2 backpackers arrive at a hostel in Thailand. They are captured from behind while walking into the hostel's entrance.

Helping Gen-Z travellers stretch their extremely low budgets as far as they can

TIME
5 Weeks from february 2024
TEAM
from Italy, Nigeria, India, and Thailand
MY ROLE
UX, UI, Research & team lead
creative director
irene pereyra
INTRo

First-time backpackers

Compared to older generations, Gen-Z faces more dire financial challenges that do not meet their desire to explore the world.

For 18- to 24-year-olds who dare to backpack continents for the first time, they often do it on a shoestring budget, enabling the need for meticulous planning and leading many to embrace shopping for second-hand or “preloved” items.

the ask

Making Lonely Planet relevant to Gen-Z

In 1970, Lonely Planet's debut guidebook "Across Asia on the Cheap" sold 1500 copies in a week. Over time, this grew to over 120 million books in print, in eleven languages alongside digital travel products and apps. Today, Lonely Planet faces different challenges from the 20th century. A drastic decrease in purchasing power and the ubiquity of social apps have created a gap to bridge with Gen-Z backpackers.

To stay globally relevant, Lonely Planet seeks to reclaim leadership in the backpacker travel industry with a non-addictive, travel companion app for Gen-Z backpackers eager to explore the world.
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For this project, we sought out to help Gen-Z to stretch their extremely low budgets as far as they can while taking into account their travel habits.

Pack'n'Drop high definition UI screens
USER RESEARCH

Understanding GenZ travel habits

After analysing the challenge, we came up with a research plan to deeply understand our target audience, their travel behaviours, pain points, needs, and preferences. With that, we set out to Thailand's 'Khaosan Road,' a popular stop-point and hostel area in Bangkok for backpackers on a budget.

8 in 10 Gen Z are likely to shop for pre-loved items

Second annual Recommerce Report from eBay
interviews

We conducted 41 interview sessions with backpackers

This included 27 female and 17 male backpackers across 8 hostels, some travelling individually, others in groups.

At first, we wanted to understand the major pain points these young travellers experienced. Most of them were leaving their home countries to explore new environments over an extended period of at least 3 months,  for the first time.

Later on, we focused on understanding how they managed their items before, during and after the trip.

chat bubble
"I overpacked and the backpack is too small"
Adaku interviews 2 young backpackers in front of their hostel
Parthivi and Francesco pose with a backpacker after an interview
Aomsin and Adaku pose with a backpacker after an interview
Adaku, Parthivi, Aomsin and Francesco observe an interviewee as the organise information according to their mental model
interviews

We also spoke to the hostel operators

Travellers often leave belongings behind at hostels to keep their backpacks light. While some hostels may organize these items for second-hand use, our interviews revealed that this is more the exception than the rule.

We aimed to discover what kinds of items are left behind, how long they are kept, and what happens when they can't be stored any longer. Our interviews revealed that many hostels are uncertain about how long to keep items, and these items often take up more space than desired.

During one interview, one hostel was happy to give us a beaten but functional carry-on luggage for our trip around Khaosan Road.

Cardboard boxes organised on a shelf structure.
A person stands next to a cardboard box with a purple, carry-on box in it. They are pointing at the box.
analysis

Interview insights & themes

70% used a recommendation method to choose what to pack.

Every journey begins with research. Backpackers meticulously plan what to pack, balancing necessity with budget constraints. Many rely on a mix of digital and analogue recommendations and referral methods to get affordable items.

50% left items behind on their trips.

Despite careful planning, travellers often leave behind items they no longer need after finding they overpacked, striving to travel light. This not only adds stress but also results in waste.

92% were open to acquiring pre-loved items

Some backpackers we spoke to had already asked their hostel managers for items they had in their storage, and many were open to the idea of acquiring an already used item in good condition.

8 in 10 backpackers say that they prefer to stay in hostels during their trip

Hostelworld, 2019 and 2018
personas

We discovered different types of packers

After analysing interviews, patterns and insights from backpackers, we identified 3 user personas based on the criteria of packing habits, their workarounds to finding items they need on a budget, and their willingness to acquire more affordable, pre-loved items.

Underpacked Una (Primary)

"I like to travel super light, so I end up not bringing certain things I may need. I don’t spend too much time planning because I’ll figure it out along the way."

We decided to go with Una as they were more likely to leave items behind or need items at various locations.

Pain points
Workarounds

Thinking about what to keep and leave behind

Throws away or exchanges items she doesn’t need for items she needs.

To keep her luggage as light as possible

Packs the basics for the weather

Perfectly-Packed Patty

"I have all I need for my trip. I remembered a few things from TikTok and I also asked my friends to double check that I have everything. Any items I forgot aren’t that essential."

Pain points
Workarounds

Overwhelmed by research, she avoids carrying unnecessary items but often lacks specific gear for planned activities.

Borrows, thrifts, and relies on personal checklists and peer advice.

Overpacked Oliver

"I’m worried that I’d need something on my trip and look in my backpack to find that I don’t have it. So I pack just in case I may need something.”

Pain points
Workarounds

Overpacks to avoid emergencies, resulting in heavy luggage and difficulty managing new items.

Uses thorough research and packing aids but often ends up giving away excess items.

HOSTEL personas

We also identified different attitudes of hostels

We defined 2 personas for the hostels after analysing their storage capacity and organisation system for items left behind by travellers.

Sammy’s Small Friendly Hostel (Primary)

Smaller hostels like to think they are the backpackers’ friends and so don’t mind checking their storages when they make a request. They are also more likely to donate to charity when items aren’t picked by other backpackers.

Pain points
Workarounds

Limited storage and the need for efficient space management.

Offers friendly service, a structured pick-up system, and quick item turnover.

Brenda’s Big Busy Hostel

Bigger hostels are overbooked all year round and don’t have time to find items from our storage that new backpackers may need. They are also more likely to throw out items in the trash.

Pain points
Workarounds

Overbooked year-round, making item management challenging.

Retains items for extended periods or discards them without systematic organisation.

ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS

Identifying opportunities in the travel ecosystem

Analysing Lonely Planet and the broader travel ecosystem, we identified opportunities within the travel industry and explored alternative user solutions. We examined user needs against the gaps we discovered at each stage of the backpacker's journey — before, during, and after travel

ecosystem analysis of Lonely Planet's physical and digital ecosystem, alongside their physical and digital competitors opportunity area of Lonely Planet's ecosystem analysis
Lonely Planet physical products
Competitor physical products
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Gen-Z travellers prioritise affordable items

While analysing common themes from our user findings, we were struck by the significant effort Gen-Z travellers invest in their research for affordable items. They use numerous apps simultaneously to determine what to pack and how to stay within budget, and they often leave behind items they no longer need to travel light.

From our analysis of the travel ecosystem, we identified an opportunity to reduce this effort in acquiring affordable items for backpacking trips. This applies particularly to the Planning stages of both the Pre-travel and During travel phases. Additionally, we saw a chance to minimise wastage in the Reflecting stage of the Post-travel phase.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

What can we learn from others in our space?

While analysing common themes from our user findings, we were struck by the significant effort Gen-Z travellers invest in their research. They use numerous apps simultaneously to determine what to pack and how to stay within budget, and they often leave behind items they no longer need to travel light.

Our competitors emphasise social media, community support, and recycling. However, none directly address Gen Z’s unique budget constraints while travelling.

From our competitors we were inspired to ideate solutions to enable Pack’n’Drop fill this niche with features like travel-specific item marketplaces and time-locked reservations.

Facebook Marketplace
Freecycle
Trash
Nothing
NextDoor
Preloved
Pack’n’
Drop
Pack’n’Drop
Filter by map or distance
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Free of cost
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no (or X)
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Simplified pick-up
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Travel-specific marketplace
no (or X)
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Time-locked reservation
no (or X)
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Facebook Marketplace
Freecycle
Trash
Nothing
NextDoor
Preloved
Pack’n’
Drop
Pack’n’Drop
Filter by map or distance
right tick
right tick
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right tick
right tick
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Free of cost
right tick
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no (or X)
right tick
Simplified pick-up
no (or X)
no (or X)
no (or X)
no (or X)
no (or X)
right tick
Travel-specific marketplace
no (or X)
no (or X)
no (or X)
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no (or X)
right tick
Time-locked reservation
no (or X)
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A map view of the location of items - hiking boots, bluetooth speaker and carryon luggage.

Introducing Pack’n’Drop,
A mobile app where travellers can always find free, pre-loved items around them

Primary backpacker persona - The side profile of a young woman in a pink tracksuit carrying a backpack and staring over the ocean.
Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.

Let’s see how Una might get a pair of hiking boots that are currently in Sammy’s hostel.

Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.
Gather items

Sammy, a hostel operator at Jam Hostel has a few items that travellers left behind which he would like to get rid of. He finds and uses the Pack’n’Drop app to list items so that other travellers nearby can find and pickup available items in his hostel.

Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - Hostel digital storage screen
Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - Hostel adds item to their lists
Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.
List items

He has a pair of hiking boots which he takes a photo of, and then adds to his cost-free marketplace.

Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.
Check reservations

Once listed, Sammy can see all new and old reservations in the app, and how long it will take until the reserver comes to pick up their items.

Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - Hostel views all reservations
Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - backpacker checks out all available items around them
Primary backpacker persona - The side profile of a young woman in a pink tracksuit carrying a backpack and staring over the ocean.
Find free items

Una, a 23-year-old from Sydney is about to begin her backpacking trip. She uses the Pack’n’Drop app to find items available near her hostel in Bangkok, Thailand.

Primary backpacker persona - The side profile of a young woman in a pink tracksuit carrying a backpack and staring over the ocean.
Get item details

Luckily, she finds she does not need to bring along the hiking boots she planned on buying since there are many around her booked accommodation.

Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - backpacker checks out item
Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - backpacker reserves item
Primary backpacker persona - The side profile of a young woman in a pink tracksuit carrying a backpack and staring over the ocean.
Reserve item

She reserves one just before she gets on a flight to begin her South East Asia trip which will last for 3 months.

Primary backpacker persona - The side profile of a young woman in a pink tracksuit carrying a backpack and staring over the ocean.
Pick up item

When she arrives, she leaves for the hostel which is only a 3-minute walk from her own accommodation. The hostel scans her QR code and Una picks up her new hiking boots.

Pack'n'Drop UI user flow - backpacker checks location of item

Success!

Una is happy she didn’t have to fill her backpack with something she could have easily found during her trip.

Even though she underpacked, Una was able to get a pair of hiking boots she needed easily, and for free!

On Sammy’s end, he feels great about the fact that someone else was able to reuse an item he may have had to throw away.

Pack'n'Drop UI screens
user flows

Making it as effortless as possible

Designing the user flows for our app was crucial, as it influenced our decisions in addressing this problem. We chose to design from the perspective of a first-time user, making sign-in optional until the user needed to reserve an item.

This way, available items are always visible to often overwhelmed travellers. For the hostels, we prioritised logging items as quickly as possible.

Pack'n'Drop backpacker userflow
Hostel
backpacker
art direction

UI Design

With Pack'n'Drop focusing on being a utility app, our priority was to keep items front and center while ensuring a user-friendly experience. We aimed to avoid aggravating travellers who are often dealing with visa documents and canceled accommodations.

To achieve this, we chose a calming blue as our main color and used sans-serif fonts throughout the interface so that the marketplace remains in focus.

An image of the words "Neue Haas Grotesk" alongside the English alphabet and numerals written in the typeface Neue Haas Grotesk.
#DCF763
#2B59C3
#F7F7FF
#000F08
sitemaps

Laying out the app screens

Pack'n'Drop backpacker sitemaps
Hostel
backpacker
Adaku poses for a photograph with her team with a peace sign. Parthivi sits in front, Aomsin sits behind her with Francesco who points at the camera.
key learnings

Here's what I learned

My team consisted of Aomsin, Francesco, Parthivi, and myself — Adaku.
We couldn't have done this without the guidance of our teacher, Irene Pereyra, co-founder of Anton & Irene Design Studio.

One thing I took away was the importance of proper research, planning, and validating concepts well before working in Figma or other production tools. While ideas can be exciting by themselves, they are bound by real constraints that are unravelled by speaking to people.

Within the team, I enjoyed bouncing ideas off of each other as we refined and critiqued the ideas and solutions we came up with for this problem. Our diverse backgrounds and expertise allowed us to approach the problem from multiple perspectives. I also valued the iterative nature of our design process, revisiting and validating our concepts at various stages.

In the end, our team excelled in a Dot Voting exercise, and I came out with better confidence in presenting my design decisions and in managing a team.

Adaku, Parthivi, Francesco and Aomsin pose for a selfie