TripIt
Safety Personalization: Customizing Travel Safety for Every User
Keeping travelers informed in unfamiliar places.
Users set a personal risk level for upcoming locations in their itinerary.
Empowering Travelers
Everyone has a unique level of risk they’re willing to accept when traveling. TripIt’s Neighborhood Safety Scores offer address-specific safety ratings from 1 to 100 (low to high risk), powered by data from Geosure. This feature helps travelers make informed decisions about unfamiliar locations. My task was to design a way for users to set a personal risk threshold based on these scores and receive alerts when their selected level was exceeded.
Designing an Intuitive, Customizable Risk System
To translate the 0-100 safety score scale into a user-friendly format, I decided to divide the scores into five risk levels. This approach allowed users to select a risk tolerance without needing to interpret specific numbers. Working closely with UX Research, Product, Marketing, and industry experts, I developed descriptions for five distinct levels: lowest risk, low risk, average risk, high risk, and highest risk.
My key design steps included:
Designing a slider that users could adjust to set their risk level, with descriptions changing in real-time as they moved the slider. Warmer colors indicate higher risk, making the slider visually intuitive.
Crafting a selection flow that allowed users to assess and select a risk level in a way that resonated with them.
Incorporating alerts for itineraries that exceed a user’s set threshold, using push notifications, in-app messaging, and email alerts.
To ensure the feature was cohesive with TripIt’s ecosystem, I shared user flows demonstrating each interaction with safety alerts, entry points, and notification methods. These flows were reviewed with engineering, product, and customer support teams, and their feedback helped refine the final design.
A Personalized Safety System That Adapts to Each Traveler's Needs
The completed Safety Personalization feature launched within Neighborhood Safety Scores, allowing users to set a risk level from five distinct options within their profile. When travel plans are imported, each plan’s safety score is automatically compared to the user’s set threshold. If a destination exceeds the 20-point range for their selected level, an alert is triggered in the itinerary.
Highlights of the Final Design:
Dynamic Slider: Users set their safety preference with a slider that changes color from cool to warm as risk increases. As users move the slider, labels and descriptions dynamically update to reflect the selected risk level.
Toggle for Control: Users have the option to turn safety alerts on or off, offering flexibility and control over their travel experience.
Alerts and Notifications: Once a safety threshold is set, users receive push notifications and itinerary alerts if their travel plans exceed their selected level.
Users set a personal risk level for upcoming locations in their itinerary.
Takeaway
This feature received positive feedback from travelers who appreciated the personalization and control over safety information. By empowering users to customize their safety thresholds, TripIt now provides a more personalized, informed travel experience that adapts to each user’s unique needs.