PI Travel, Trip Planning For The Next Gen
A trip planning App that connects Gen Z and Millennial users through co-planning and content sharing.
TIME
Jul 2022 - Mar 2024
company
PI Travel
Team
1 Product Manager,
3 Product Designer,
6 Engineers,
1 Data Analyst,
2 Operations,
2 Strategy Lead,
1 QA
overview
PI TRAVEL is a travel planning app that helps users plan trips in a social context. Inspired by how young travelers are drawn to content on social platforms, it simplifies the entire process of discovering, planning, and sharing trips with others.
I joined the team during the 0→1 phase and led the end-to-end design of four core features, followed by multiple post-launch iterations. The product is now available on both iOS and Android.
turns a spark into a real travel plan ,
simplified every step of your next adventure along the way.
Trip Creation
Create Trips Instantly
Turn any trip-related social link or list of places into a ready-to-edit trip plan in one tap, seamlessly.
Route planning
Plan Routes Smartly
Get the most efficient routes by AI optimization tailored to needs, saving time and effort for real adventure.
Trip overview
Preview trips with real-time Map, all in one place
Look up entire trip plan and places at a glance with real-time maps that bring the plans to real life navigation.
impact
From 0→1 to Scalable Growth
The Gap Between Inspiration and Action
Designing for travelers who search, save, and co-plan.
Bridging Discovery, trip Creation, and Planning in a Single Workflow with you friends
The friction appears at different points in the journey…
Pi Travel restructures this fragmented process into a connected system spanning discovery, building, planning, sharing, and traveling. Instead of switching between social feeds, notes, maps, and chats, travelers now move through one continuous experience.
Travel Discovery and Trip Creation
Trip Creation :
Multiple paths into a structured itinerary
01 Smart Import
Convert saved content into an editable itinerary in seconds. Automatically parse links, text, and screenshots to generate editable itineraries with POIs.
45% of new trips created via import.
02 Homapage Start
Avoid the blank page.
+25% onboarding completion.
03 Manual Build
Full control for flexible planning. Power users returned to refine trips.
Manual creation offers flexibility to add destinations allowing Efficiency-Oriented Planners users to customize trips based on their needs.
Trip Editing and Optimization
Trip Editing:
Map-Based Editing With Real-Time Sync
Once trips are created, users need control. I designed a map-based itinerary editor that keeps structure, context, and optimization in one workspace. Users can drag, reorder, delete, and refine routes without switching views — making trip editing intuitive and efficient.
01 Core Editing
(Drag, Reorder, Delete with Live Map Sync)
30% planning time reduction
To reduce manual reordering, I introduced an route optimizer that rearranges stops based on distance and travel time. A subtle step-by-step loading animation keeps the process transparent and builds user trust during route updates.
two way to add new place ( poi ) intiuvely to cover every need of users with differnt intent
03 Add Places by using map
Added To-Plan toggle on map to quickly drag saved spots into itinerary without forgetting.
Over 35% sessions used "to plan" toggle, avg +2 nearby spots added
To plan
Add Place by Search
Users can manual insert new POIs, custom activities, or transportation anytime during editing.
new feature:
Collaborative Editing
We expanded the product from a single-user tool to a multi-user experience, enabling real-time collaborative trip planning with friends. This feature was built in response to strong demand from user feedback, as many travelers wanted a way to co-create and adjust itineraries together. It drove a 40% increase in engagement within trip planning flows and strengthened the product’s social capabilities.
User Flow
By mapping out the user flow and conflict-handling logic with the PM and engineers, I extended the overview page with an invite button and collaborator avatars, and designed a new invite card and a “Manage” section in trip settings.
Collaoritive Editing Mode
total up to 10 peoples
+40% engagement increase among shared trips
User can join the trip and sync in real time. This stacks avatars make collaboration transparent by showing who is invited.
Invite Friends
Users can invite up to 10 friends
via link or external apps.
Manage friends
Allow users to view all invited members and roles (Owner / Editor), with editing history in setting.
Trip Overview
Trip overview & Details
Users often struggled to track multi-day itineraries in editing mode. We introduced a Trip Overview mode with an ‘All’ tab summarizing the full itinerary, while each Day tab shows trip details for daily planning. This streamlined view reduces cognitive load and makes view and share trips effortless.
A dedicated overview page displays daily stops, notes, and weather at a glance. Users can switch dates via the tab menu and click “Edit” to enter editing mode. This clear separation between overview and editing path reduces cognitive load and makes it easier for users to check plans in real time while traveling.
A~30% reduction in planning time, and users reported the overview made it easier to share and coordinate trips in groups
Before
After
High engagement on the overview page: 15% of users added notes, and 2.4% uploaded photos (avg. 3.3–3.4 per user).
02 POI-Based Exploration on Map
+35% increase in map view usage after UI improvements, showing clearer categorization encouraged more active exploration.
POI Component Library
Icon Redesign: Introduced emoji-based icons with distinct colors, clearly categorised POI into 6 major types.
Grouping Logic: Applied a “Country → City → Place” cluster hierarchy to structure POIs consistently and add clarity for readability.
Explore Toggle: Added a toggle to show/hide nearby POIs, helping users discover popular spots on demand.
03 Realtime Navigation
A real-time map is integrated into the trip overview overlay. It syncs instantly with any POI or route updates, giving users a clear view of place coverage across multiple days.
Data-Driven Iteration
& Bug Fixes After Initial Launch
Users often struggled to track multi-day itineraries in editing mode. We introduced a Trip Overview mode with an ‘All’ tab summarizing the full itinerary, while each Day tab shows trip details for daily planning. This streamlined view reduces cognitive load and makes view and share trips effortless.
visual Style
Users often struggled to track multi-day itineraries in editing mode. We introduced a Trip Overview mode with an ‘All’ tab summarizing the full itinerary, while each Day tab shows trip details for daily planning. This streamlined view reduces cognitive load and makes view and share trips effortless.
Brand
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Secondary
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White
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Title
SF Pro Text · Semibold
20pt
Headline 01
SF Pro Text · Medium
18pt
Headline 02
SF Pro Text · Semibold
16pt
Body 01
SF Pro Text · Medium
16pt
Body 02
Gilmer · Bold
14pt
Body 02
SF Pro Text · Semibold
14pt
Caption 1
SF Pro Text · Semibold
12pt
Caption 2 (POI)
SF Pro Text · Semibold
8pt
What I Learned Along This 0–1 Fast-Moving Journey…
Data-Driven Iteration from early stage
Tracking user behavior early helped us identify drop-off points and quickly optimize key interactions. For example, when 45% of trips were created via Smart Import, we focused on improving its parsing capability to support accurate content.
Working within small team
Working closely with the team from the start taught me that in 0–1 projects, quick alignment turns good ideas into real products without endless back-and-forth.
Future Exploration in Social & Sharing
After building the shared editing foundation, I’m excited to explore the social side of the product — turning trip planning into a more collaborative and joyful experience.