Avia

A robust mobile-first safety companion that gives women travelers one-tap SOS, real-time location sharing and personalized risk alerts so they can explore with confidence.

A robust mobile-first safety companion that gives women travelers one-tap SOS, real-time location sharing and personalized risk alerts so they can explore with confidence.

A robust mobile-first safety companion that gives women travelers one-tap SOS, real-time location sharing and personalized risk alerts so they can explore with confidence.

Role: As the Project Manager, UX researcher & 1 of the 2 UI Leads, I steered Avia's end-to-end app development through 3 major milestones with strict set of visual & written deliverables, including: user interviews, user flows, ideation sprints, wireframes, cognitive walkthroughs, lo and hi-fi mockups, design systems and user testing, while also collaborating with a team of 4 who focused on visual identity and secondary research.

Role: As the Project Manager, UX researcher & 1 of the 2 UI Leads, I steered Avia's end-to-end app development through 3 major milestones with strict set of visual & written deliverables, including: user interviews, user flows, ideation sprints, wireframes, cognitive walkthroughs, lo and hi-fi mockups, design systems and user testing, while also collaborating with a team of 4 who focused on visual identity and secondary research.

Role: As the Project Manager, UX researcher & 1 of the 2 UI Leads, I steered Avia's end-to-end app development through 3 major milestones with strict set of visual & written deliverables, including: user interviews, user flows, ideation sprints, wireframes, cognitive walkthroughs, lo and hi-fi mockups, design systems and user testing, while also collaborating with a team of 4 who focused on visual identity and secondary research.

Timeline

Sept - Dec 2024

Tools & Services

Figma, Figjam, Trello

Result:

  • Final grade of 95%

  • "Most comprehensive research" , comment by visiting lecturer

  • Average self-reported safety confidence rose from 3.1 → 6.0/7

Final grade of 95%


"Most comprehensive research" , comment by visiting lecturer


Avg. self-reported safety confidence rose from 3.1 → 6.0/7

Members

Agamjot Kaur, Sukena Abbas, Emily Chan, Scarlet Sun

Defining the problem space

Female travellers often find themselves navigating unsafe environments without a clear sense of security. 

Solo travel offers women a unique sense of freedom and independence, but it also comes with significant safety challenges.

Research goal: To explore the safety challenges solo female travellers face, the factors that prevent them from travelling, and the strategies of how they overcome these obstacles.

We’ve scripted a series of questions to guide the 4 semi-structured interviews:

  • Do you use any resources when traveling alone? If you do, what are your thoughts on them? 

  • How do you think your solo traveling experience could be made to feel more protected?

  • If you had a genie, what one wish would you make to ease your travel experience?

We learn that:
We learn that:
1.

Women avoid going out after hours and worry about security issues despite staying in reputable accommodations.

2.

Differences in social-cultural values that they might not be aware of before arriving in a certain country

3.

The struggle to find trustworthy connections abroad amplified the solo travelling anxiety

Building empathy with personas:

Through several interviews, we found 3 archetypes including: an anxious student, a white-collar worker & a first-time traveller. 

Whether travelling alone for the first time or frequently for co-op and business, while most preventative measures like staying alert and researching the destination beforehand are helpful, they rarely address the real-time safety needs that arise during travel for these users.

How might we

allows women to embrace adventure and autonomy while ensuring their safety and well-being?

How might we

foster a sense of community in a foreign location?

How might we

reduce friction to receive real-time assistance? 
Ideation

Concept: What if there was an app that create a travel experience that allows women to embrace adventure while turning uncomfortable situations into familiar journeys?

Mapping the ideas on an impact-versus-effort matrix and applying the MoSCoW analysis for each functional requirements. We came away with a clear image of high-impact priorities.

We tagged the SOS Button and Travel Buddy as Must-Haves. After consulting with our advisor , the team also opted to still prototype location sharing and a travel handbook for their added value to the product's value proposition.

Crazy 8s & Storyboarding

I guided the team through a collaborative session to map out and refine the user flow, ensuring we had a clear vision for the app’s key interactions.

I guided the team through a collaborative session to map out and refine the user flow, ensuring we had a clear vision for the app’s key interactions.

A critical challenge
A critical challenge

Each team member had a strong opinion about how to approach the 2 most important features of the app

Each team member had a strong opinion about how to approach the 2 most important features of the app

SOS Button

We considered putting it on the navigation bar that user press and hold if they sensed danger, or having them enter a code to cancel the process.


Decision: I advocated for the idea of having the SOS button as a large button on the home screen as it’s the most prominent, providing a one-tap solution to minimize friction to help. 

Companion match

We initially considered limiting the results to three to avoid cognitive biases, but we realized that the comfort of familiarity in a foreign country outweighed that.


Decision: as many choices of compatible travelers are shown as possible.

Low-fi interactive paper prototype

Feedbacks received after running the usability tests:

  • Redundancy with the hamburger menu at the top and the bottom navigation bar both offered similar functions

  • Misleading SOS button iconography; it's unclear the button also contains other resources like embassy, emergency services

  • Sign up process is too simple, raising security concerns; does the user have to login again every time?


We addressed these issues by:

  1. Unified the nav bar

  2. Added descriptive labels to SOS with intuitive icons for both emergency and non-emergency help

  3. Introduced a 2FA onboarding process

Establishing the Design System

I was 1 of 2 people on design system creation. This included setting up the font styles, color styles and the component library.

The Final Solution; Avia

Homescreen & Onboarding process

At the heart of the app is the SOS Button, a feature designed for women’s immediate accessibility to emergency services. The design prioritizes a seamless solution to minimize friction and provide a direct line to help. 

The Non-Emergency Contact Info feature provides location-based support for situations that require guidance but not immediate intervention.

Recognizing that solo travel can feel isolating, the Buddy System feature enables users to filter & search for companions based on travel preferences. Users can form meaningful connections that enhance both safety and enjoyment during their journeys. 

With Travel Handbook, a centralized repository of essential destination information, including cultural insights, activities, and safety tips,

Testing with users

Using the Observe & Think-Aloud method, we ask the users to complete a number of tasks:

  • What's the phone number for Mexico’s national mental health hotline? 
  • What time is Parke Hotel the least crowded? 
  • Who is someone who can explore Mexico with you? 
  • A friend in front of you suddenly has a severe allergic reaction, what do you do? 


The team received feedbacks and came up with possible next steps.

The Takeaways

Reflecting on Avia, my first 0-to-1 UX design project, I can confidently say it was a transformative learning experience.

Research lays the groundwork

Designing from my own lens is easy—and limiting. I initially thought I understood what solo female travelers needed: stay alert, stick to safe areas, share your location. Interviews showed “stay alert” was a symptom of feeling unsafe; what they really wanted was reassurance, community, and real-time support. That pivot pushed me to drop assumptions, listen deeply, and let users’ stories drive the product.

Mastering design systems

I underestimated how much work goes into things like icons, border radius, button states, transitioning animations, etc. I came to realized how much attention to detail it takes to make a system scalable and consistent

Branding that feels like a warm hug

Our app wasn’t just made for women; it was made by women. I wanted the visual identity to reflect that sense of comfort and strength, which is why I drew inspiration from violet flowers. The result? A product that wasn’t just functional, but felt welcoming and intuitive.

Given more time, I'd want to….

  • Add another layer of security, such as taking a photo of passport/identification

  • Being more aware of WCAG standards: at this particular time our team were not aware of good UI practices, and we were also under a tight deadline to ship. Possibly simplifying UI to flat colors, and being more intentional about margins and font sizes. 

  • Change the title font into a softer and more elegant type face to match the interface of the app.

The Takeaways

Reflecting on Avia, my first 0-to-1 UX design project, I can confidently say it was a transformative learning experience.

Research lays the groundwork

Designing from my own lens is easy—and limiting. I initially thought I understood what solo female travelers needed: stay alert, stick to safe areas, share your location. Interviews showed “stay alert” was a symptom of feeling unsafe; what they really wanted was reassurance, community, and real-time support. That pivot pushed me to drop assumptions, listen deeply, and let users’ stories drive the product.

Mastering design systems

I underestimated how much work goes into things like icons, border radius, button states, transitioning animations, etc. I came to realized how much attention to detail it takes to make a system scalable and consistent

Branding that feels like a warm hug

Our app wasn’t just made for women; it was made by women. I wanted the visual identity to reflect that sense of comfort and strength, which is why I drew inspiration from violet flowers. The result? A product that wasn’t just functional, but felt welcoming and intuitive.

Check out some other projects ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و