Place2Place

Helping travelers discover cheaper, faster routes by comparing nearby airports and ground transportation.

My Process

Research, wire framing, prototyping, user testing, brand identity

Research, wire framing, prototyping, user testing, brand identity

Category

Startup, desktop, mobile

Startup, desktop, mobile

Tools

Figma

Figma

Founding team

Daniel Greenberg (CEO)

Nina Chang (CPO/UX)

Jason Silva (CTO)

Daniel Greenberg (CEO)

Nina Chang (CPO/UX)

Jason Silva (CTO)

My role

My role

I am the UX designer on this team, collaborating closely with our CEO and two developers to build and refine the product.

What does 'best flight' really mean?

What does 'best flight' really mean?

When you're searching for flights, most tools define "best" as a mix of price, time, and number of stops…but only for the airport you searched.

That’s a problem. Because in many cities, especially those near multiple airports, the “best” flight might not show up at all.

Place2Place is a flight search engine that finds smarter routes by factoring in alternate airports AND rideshare costs.

Jump to final product

Analyzing the impact of your default airport choice.

Take this example:

Take this example:

I’m searching for a flight from Dartmouth, Massachusetts - a small town located between Providence and Boston - to Atlanta. Since Dartmouth is slightly closer to Providence, most flight tools default to searching from Providence Airport, showing the top round-trip option as for $361 with over 4 hours of travel time.

But if I’m willing to get a ride for just 20 minutes farther to Boston Logan Airport, I can get a round-trip flight for $182 and under 3 hours of travel time.

So how can we help travelers find the most cost-effective and time-efficient routes by automatically comparing nearby airports and factoring in ground transportation?

Research

Research

What existing tools get wrong

What existing tools get wrong

Popular platforms like Google Flights only search the specific airport pairs you input. If you want to check surrounding airports, you have to:

  • Manually rerun your search with new airport codes

  • Use separate tools to calculate Uber/Lyft estimates

  • Do your own comparison to figure out the “true best” option

What do travelors think?

What do travelors think?

I talked to frequent flyers, asking them about their process in choosing flights, and how they find the best deals.

I talked to frequent flyers, asking them about their process in choosing flights, and how they find the best deals.

Hannah

Student who flies for trips and family visits

Student who flies for trips and family visits

Student who flies for trips and family visits

“I don’t mind traveling a bit farther if it means saving money or time, but I don’t want to spend an hour figuring that out.”

“I don’t mind traveling a bit farther if it means saving money or time, but I don’t want to spend an hour figuring that out.”

“I don’t mind traveling a bit farther if it means saving money or time, but I don’t want to spend an hour figuring that out.”

Emma

Emma

Freelancer who flies to meet clients

Freelancer who flies to meet clients

Freelancer who flies to meet clients

“I did not know that I can get cheaper flights by searching alternate airports. I always assumed that Google flights really showed the ‘best’.”

“I did not know that I can get cheaper flights by searching alternate airports. I always assumed that Google flights really showed the ‘best’.”

“I did not know that I can get cheaper flights by searching alternate airports. I always assumed that Google flights really showed the ‘best’.”

Cheaper flight options often exist beyond your default search, but finding them is time-consuming and unintuitive.

Insights

Insights

The pain points

The pain points

Decision fatigue

Decision fatigue

Comparing flights and airport options requires multiple tabs of flight engines and maps, making the process slow and frustrating.

Limited Airport Awareness

Limited Airport Awareness

Many travelers only search from their closest airport, unaware that nearby alternatives might offer better prices or shorter travel times.

No estimate on total trip cost

No estimate on total trip cost

Current tools focus only on airfare. They don’t show the true cost or duration when ground travel is involved, making it hard to make informed tradeoffs.

User personas

User personas

Daniel

A college student who loves finding smarter, cheaper ways to travel.


Frustrations

He spends too much time manually checking nearby airports and calculating transportation costs. He wishes that there were a tool that would do it for him.


Wants

To find the most affordable routes by comparing flights and factoring in rideshare costs

A college student who loves finding smarter, cheaper ways to travel.


Frustrations

He spends too much time manually checking nearby airports and calculating transportation costs. He wishes that there were a tool that would do it for him.


Wants

To find the most affordable routes by comparing flights and factoring in rideshare costs

Debra

A retired teacher who sticks with what she knows when booking flights


Frustration

She only searches flights from her nearest airport, assuming it’s the best choice and not realizing that a slightly farther airport could offer better prices and shorter travel times.


Wants

To book stress-free, affordable flights to visit her family a few times a year.

A retired teacher who sticks with what she knows when booking flights


Frustration

She only searches flights from her nearest airport, assuming it’s the best choice and not realizing that a slightly farther airport could offer better prices and shorter travel times.


Wants

To book stress-free, affordable flights to visit her family a few times a year.

A retired teacher who sticks with what she knows when booking flights


Frustration

She only searches flights from her nearest airport, assuming it’s the best choice and not realizing that a slightly farther airport could offer better prices and shorter travel times.


Wants

To book stress-free, affordable flights to visit her family a few times a year.

Wire-framing

Wire-framing

User flow

User flow

Customer flow

Customer flow

Booking a table

Booking a table

Admin flow

Admin flow

Setting a schedule + tacking data

Setting a schedule + tacking data

Lo-fi sketches

Lo-fi sketches

Customer screens: Mapping how to display stores and book.

Customer screens: Mapping how to display stores and book.

User testing

User testing

Gathering real world feedback

Gathering real world feedback

Iterating the cafe visitor experience.

Iterating the cafe visitor experience.

I asked participants to navigate through the flow of booking a table, while vocalizing their thought process and feedback.

I asked participants to navigate through the flow of booking a table, while vocalizing their thought process and feedback.

Feedback: UI design

Solution

Solution

Feedback: Viewing cafe details

Solution

Solution

Brand Identity

Brand Identity

Color palette

Color palette

Color palette

Color palette

Header 1

Font: Lexend Bold 24px

Font: Lexend Bold 24px

Header 1

Font: Lexend Bold 20px

Font: Lexend Bold 20px

Body 1

Font: Lexend Regular 18px

Font: Lexend Regular 18px

Body 2

Font: Lexend Regular 16px

Font: Lexend Regular 16px

Final Design

The customer experience

The customer experience

Tired of fighting for café tables? Lunjoe lets you book a table and get straight to work.

Tired of fighting for café tables? Lunjoe lets you book a table and get straight to work.

Browse cafes

Browse cafes

Book a table

Book a table

The mobile experience

The admin dashboard

The admin dashboard

Set your cafe schedule and manage your cafe goers.

Set your cafe schedule and manage your cafe goers.

Set your schedule

Set your schedule

View reservations

View reservations

Tabitha’s view

Tabitha’s view

The group studier

The group studier

Annie's view

Annie's view

The cafe owner

The cafe owner

Closing thoughts

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Communication is key, especially when working on a small team.


Communication is key, especially when working on a small team.

Working on a startup project with a team of just 4 means that each person contribution is crucial to the project's success. Clear and open communication allows progress to move along and be tracked effectively.

Working on a startup project with a team of just 4 means that each person contribution is crucial to the project's success. Clear and open communication allows progress to move along and be tracked effectively.

When stuck on the best way to design a function, iterations are crucial.

When stuck on the best way to design a function, iterations are crucial.

At points during the project, my initial ideas did not always work out as expected, forcing me to go back to the drawing board. Quickly sketching out more frames helped me generate more ideas and view ideas from different perspectives.

At points during the project, my initial ideas did not always work out as expected, forcing me to go back to the drawing board. Quickly sketching out more frames helped me generate more ideas and view ideas from different perspectives.

What's next?

What's next?

We’re actively testing Lunjoe with partner cafés to refine the experience. Stay tuned.

We’re actively testing Lunjoe with partner cafés to refine the experience. Stay tuned.

Thank you for visiting!

ninachang250@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting!

ninachang250@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting!

ninachang250@gmail.com