The Problems

"This doesn't feel like an Outdoor Adventure site to me!"

We conducted a usability test on Outsoul's website, we found that:

1. A centralized place to find outdoor adventure guides is well-received by many Outdoor Adventurers. However,
2. Many users did not perceive Outsoul was an outdoor adventurer site upon the first few glances.
3. Many users were confused initially when they were redirected to other sites for booking.

User goals & needs

"I want to book a trusted guide efficiently so that I can enjoy doing something cool!"

We surveyed about a hundred people, conducted 6 in-person interviews with Outdoor Adventurers and sifted through secondary data and to uncover valuable insights.

Using a method called Affinity Mapping, we distilled the research data into a few insights:

1. They want to impress others.
2. They want to feel like they've accomplished something higher.
3. Finding Outdoor Adventure Guides is traditionally a very tedious and time-consuming task.
4. It's very important to find guides they can trust.

Based on the research data, we identified two distinct types of users -- hardcore outdoor adventurer and free spirited millennial

Positioning Outsoul

We identified some competitors / comparable businesses and performed an analysis. The three key elements we looked at were:

1. Market (Leisure travel vs Adventure travel)
2. The organization of the information on their websites (Organized vs Disorganized)
3. Branding (Inspiring vs dull)

This analysis helped us to determine that Outsoul would be an adventure oriented trip-booking site that is organized and inspiring.

Our Approach

An intuitive flow that puts users in the adventure mode and brings them to suitable trips efficiently!

A Thrilling Landing Page

1. Hero Images
   Images in the slider contains action shots that showcase things that users can accomplish with Outsoul.
2. Headline
   A headline using language related to adventure or aiming to inspire thrill-seeking experiences. In this case, the word “discover” inspires adventure.
3. Section Title
   Same as #2, the word “explore” aims to inspire for an adventure.
4. Call-to-Action
   The very discoverable Call-to-Action button is in golden-yellow. It brings an energetic and adventurous spirit to the design.

Curated Trips Based on Users' Stories

Others' "cool stories" always motivate people to go on an adventure. So we grouped the trips based on story themes to inspire users.

Search Trips based on Adventure Style

Not interested in trips that are not challenging? No problem! Users can easily narrow down their search results to only trips that are for hardcore outdoor adventurers.

Trip Tiles Provide the most Relevant Information

Based on the deciding factors of booking a trip, we prioritized information on the trip tiles to help users to find their their favorite trips in the most efficient way possible.

Future Recommendation

A positive first step but more things remain to be improved!

As of writing this, Outsoul was still working on building the backend functions that would allow users to book guided trips on Outsoul directly. While handing off the deliverables to Outsoul, we also recommended a few next steps to them, that included:

1. conducting indepth research on the users of each individual activity offered on Outsoul because there are clear differences between users of these activities.
2. offering pre-trip as well as post-trip services (instead of just booking service) so that Outsoul can have full control of the quality of the whole user experience.