LAYhop

LAYhop makes layovers fun and easy—whether you have a visa or not. It plans personalized mini trips based on what you like, so you can enjoy every stop along the way.

IOS Travel App

My Role and Responsiblities  

Product Designer
Conducted User Research and Interviews
Created User flows and Screen Flows
Crafted Story Board
Created Low Fidelity Wireframes
Created High Fidelity Prototypes  
Conducted User Testing and generated Usablity Report  

Timeline

Research and Discovery : 4 Weeks
Design and Iteration: 8 Weeks
User Testing & Refinement: 3 Weeks
Usablity Report : 3 Week

Tools & Technologies Used

Research: Coffee chats, Social Networking Platforms and Google forms.
Planning: Miro
Story Board: Storyboard.that
Lo-Fidelity Wireframe: Balsamiq
Hi-Fidelity Prototype: Figma
User Testing : usertesting.com
Ussablity Report: Google Sheets  

The current Layover challenge

Millions of global traveler's face layovers yearly. These few hours waiting periods are chances to create memorable experiences.

Understanding Layover Challenges  

How LAYhop works?

‍One app. Zero stress. Maximum exploration.

No time for a full case study? No worries! Here’s my final design.

From Idea to Interface

Conversations with 15 frequent travelers revealed the struggle of wasted layover time and visa confusion. ✈️

I sketched airport scenarios, visualizing waiting at gates transforming into exciting mini-adventures through new cities.
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Bringing these ideas to life in Balsamiq, I watched users interact with early prototypes and gathered insights
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Finally in Figma, I crafted every interaction, turning those layover frustrations into seamless experiences.

I tested the prototype with 20 users using both moderated and unmoderated approaches.

MY Design Process... My design process involved understanding users deeply, gathering key insights, defining the core the problem, generating creative solutions, bringing ideas to life, and refining through user feedback.

Empathize

Walked  into users' shoes to truly feel their joys and pain points

Research

Gathered essential data that revealed key insights about user

Define

Crafted a clear problem statement that captured what truly mattered

Ideate

Generated diverse ideas to solve the identified problem

Design

Brought ideas to life through thoughtful and intentional creation

Test& Iterate

Learned from real people and refined until it was just right

Empathize Phase

Background First

For the empathize phase of LAYhop, I conducted research to understand  challenges travelers face during layovers, with special focus on those without transit visas who feel confined to airports.

User Interviews

Conducted user Research with 15 diverse international travelers through interviews major international hubs (Singapore Changi, Dubai International, Qatar International) to gather insights about layover experiences

User Journey Mapping

Empathy Mapping

I created empathy maps to understand travelers experiences during layovers.
This approach helped me avoid relying on personal assumptions and instead focus on actual user needs.
By mapping what travelers think, feel, say, and do, I identified key pain points like time anxiety and information gaps, which directly informed LayHop's feature prioritization and value proposition.

LAYhop Problem Statement

Core Problem

Travelers waste valuable layover time due to visa confusion, language barriers, and time anxiety.

Impact on Different Users

😰 First-time Travelers: Lack confidence to explore
🗣️ Non-English Speakers: Can't access critical information
🚫 Visa-Restricted Travelers: Feel trapped in airports
💰 Budget Travelers: Miss affordable local experiences

Research Phase

Background First

After identifying key user challenges through my empathy research, I conducted a structured investigation to understand existing solutions and opportunities for improving layover experiences.

Competitor Analysis

Bridging the Gaps in Layover Experiences with LAYhop

LAYhop's Opportunity

Complete Layover Experience: The Gap No One's Filling

No existing app fully addresses the end-to-end layover journey.
LAYhop emerges as the only solution that unifies planning, real-time guidance, and personalized recommendations tailored to the unique constraints of short transit windows.

LAYhop's Market Edge

Based on my competitive analysis and market research, I identified significant opportunities for LayHop:

‍Complete Layover Solution Gap - No existing app addresses the entire layover journey from planning to experience
‍Visa-Aware Recommendations - Current solutions ignore visa status when suggesting activities
‍Time-Optimized Planning - Competitors fail to account for security and transit times in recommendations
‍Dual-Experience Approach - No solution offers both in-airport AND city options based on traveler constraints
Growing Stopover Tourism - Rising trend of travelers seeking mini-experiences during transit, with no comprehensive solution available

Define Phase

Synthesized my research findings into a clear problem statement

Problem Statement

Travelers waste valuable time during layovers because they don't know what's possible with their visa status, how much time they really have, or what would actually interest them .
LayHop turns these frustrating waits into mini-adventures perfectly tailored to each traveler's situation.

User Personas

LAYhop Value Proposition

LAYhop transforms frustrating layovers into memorable mini-adventures by providing personalized recommendations that work for every traveler
- whether they can leave the airport or not
- through visa-aware guidance, time-optimized suggestions, and preference-based recommendations.

Ideate Phase

Brainstorming Process for LAYhop

My ideation process for LayHop involved exploring a wide range of potential solutions for enhancing layover experiences:

Here I used 2 popular methodologies - 'How Might We?' questions and Mind Mapping - to identify key features.

Feature Prioritazation

I sorted all possible features for LAYhop based on what would help travelers most. I created a simple framework with must-have features for our core experience, nice-to-have features that would enhance the app, unexpected delights to surprise users, and future additions we could add later as LAYhop grows.

User Flow Journey

I created detailed user flows showing how travelers with and without visas navigate through app.

Design Phase

Based on initial concept evaluation, I made several key improvements to enhance the app's usability:
📄 Visa Flow New expired visa workflow.
‍🧭 Navigation Streamlined structure for intuitive experience.
‍⏱️ Timer Enhancement Added hours, minutes, seconds for precise waiting information.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

Key Design Decisions

Had a screen to choose visa type
Had steps for on arrival visa
Seamless switch between airport and city
QR for fast immigration

Hi- Fidelity Screens

For high-fidelity screens, I refined UI elements, typography, colors to create a cohesive experience, incorporating feedback from design critique sessions.

Showcasing key interface designs from the application

Complete design

Please Note This is not my final design.

Challenging Choices: What Took Multiple Iterations

1- Making TIMER section clear and user friendly

2- Refining Focus and adding REVIEWS

Test & Iterate

Prototype Testing

I tested prototype with 20 users using both moderated and unmoderated approaches.
3 unmoderated participants were from India, Canada, and USA. The remaining 17 participants were peers who participated in moderated testing. They validated the concept while revealing crucial improvements.

Quick Glimpse of Unmoderated Testing

Quick review from 3 users: what worked, what didn't work, and their recommendations

Have a Look At my complete Usability Report

Iterations

✅ Added: Flight information card
‍Provides critical flight details at a glance
‍❌ Removed: "What's Happening" section
Streamlined interface for better focus
‍❌ Removed: Seconds from timer
‍Simplified to hours and minutes for reduced anxiety and mentioned that timer indicates return to Airport not the particular attraction.

✅ Added: Reviews
Helps travellers to make decisions

My Final Design

Polished and visually appealing mockups of the app screens.
Interact with prototype

Innovation Callouts

Here are some standout features of LayHop that make it essential for travelers

Future Enhancements

Dynamic Weather Suggestions

Automatically reshuffle tour recommendations based on current weather—suggest indoor attractions during rain or heat.

Social Sync - Explore Together Mode

Let users sync layovers with fellow travelers to join group tours together, with shared booking and alerts.

AR Preview of Attractions

Augmented Reality mode to preview popular attractions before choosing—great for curious users.

Offline Mode with Map and Tour Details

Stay oriented with offline maps and tour info when connectivity is limited

Conclusion

Stay curious, stay creative, stay inspired.

Let's Connect! ✨

Thanks for stopping by!
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© Venkata Kopparapu Built with ❤️, protected by copyright.2025

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