[Case 02]
Ecotravel
Sustainable Travel
Ecotravel
Sustainable Travel For All.
[Project Overview]
EcoTravel is a sustainable travel website designed to help users travel the world in an environmentally friendly way. It allows visitors to discover green destinations, calculate the carbon footprint of their trip, and get guides that simplify sustainable travel. Through sustainability filters, green local happenings, and impact tracking badges, EcoTravel offers fun and rewarding responsible travel.
[Problem Statement]
As global warming worsens and environmental awareness rises, travelers wish to make more environmentally friendly choices. However, the majority of travel websites don't provide sufficient information on sustainable options, carbon impact, or eco-tourism practices, so travelers don't have the tools they need to align their journeys with their principles.
[Project Goal]
The vision of EcoTravel is to make eco-friendly travel available, simple, and inspiring by providing resources that make sustainable options easy without compromising the fun and ease of planning a trip.
[Industry]
Travel
Sustainability
[My Role]
UX Designer
[Platforms]
Desktop
[Timeline]
Dec. 2024 - March 2025
[Process]
[01] Discover
Researched competitors to see what sustainability features they lacked.
Found key pain points like hard-to-find eco options and unclear carbon impact.
Talked to users to understand their travel habits.
[02] Define
Mapped out user flows to make trip planning smooth and simple.
Created personas to focus on real traveler goals.
Prioritized eco-focused features like carbon calculator.
[03] Ideate
Sketched layouts to explore different design directions.
Built quick wireframes to test content placement and navigation.
Designed ways to integrate community tips and green travel reviews into the flow.
[04] Solution
Designed a clean, modern interface aligned with eco values.
Optimized navigation so users can plan trips quickly and responsibly.
Introduced visual eco-badges to make sustainable choices more recognizable.
[User Interviews]
Isla Renn
“Sustainability is important to me, but I don’t want to spend hours doing research carbon impact. Just show me the facts.”
Zara Kelwin
“Sometimes I just go with the flow, and just see where the day takes me. I prefer doing chill stuff where I don’t have to make commitments days in advance. “
Caleb Foster
"When planning a trip, I want to do what’s better for the planet, but usually convenience wins.”
[Competitive Analysis]
For the average mainstream websites in today's travel booking, convenience, price, and selection are top priorities with sustainability alternatives an afterthought or weak. Expedia boasts a huge inventory of flights, hotels, and vacations but weak green filters buried deep under highly refined search features. Google Travel supports strong search consolidation and travel planning capabilities, but no explicit sustainability features, instead drawing on partner content to supply green certification. Booking.com began adding a "Travel Sustainable" badge to some of its accommodations, though the standards are unspecified and vary by location. There are some sustainable listings on Airbnb, but these are not tagged or labeled explicitly, so harder for users to find.
EcoTravel stands out by making sustainability the priority in the user experience, offering thoroughly screened green lodgings, carbon calculator, and local eco-guides in one. This focused effort gives ecologically conscious travelers the power to organize and reserve trips with confidence without having to search unrelated listings or study extensively on their own.
[User Flow]
I designed EcoTravel's user flow to guide travelers naturally from discovery to booking. Users can find eco-guides, calculate their carbon footprint, or find sustainable trips from the homepage. Filters by region, price, carbon score, and theme allow users to refine their options, with clear paths to save trips, book, or view eco-certifications. The flow enables the user to navigate through key actions — such as calculating impact, booking, or reviewing — without unnecessary steps, in an efficient and intuitive manner.
[Persona #1]
Maya Thompson
Eco-conscious traveler seeking meaningful, sustainable trips without excessive research.
Age: 29
Location: Portland, OR
Gender: Female
[Goal]
Discover eco-friendly destinations without spending hours on research
Support local communities and sustainable businesses while traveling
Track and reduce her carbon footprint with every trip
[Pain Points]
Frustrated with how scattered eco-friendly options are across different booking sites
Feels "green" labels on mainstream sites are vague or sometimes misleading
Finds sustainable trips often cost more and lack clear value breakdowns
[Preferences]
Prefers small boutique hotels over large resorts
Likes curated itineraries with a mix of culture, nature, and food
Uses apps with transparent and verifiable sustainability metrics
[Known Habits]
Frequently uses public transportation when traveling
Researches ethical tourism practices before booking
Reads sustainability reports from airlines and hotels
[Persona #2]
Daniel Reyes
Budget-minded traveler who wants eco-friendly trips without overspending.
Age: 35
Location: Dallas, TX
Gender: Male
[Goal]
Travel affordably while minimizing environmental impacts
Find budget accommodations that still align with sustainable practices.
Maximize travel experiences without overspending on eco-labels.
[Pain Points]
Thinks eco-travel often feels like a luxury market, excluding budget travelers.
Struggles to balance sustainability with affordability.
Finds carbon offset options confusing and hard to trust.
[Known Habits]
Travels off-season to reduce costs and avoid crowds.
Packs reusable gear (water bottles, utensils, tote bags).
Uses travel forums and Reddit to find authentic recommendations.
[Preferences]
Prefers hostels or homestays over hotels.
Values platforms that offer clear cost vs. impact comparisons.
Likes flexible trip planning tools with instant budget and carbon impact estimates.
[Sketches]
I began applying hand sketches in order to quickly kick around concepts and establish a direction, trying out different layout, user flow, and interaction settings without having the pressure of needing to flesh them out. My sketches were guided by interviewing users and researching competition, enabling me to group features by real user requirements and prioritize them accordingly. Sketching also enabled me to eliminate unnecessary complexity at an early stage, simplify navigation, establish key actions, and quickly jump into making extreme design decisions before refining further.
[Wireframes]
The low-fidelity wireframes were created to quickly explore the structure and flow of EcoTravel without the distraction of visual styling, being the blueprint of the interface, in order to let me experiment with layouts, prioritize content, and reveal usability issues early. I created wireframe drawings of key screens such as the homepage, trip search, and eco-impact calculator with an emphasis on content hierarchy to ensure key elements such as the search bar, sustainability filters, and trip summaries were visible. I attempted various iterations to try out alternate presentations of budget, travel details, and environmental impact. A conspicuous search bar was centered on the homepage for immediate trip planning, the top-level navigation was minimal and simple to prevent cognitive overload, and sustainability filters were positioned high on the page to prioritize eco-friendly options early in the user journey. These wireframes, built up from simple boxes and placeholders, created a solid structural underpinning for EcoTravel, and while I'd planned to create mid-fidelity prototypes, I moved directly to high-fidelity designs when layout and flow were feeling solid, so refinements would be in close harmony with the final visual aesthetic and the mission-driven philosophy of the app.
[Typography & UI]
[Onboarding]
Signing up on EcoTravel is quick and optional, allowing users to start exploring instantly without hindrances. For users who want to register, the registration process is simplified and easy to use, with options for registering with email, Google, or Apple. The simplicity of registration provides a smooth start, reducing friction while reiterating EcoTravel's drive towards ease of eco-travel without hassles.
[Exploring EcoTravel]
[Next Steps]
Expanding booking capabilities
EcoTravel will evolve beyond resort stays by integrating flights and transportation for a full sustainable journey.
AI Personalization
An AI assistant will deliver tailored eco-friendly recommendations based on user preferences and past trips.
Rewards Program & Tracking
Create a green rewards system where eco-conscious actions earn points redeemable for discounts or perks.