tours, unlocking rewards and achievements that tie directly into the business model, merging gamification with revenue generation. This model keeps standards high, ensures tourist satisfaction, and builds sustainable revenue for the platform.
Note: Business will participate in gamification engine to bring customers to their places through awards
Tourist Gamification Screens
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
Design Thinking should be taught in business schools
Applying Design Thinking to business objectives helped me create features that truly address tourist and guide needs, showing how strategy and design are tightly connected.
Users value interactive AI features
People enjoy being part of decisions, even in small tour settings, and adding AI to the process makes the experience feel more futuristic and fun.