(-_-;) Who Said Travel Portals Couldn't Offer More?
Project Duration
3 Weeks
Duties @ Hand
User Research
UI Design
Prototyping
Wireframing
Project Type
Adding A Feature
Tools Used
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
"Chase Travel" is a service offered by Chase Bank for its "Ultimate Rewards Members," who are users of (Compatible) Chase credit cards. It allows members to book travel using their reward points or redeem cashback through the Chase app or website.
Chase Travel Plus was conceived to address increased competition among banks by focusing on retaining users through enhanced features, beyond just offering generous sign-up bonuses and referral incentives.
Expanding the Chase Travel's portal capabilities, enhanced the utility for Ultimate Rewards members, giving Chase a competitive edge by allowing seamless travel planning and bookings in one place.
1.
Find out how credit card holders like to use their perks, what they'd like to see offered from banks, and research what banks and travel companies do well.
2.
Use research findings to develop wireframes which implement new features to test for feedback.
3.
Refine and iterate for final product.
Key Notes*
⊂(￣(ｴ)￣)⊃
Faced with the challenge of integrating new functionality into the established finance and banking industry, I tackled the issue by analyzing and comparing credit card offerings from three leading banks—American Express, Citi, and Capital One—against Chase's offerings. This comparison enabled me to identify an opportunity for innovation and improvement.
Insights
They all incentivize consumers who travel a lot or plan to travel regularly.
Rewards users for using their travel portals.
They all have different methods in how users are able to redeem their acquired points.
Incentives are the main way that makes consumers want to use credit cards. Whether it’s cash back or other reward systems.
Given that card benefits are plain and simple, we could expand on the experience given to users; making it more engaging.
Competitor Analysis
Company
Value Proposition
Membership Rewards
Targets a higher income demographic
Targets people focused on travel
Rewards are “Travel Miles”
Cashback system
Advantages
Consumer protections.
Can Send & Split bills.
Provides exclusive lounges for card holders traveling
All purchases go towards travel miles with specific categories giving 2X-5X mileage.
No annual fees
Up to 5% Cash Back.
Rounds points up to the nearest 10 on all purchases.
Disadvantages
Large upfront annual cost
Not as widespread in merchant acceptance compared to visa and mastercard
Targets people focused on travel
Rewards are “Travel Miles”
No exclusive areas at airports.
No travel upgrades
Research Insights*
Seeking input from real people.
Research Key
Takeaways 𓂃🖊
Credit card holders interviewed preferred to redeem points for travel.
Users appreciate efficiency when using their cashback or other rewards.
2 large factors when it comes to choosing a credit card are versatility and benefits of signing up.
Users appreciate clarity and accessibility when it comes to specific information such as utilization.
User Research
Now that I have a goal in mind, I had to see who would benefit from something like this. If no one benefits, it would be time to pivot.
59%
of travelers plan to use a travel card to book trips and pay for expenses during the trip.
-Forbes Advisor
52%
of Millennials use travel credit cards.
-Nerd Wallet
44%
of Gen Z use travel credit cards.
-Nerd Wallet
80%
of cardholders in 2024 with planned trips intend to pay for those trips with their travel credit cards.
-Forbes Advisor
User Interviews
5 People
Being a person who's credit card savvy, I felt confident in my ability to have one-on-one interviews with people; allowing for clarity if needed.
Ages 21-28
Using the collected data of credit card users, this age range captures the majority of those who'd most benefit.
Travel Card Holders
Narrowing down to a specific credit card type allowed the highest probability to receive relevant information efficiently.
Standout 1:
"I think it’s cool how there’s a diagram that shows my utilization or when I purchase something, it keeps me aware of how much it would be if I were to use my cashback."
User benefits from clarity of how impactful cashback is.
Users may be accustomed to this app structure.
Standout 2:
"The app is organized by card balance, travel benefits, settings, and utilization"
Standout 3:
"I do enjoy that my utilization is broken down into categories."
User appreciates being able to gain in depth details about their purchase history.
Affinity Mapping
Moving forward, I'm designing from the perspective of...
Giving a face to our demographic.
POV Statement
With a compiled data pool highlighting the most common pain points and desired functionality, the next step is to prioritize which issues to address first. Understanding the specific users of the service is crucial, as needs vary significantly between demographics. For example, an older individual accustomed to traditional methods might have different requirements compared to a younger person who grew up during the technology boom.
Defining Perspective
Collecting user data enabled me to refine the user perspective that I use to address the problem at hand. After analyzing the affinity map, I realized another underlying problem that supports the goal of developing the Chase Travel Portal.
Here is what I noticed…
New Problem:
Despite using travel cards for travel purchases, cardholders are becoming less incentivized to book through travel portals despite the extra bonus points; aiding in the increase of competition between banks offering credit cards.
Reason 1:
Booking flights directly is typically cheaper than booking through the travel portal and the points gained from booking through the portal don’t outweigh the immediate savings made by booking direct (which still gives bonus points, although less).
HMW 1:
How might we create a feature that creates value to users; incentivizing them to take advantage of the travel portal more often?
HMW 2:
How might we distinguish the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal from competitors that provides a substantial benefit to users to increase our card applicants?
Reason 2:
Booking through travel portals may not be as convenient as booking through travel sites.
HMW 3:
How might we make improvements to our current travel portal in order to generate greater value to our current card holders?
Personas
Site Map & Flows Development Details*
Feature Road Map
Deciding which features to prioritize was challenging due to time constraints, which limited how much I could develop. So, taking a bit of time to create a road map allowed me to look over my user data in order to determine which functionalities would be most beneficial to the end-user right away.
User Flow
Creating the user flow was straightforward since the main pages and tasks were already set up. To find inspiration for adding a planner, I did a second round of competitor analysis, focusing on indirect competitors like Wanderlog.
Feature Roadmap & Flows
Feature roadmap
User Flow
Lo-Fi Wireframes Development Details*
First round of wireframes.
With a clear plan, I created my first set of wireframes.
Since I was adding features to an existing service, I was able to save time by integrating my additions with the existing setup instead of starting from scratch.
Point 1
Based on this feedback, I made the adjustment to instead, have the add the invitation option become available after a user selects a fight are in the "Trip Cart" section.
Point 2
Using this as a guide, I created a notes card to serve as a more versatile and simple feature. I made this decision due to time constraint as well as a thought of seeing both reviews and notes under the location would feel a bit cluttered.
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Lo-Fi Feedback
Before
After
Tripmate addition
relocated to "Add
to your trip" section
Point 1
"Mmm… I think inviting a friend before you finish finding a flight kind of seems a bit odd. Like, how would I have a plus one at concert without them knowing where the venue is.. it's possible, but maybe not the best thing to do."
-Anya S.
Point 2
"I think a cool thing to try to add would be way for everyone to leave a comment on locations added. Like sometimes when I'm out with friends, I want to try a new spot, but they may tell me what their experience was like there and I may change my mind."
-Chaz J.
Before
After
Tripmate addition
relocated to "Add
to your trip" section
Hi-Fi Development Details*
Converting concepts into reality.
After implementing suggestions from the Lo-Fi wireframes, I was able to fully flesh out my vision for another round of user testing.
Hi-Fi Feedback
Presenting my Hi-Fi screens to testers was a bit nerve-racking, but still exciting. As there was a lot more added between the lo-fi and now I was a bit worried about needing to make drastic changes but that wasn't the case in the end. Users were pleased with how well the changes I made meshed with the existing Chases aesthetic, but did note some things worth considering for some added polish.
Iteration 1
When adding contacts, I made the adjustment to provide and "Invite" toggle as it may get confusing when selecting multiple people.
Iteration 2
Being made aware of the abrupt jump between screens after booking a flight or inviting friends, I implemented a "toast" to provide confidence to the user that the action done was a success.
Iteration 3
When adjusting the trip budget to account for reward points, I provided a percentage-based option.
Hi-Fi Screens
Hi-Fi Iterations
Before
After
Reformatted contact cards.
Provided an "Invite" toggle.
Before
After
Implemented a "Tripmate Added" toast.
Before
After
Provided a percentage-based, point redemption.
Want to reach out or collaborate together?
marcoflet@yahoo.com
Maraming salamat
for checking out my work! (☞⌐▀͡ ͜ʖ͡▀ )☞
Project Takeaways𓂃🖊
Wrapping up the experience.
Overall, I found this project to be incredibly rewarding. It provided valuable insights about myself and serves as a reference for my future prospects. During the development stage, I noticed a dip in my motivation compared to the initial excitement when the golden idea struck. I realized that I derive a lot of joy from building things from scratch (probably due to my background in brand identity), yet I also appreciated the satisfaction of refining and enhancing something that many people use daily in a meaningful way. Interestingly, having the opportunity to build on an existing product allowed me to focus more effectively on what truly matters, preventing my design thinking resource from being stretched too thin.
Using The Chase Travel + Prototype
Final Screens
