As a Designer at Tripadvisor, I contributed to a major overhaul of the brand, web and app experience, focusing on a seamless journey across all travel phases, from planning to sharing. Working with a diverse team of product strategists, engineers, and designers, we aimed to unify separate areas like Hotels, Restaurants, and Attractions into a cohesive experience that supported travelers throughout their entire journey.

Understanding the User Through Data and Research

One of the key steps in this redesign process was understanding the needs and behaviors of our users. We relied heavily on both qualitative data—gathered through user interviews—and quantitative data from analytics. This combination helped us uncover important insights that guided the design process and revealed opportunities to better serve our customers. By aligning our vision with the customer journey and their mental models, we could ensure that the new design would resonate with users on a deeper level.

The goal was to create an architecture that supported major traveler mental models like discovery and proximity. We envisioned a structure where users could easily navigate the various phases of travel: Plan, Book, Experience, and Share. This framework allowed us to stay true to the way travelers naturally think about their trips while also making sure the experience was simple, intuitive, and connected.

A Geo-Based Architecture for Seamless Navigation

One of the most exciting shifts we made was to the geo-based architecture of the site and app. The previous design reflected Tripadvisor’s business structure, which focused on individual categories like Hotels, Restaurants, and Attractions. However, this approach didn’t always match the way users think about their travel. We reimagined the experience to reflect the real-world process of travel—starting with destination, then moving to places to stay, places to eat, and finally, things to do.

This shift to a more intuitive, geo-based structure meant that travelers could quickly access the information they needed based on their location or trip, creating a smoother journey through the app and website. The new architecture made it easier for users to jump from one area to another without feeling like they were navigating separate silos. The focus was on enabling discovery and making it easy to find everything they needed in one place.

Personalization: Keeping Users Engaged Throughout Their Journey

A critical part of my role in the User Engagement team was ensuring that the redesigned experience was personalized to each traveler’s needs. With so much content available on Tripadvisor, we wanted to make sure that the experience felt tailored and relevant to each individual. We introduced several features that allowed users to follow activity from specific destinations, restaurants, hotels, forums, and reviews—essentially creating a more customized feed of content that would continually engage them.

The home screen feed became a key component of this personalization strategy. It aggregated relevant content from across the platform, making it easier for users to discover new places, read up on user reviews, or find activities that were in line with their interests. This approach not only helped users feel more connected to the platform but also kept them engaged throughout the entire travel journey—from inspiration all the way to sharing their experiences.

This personalized experience also opened up new opportunities for commerce cross-sells and targeted advertising. By better understanding our users and providing them with content that was relevant to their travel needs, we were able to offer products and services that aligned with their interests—ultimately driving more business value.

Desktop and mobile web design for attractions booking funnel

A Collaborative Vision

Throughout this process, I worked closely with a diverse team of engineers, strategists, and designers, each of us contributing our unique expertise to create an experience that worked for all phases of travel. It was a true team effort, and the success of the redesign was a direct result of our ability to work collaboratively across disciplines, always keeping the user at the center of our process.

The result was a more cohesive, intuitive, and engaging Tripadvisor experience—one that truly reflected the way people think about and plan their travels. By leveraging data, listening to user feedback, and working as one unified team, we were able to create an experience that better supported travelers at every stage of their journey.