A UXUI Case Study
A Dynamic Itinerary Planner for the Mandai App
Background
Renowned as one of the world’s leading zoological attractions, the Singapore Zoo annually captivates over 2 million visitors. Its appeal extends to international tourists, wildlife enthusiasts, and local families with young children eager for up-close encounters with animals.
Singapore Zoo. Source: Klook
Mandai has a mobile application that serves over 100,000 users. It allows visitors to discover things to do, navigate around the zoo with the map feature, set reminders to shows such as presentations and keeper talks, as well as explore recommended half day and full day itinerary guides.
Desktop Research
Through fishing Google and Klook Reviews of Singapore Zoo from the last 6 months, we identified 3 common patterns of frustrations:
Frustration from long queues and wait times especially for transportation (Shuttle Buses, Tram rides, Taxi) and F&B outlets
Confusion in wayfinding around the zoo, as well as disappointment due to the lack of chanced upon activities.
Displeasure due to the lack of timely updates and alternatives when there are on-ground circumstances such as delays or cancelled programmes due bad weather or maintenance works.
Insights
We then went on-ground to conduct research at the Singapore Zoo and found that the large majority of the visitors were local families with young children. We focused on these visitor profiles as we furthered our research.
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Visitors are unaware of the app & functions
Visitors find a map useful for navigating around the zoo but do not use the app’s map because they are unaware of the app and its functions
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Plans often keep changing when travelling with kids
Parents don’t use an itinerary and don’t follow through with a plan because going out with kids is unpredictable and plans are tailored to how the kids feel. (e.g. spontaneous lunch/snack/toilet/air-con breaks)
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Parents want to have quality time with children
Parents are not interested in trying the app because they do not want to keep using their phones and want to spend be physically and mentally present to spend quality time with their children at the zoo.
Father of 3
“I’m not a planner, we prefer to just go around freely. With kids its hard to plan too. Anything can happen at any time. If they are tired and hungry, our plans change on the spot. And with 3 kids to takecare of, where got time to take out phone, plan itinerary on phone. maybe when my kids are older we can.”
Mother of 2
“I try not to use my phone while I’m out with my children. I want to give them my full attention and have fun together.”
Defining our Sprint Focus and Questions
Based on our findings, we developed some potential sprint questions on what we could focus on in this sprint and eventually voted on one.
Our team then mapped out the visitor journey and developed more How-Might-We notes to identify the opportunities through the entire visitor’s journey.
Ideation
Through Lightning Demos, we drew inspiration from established solutions in zoos like Taronga Zoo and San Diego Zoo, iconic destinations like Disneyland, and planning platforms such as LUMA. We then identified some valuable components to innovate within our unique context.
We proceded to produce solution sketches of ideas, and utilized dot voting to create a heatmap, highlighting the features we favored and deemed appropriate for our final solution.
Shortlisted Ideas
We shortlisted 6 ideas based on our objectives and findings across the ‘Map’ phase.
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01/ Pre-Visit Promotional Comms
To raise awareness about the app and its value.
Send a marketing communication 2 days before the user’s trip to download the app with visual aid on the features and how they can benefit and optimise their trip using the app. -
02 / Onboarding
To guide users on how to maximise the app’s features.
Introduce first time users to the key features of the app through a step by step on boarding to ease the learning curve. -
03 / Personalised & Customisable Itinerary
To tailor pans to meet each user’s unique needs.
Create a feature to collect the interests of the visitors to personalise a recommend itinerary route for the user. Allow the itinerary to be editable. -
04 / Map View Itinerary & Special Routes Toggle
To give users visibility of their day’s plan visually, and give alternative route options for users with wheelchairs or strollers, or in preparation for wet weather navigation.
Give visitors an overview of their itinerary in the Map view and allow them to visualise their route around the zoo. Add on features to activate special ramp-friendly or sheltered routes -
05 / Personalised Notifications
To give users timely and relevant updates.
Provide users practical real-time and personalised notifications only based on their set preferences and important updates like weather and maintenance delays.
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06 / Digital Stamp Quest
To allow users to experience bite-sized adventures and gamify the zoo experience with an education quest children can take part in.
Create bite-sized adventures for visitors that can’t commit to full itineraries, or for regular zoo visitors with the Friends of Wildlife pass for a fun and educational twist!
Prototype
We then visualised the ideas by creating prototypes.
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01 / Promotional Communications
Since visitors receive their e-tickets via email, we propose redesigning the Email Booking Confirmation to incorporate promotional content about the mobile app. This will raise awareness and demonstrate the value it brings to visitors through visual illustrations.
We also crafted a Promotional SMS to be sent two days before the visitors’ upcoming trip, providing a timely prompt and encouraging them to download the app. This SMS includes visuals in GIF format to illustrate the app’s features, helping visitors envision the value the app can bring to their upcoming zoo experience.
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02 / Onboarding
After downloading the app, visitors will be guided with a simple Onboarding that highlights key functions and features, aiding users in understanding how to use the app effectively. This guided experience ensures a positive user journey, ultimately leading to increased app usage and an optimized zoo trip for users.
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03/ Personalised & Customisable Itinerary
As everyone has different interests, this Personalized Itinerary feature empowers visitors to select their preferences and receive a recommended itinerary tailored to their interests. It also recommends the best routes, factoring in fixed presentation and keeper talk timings, enabling users to optimize their time in the zoo.
Parents also shared that their concerns on travelling with children.
This Customisable Itinerary is designed to adapt to the evolving needs of our users throughout the day — allowing users to conveniently and easily edit the itinerary anytime at their fingertips.
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04 / Itinerary in Map View
During our observation, we noticed a family attempting to track their progress on the map. This led us to understand that some visitors prefer having their itinerary displayed on the map for visual reference rather than a list view. Placing the itinerary in the context of the map allows users to visualize their route around the zoo more effectively.
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05 / Special Routes Toggle
During our on-ground research trip, we noticed that a large number of visitors were parents with strollers. Additionally, there is a considerable number of negative experiences documented in Google and Klook reviews were attributed to adverse weather conditions, leaving visitors stranded. This Special Routes Toggle allows users to activate specific routes based on their needs.
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06 / Personalised Notifications
One of our key insights was that parents are not interested in trying the Mandai app because they do not want to keep using their phones and prefer to be physically and mentally present to spend quality time with their children at the zoo.
The Personalized Notifications feature ensure that users receive only relevant updates and reminders tailored to their needs. This includes important live announcements about delays or cancellations of activities due to adverse weather conditions or maintenance issues. Additionally, the feature helps minimise disappointment by providing alternatives.
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07 / Educational In-App Break Time Game
To support the parents we also introduced an Educational In-App Break Time Game that children can play while the parents dine to learn more about the animals in the zoo in a fun and engaging way. Parents would receive a notification when their location is detected to be in sheltered rest stops or at F&B locations, presumably having a meal time break.
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08 / Mini Adventures
Finally, based on our insights, we discovered that parents often don’t use an itinerary and don’t stick to a plan due to the unpredictable nature of outings with children. Plans frequently change based on the children’s moods.
To address this, we introduced Mini Adventures that gamify the zoo experience with quests in various zones. Collecting badges encourages exploration of different zones and helps users track their progress in the zoo. This feature enhances the experience for repeated visitors like Friends of Wildlife members by consistently engaging them in fun, educational, and rewarding experiences within the zoo.
In order to test how our users would interact with our app under various circumstances, we came up with different scenarios, ran a test with 5 users and recorded our findings with the Rose Bud Thorn method.
This test provided us with validation for the features we introduced. It helped us assess whether their pain points and needs are being met, as well as identify usability issues that might not have been apparent to us.
Testing
Our Testers
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Qing De
34 y/o male
1 kid – 2 y/o -
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Hazel
34 y/o female
1 kid – 1 y/o -
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Yen Ting
36 y/o female
1 kid – 5 y/o -
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Lulu
32 y/o female
3 kids – 2-8 y/o -
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Dorothy
35 y/o female
2 kids – 8, 10 y/o
Quotes from our testers
“Useful, will use it when going out with kids, cause when going out with kids don’t have a lot of time to plan, can use time more efficiently.”
“Weather updates are useful”
“The alternative options provided are helpful to reconsider and make new plans, when there is a bad weather.”
“I like the quest because it helps to reinforce the learnings at zoo”
“Useful, will use it when going out with kids, cause when going out with kids don’t have a lot of time to plan, can use time more efficiently.” “Weather updates are useful” “The alternative options provided are helpful to reconsider and make new plans, when there is a bad weather.” “I like the quest because it helps to reinforce the learnings at zoo”
“I won’t allow my kid to play mobile game as he is too young. May consider if he is older but won’t encourage”
“Would usually ignore such notifications cause looks like an ad.”
“Feel pressured to buy things for children if given discounts for shops as rewards for the adventure game.”
“Multiple kids so a single mobile game will not be feasible. But prefer if they go to playground.”
“I won’t allow my kid to play mobile game as he is too young. May consider if he is older but won’t encourage” “Would usually ignore such notifications cause looks like an ad.” “Feel pressured to buy things for children if given discounts for shops as rewards for the adventure game.” “Multiple kids so a single mobile game will not be feasible. But prefer if they go to playground.”
“Maybe having instructions on where to tap for essential functions or adding animations would help. E.g. movable items could jiggle.”
“Maybe an alternative such as nearby playground option for parents who don’t allow screen time”
“Notifications to be more practical and informative. E.g. What time the event will start.”
“Immediate tangible rewards such as badge, stickers, goodie bag for 2 – 6yo”
“Maybe having instructions on where to tap for essential functions or adding animations would help. E.g. movable items could jiggle.” “Maybe an alternative such as nearby playground option for parents who don’t allow screen time” “Notifications to be more practical and informative. E.g. What time the event will start.” “Immediate tangible rewards such as badge, stickers, goodie bag for 2 – 6yo”
Final Prototypes
Taking in all the feedback from our testers and implementing them, we present to you our final solutions that enhances touchpoints during booking, entry, during trip, and post-trip of the visitors’ experiences.
