Yond: Redefining Collaborative Travel Planning

 

Yond is a smart travel app that helps users discover inspiration, collect ideas, and effortlessly turn them into bookable trips. Think of it as a mix of Pinterest for travel inspiration and a travel assistant powered by AI.

I joined Yond early on as the sole product designer, working directly with the founders and developers. At that time, the product existed only as a simple MVP without a clear design direction. My mission was to reimagine the experience, redesign the app (V2), and establish a strong design system to support rapid growth.

My Role

  • Product Design (UX & UI)

  • User Research & Testing

  • Information Architecture

  • Design System & Components Library

  • Collaboration with Founders & Developers

Challenges

  1. The MVP lacked a coherent user journey and had fragmented flows.

  2. There was no consistent design system, making development and iteration slow.

  3. Users struggled with the value proposition: collecting inspiration was fun, but how it translated into actual trip booking wasn’t clear.

  4. The app needed to balance inspiration browsing (Pinterest-like) with practical planning (trip building and booking).

My Approach

1. Reviewing the Information Architecture

I started by mapping the existing product flows and identifying pain points in the user journey:

  • Users could browse content but had difficulty saving and organizing it.

  • The step from “inspiration board” → “bookable trip” was confusing.

  • Navigation felt scattered, with unclear entry points for trip creation.

I redesigned the architecture with a clear funnel:

Discover → Save (Pin) → Organize (Board) → Generate Trip → Book.

2. Designing Core User Flows

I collaborated closely with the dev team to test and refine key flows. From the diagrams (the ones you’ll showcase on your site), the major flows I worked on were:

  • Creating a Board

    • Users can set up themed boards (e.g., "Summer in Greece") where they pin inspiration.

    • Flow simplified: fewer steps, clearer entry points, and more visual guidance.

  • Creating a Trip

    • From a board, users can trigger the AI trip planner.

    • The flow guides them through preferences (dates, budget, companions) and then generates a full trip package: flights, hotels, activities.

  • Pinning Content

    • Inspired by Pinterest but adapted to travel needs.

    • I added micro-interactions (quick saves, visual feedback) and improved discoverability of the “Pin” action.

  • Smart Recommendations

    • After testing with early users, we realised they wanted control but also guidance.

    • I designed a system where users could tweak AI suggestions, creating a balance between automation and personalisation.

3. Experimentation & Testing

We iterated quickly, using lo-fi prototypes for early feedback, then moving to high-fidelity designs once the flow was validated.

  • Ran usability tests with target users (travel enthusiasts).

  • Gathered feedback on how intuitive the journey felt.

  • Adjusted flows to reduce friction points (e.g., making trip creation faster, cutting unnecessary steps).

4. Building the Design System

One of my biggest contributions was creating a scalable design system.

  • Defined typography, color palette, and spacing system.

  • Built reusable UI components: cards, buttons, modals, navigation, and pin interactions.

  • Documented design patterns to keep consistency across the app.

  • Worked closely with developers to ensure the system was easy to implement.

This reduced design–dev handoff friction and made it easier for the team to roll out new features.

Results & Impact

  • Clarity in the user journey: From browsing inspiration to booking a trip, the flow is now seamless.

  • Stronger product identity: The app now looks and feels consistent across touchpoints.

  • Faster iterations: Thanks to the design system, devs could build faster, and new ideas could be tested quickly.

  • Positive feedback from early testers: Users highlighted how easy it was to go from “dreaming” about a trip to actually planning one.

Key Takeaways

  • As the sole designer, I wore many hats: researcher, architect, interaction designer, and visual designer.

  • Working closely with founders and developers allowed me to align business goals with user needs.

  • A strong design system was essential to scale the product and keep consistency.

  • Designing flows for a Pinterest-like app with AI trip creation required balancing inspiration with actionable booking features.

 

Feature 1

Mauris id fermentum nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Mauris id fermentum nulla.

Learn more

Feature 2

Quisque congue porttitor ullamcorper. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Sed a ligula quis sapien lacinia egestas.

Learn more

Feature 3

Suspendisse nec congue purus. Vivamus a ante congue, porta nunc nec, hendrerit turpis. Phasellus sodales massa malesuada tellus fringilla, nec bibendum tellus blandit.

Learn more