We then interviewed six people to understand the following research objectives:
- Understand what travelers like to learn about the local cultures they visit.
- Assess how users organize their trip activities while at their destination.
- Understand the users pain points when traveling to a location they’ve never been to.
- Empathize with the user’s pain points when traveling to a location they’ve never been to.
“I love to learn about local cultures - how they live, what they eat, the local language, local places, non-touristic, off the beaten path locations that allow me to become immersed in an authentic local experience.” - Juliana C.
All of the responses to our interview questions were separated by interviewee and tags were added to indicate which category each response could belong to.
Once categorized, we discovered more about what our travelers wanted to learn on their trips and empathized with the pain points they experienced while traveling.
The main takeaways from our interviewees when asked about their experiences learning new cultures of the locations they visit:
Top Areas of Interest:
- Lifestyle, language, secret local places
- See the real day-today of locals
- Examples of cultural architecture
- Food, restaurants, cafes, scenery, festivals
Pain Points:
- Language barrier
- Packing, bringing everything
- Local corruption
- Dealing with airlines
- Not getting lost
- Not knowing local transportation system
A survey based on our interview questions was also sent out via Slack. Eleven participants - 54.5% Female, 45.5% Male - ranging from 21-35 years of age who travel an average of 2-3 times per year responded to our survey.
Results showed that 90% of respondents felt that learning about a new culture was significantly important to them while traveling. The top three categories they were interested in learning about were: local food, the local lifestyle, and local architecture.
