This case study highlights the UX design work conducted as part of a SCAD project during the UX Methods course, led by Professor McLean Donelly, a former UX Manager at Expedia. The project aimed to enhance the organization of business trips for professionals and incorporate opportunities for leisure activities along the way.
Before diving into the design phase for Bleisure, my first step was to deeply understand the problem we aimed to solve. While we followed a structured design process consisting of four key phases—Discover, Prototype, Analyze, and Deliver—the process was far from linear. It was dynamic and highly iterative, with constant adjustments based on new insights and evolving user needs.
In the Discover phase, we conducted market and user research to map out the customer journey and uncover key pain points and opportunities. Talking to Bleisure users helped us understand why they preferred this app over others, what features they valued, and where they faced friction. These insights shaped the foundation of our design strategy.
Moving into the Prototype phase, we explored different design directions through mood boards, user flows, and UI concepts. The process wasn’t fixed—we adjusted constantly based on what we learned, refining our ideas as we gathered more feedback. The Analyze phase involved usability testing and direct user feedback, allowing us to pivot and refine the design based on real-world insights. Finally, in the Deliver phase, we created a polished final prototype and supporting marketing materials, including posters, to communicate the value of Bleisure effectively.
This flexible, user-centered approach ensured that the design evolved organically, adapting to both user behavior and business needs to create a solution that truly resonated with our target audience.
A key takeaway from my first UX course is that UX design is not a linear process—it’s highly iterative and constantly evolving. Designs shift and adapt from initial sketches to mid-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes as new insights emerge. Designing within constraints and a business mindset is crucial; you need a design bias to make informed decisions early on, with usability testing serving to validate or challenge those assumptions. Speed matters—shipping an MVP quickly and refining based on real user feedback is essential. Prioritizing product features and ensuring a strong connection between user research and the proposed solution ultimately drives a successful design outcome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_qeUNqBp8zqOY69OLqxhGVvIsCzmQRh_/view?usp=sharing