Redesigned Where2Go : Destination Discovery Product for Makemytrip
How might we reimagine the travel discovery experience to make it more personal and relatable for users, while also inspiring them to book a trip?
Context
Over summer of 2023, I worked with the Growth team at MakeMyTrip to improve discovery and engagement on Where2Go. I led the end-to-end redesign of the homepage to make it more personalized and enhanced the story-sharing flow to motivate more travelers to post their own experiences on Where2Go. Both features helped users find hidden gems and feel a part of the community.
My Role
I led the end-to-end design for this project, focusing on improving discovery and engagement on Where2Go. I collaborated with cross-functional teams (product, research, data analytics, and development), analyzed data, and made key design decisions.
Team
Digjot Singh (Manager)
Abhinav (Director)
Ankit Khanna (Product Lead)
Shubham Singh (Development lead)
Sanvithi (Research)
Timeline
May - Aug 2024
Objective
To create
Personal, Engaging, and Inspiring
experience on Where2Go
by encouraging users to contribute travel stories, increasing interaction with destination content, and guiding users from exploration to booking through personalized and community-driven narratives.
Homepage Engagement
Users explore destinations and interact with UGC
Scroll depth / dwell time
Personalized Discovery
Content Contribution
Inspiration to Action
Community Trust & Value
Users discover destinations relevant to their interests
Users feel encouraged to share their travel stories
Users move from story/homepage to plan or book a trip
Users perceive value in shared experiences
Click-through on recommendations
Number of stories uploaded
Story → Search / Booking taps
Engagement on stories (likes/comments)
Signal
Goal
Metrics
Our Solution
post redesign
The Impact
While this data covers only three months, we saw meaningful improvement in two key parameters
increase in users clicking destination pages through personalized cards
14%
7.1%
8.1%
increase in users posting stories on Where2Go
51%
11.2%
17%
New Users
High-Intent Users
Low-Intent Users
Inactive Bookers
Intent category
Recently Viewed
Discover by
Interest
Static collection
Dest. Card
Nearby
Dest Vid
Content Feed
05
0
20
25
10
15
Key Insights
Users lost interest with generic content but engaged more with video content and real stories.
W2G homepage engagement (April 2023)
The data captures all clicks on different sections of the homepage across various user cohorts.
Analyzed
Generic content lack personal connection
Users didn’t feel a personal connection with the homepage, which made it easy to lose interest and leave without interacting.
Real stories feel more relatable
Curated categories and video stories made the experience feel more relevant, encouraging users to click and stay longer.
Landing page
Photo + Video
Total
Android
IOS
Add Location
Media Loaded
Destination Added
Story submission
20
0
80
100
40
60
Users added travel story on where2go to inspire other travelers and get engagement on their content
Add travel story flow on W2G (Mar-Apr 2023)
Analyzed
Key Insights
Users dropped off at multiple touch-points indicating the need for redesign
Let’s say if 100% users land on ‘Add Story Landing’ page :
46%
click on ‘Add Photos or Videos’
41%
Upload content from gallery
15%
Add a description (caption)
11%
Users ended up uploading
18%
Add location of their content
Studying
User Behavior
We interviewed 5 participants (photos not shown due to consent) to understand their behavior around trip planning and sharing travel content. This led to our main insight.
Conceptual Model of travelers posting online
User
Story
Media
Platform
Feature
Location
Caption
Tag
Other media features
Post on internet
Engagement
Create
Contains
uploads on
with
which are
leads to
receive
Photo edit, add music etc.
can be multiple
motivates
Most people discover places through content by other travelers
Travelers post only when they get engagement (views, likes, or comments)
DISCOVERY
ENGAGEMENT
To validate our interview findings, we conducted impromptu usability testing with a few MMT users (colleagues unfamiliar with Where2Go)
The task was to post your latest travel photo on Where2Go.
Key Insights
Users found the story flow too long and the homepage confusing, making it hard to use.
Usability Testing
Where2Go Landing & ‘Add Story Flow’
20+ Articles and competitive analysis
Secondary Research
77%
73%
Travelers use social media platforms in the early stages of trip planning
Millennials post while traveling, often motivated by the engagement
The post creation was seamless, with helpful suggestions and no pressure to write extensively.
Redefining
Problem Statement
Post-research problem statement
Users dropped off because the homepage felt cluttered and impersonal. They wanted real stories to discover destinations and book a trip but weren’t motivated to post their own content without engagement, creating a chicken-and-egg problem.
Users aren't engaging much with the homepage or contributing stories.
Pre-research problem statement
How might we create a more personal and inspiring experience on Where2Go that helps users discover destinations and feel motivated to share their own travel stories?
HMW
Conceptual Proposal
To make Where2Go more personal and inspiring,
we propose a dynamic homepage tailored to user interests and a simple, rewarding story-sharing flow that encourages travelers to contribute and explore through real experiences.
to connect discovery and storytelling
We propose a two-part approach
Personalized Discovery Hub
A dynamic homepage tailored to each user’s travel mindset using behavior, preferences, and past activity.
Handpicked for you - video pick
Content by travel intent
Real stories
Location based suggestions
Easy, Rewarding Story Sharing
Make contributing stories feel simple and worth it, not like filling out a form.
Badges for top contributors
Motivate more travelers to contribute
Autofill suggestions
Relevant nudges
Ideating
‘Add Story Landing’ Interface Explorations
The story creation process should be intuitive and frictionless, enabling users to share their stories quickly and easily, without confusion or unnecessary steps.
To minimize cognitive load on the landing page, I focused on streamlining the design, as the current actions were presented in inconsistent styles.
Upload from Instagram
Bring your instagram posts in one go!
Over 3.5k users are using this feature!
Recommended
Add Photos
Max. 5
Add Video
OR
Priya’s New Travel Story
12:30
Upload
Tip
Photos & videos of you in the location can help inspire fellow travellers to visit.
Photo by Aishwarya in Goa
Upload from Instagram is more prominent, with a distinct visual style and user nudge.
Three actions with different design language :
Two different actions with "OR" in the middle, creating confusion between them.
So I designed bunch of different layouts keeping the constraint in mind :
12:30
Screen Title
Priya’s Travel Story!
Upload from Instagram
Bring your travel memories in a single click!
Upload from Instagram
Not sure which photo or video to upload?
See what works!
Upload via Gallery
Add 5 Photos or 1 Video
OR
Add Location
User testing showed that uploading photos on other social media (like Instagram) was easier than on W2G due to multiple factors :
Make posting process one simple step
Ideating
I focused on building credibility and driving engagement across touch-points with different user cohort
Inspire and encourage users to post on W2G
Ideating to
To highlight & encourage users who don’t upload travel photos, we discovered two major touch-points :
W2G Landing Page: According to the data, only 18% of users click on the “Add Photo” floating button, indicating a massive opportunity to convert more users into adding photos.
Content Feed: With 75% of users discovering destinations through the homepage feed, we can nudge them to create as well.
post redesign
The Impact
While this data covers only three months, we saw meaningful improvement in these key parameters.
Intent card (current design)
Intent card (redesigned)
Goa - Popular for Beaches & Nightlife
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Book Flights, Hotels, Packages, Activities & more
EXPLORE
Samaira
10 mins ago
Karan
10 mins ago
Paras
10 mins ago
Kiran
10 mins ago
Kiran
10 mins ago
New Delhi
Dubai
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₹5,790
Inspiration to Action
Click-through on the recommendation card to book a trip
4.5%
6.2%
Personalized Discovery
Click-through rate on destination cards
7.1%
8.1%
Redesign
Old design
5850
5500
Landing
2860
2585
Gallery
2568
2295
Uploaded
1386
1033
Add location
1275
884
Description
screen
994
617
Story submit
Story Submission
Number of stories uploaded
11.2%
17%
Old design (March)
Redesign (July 2024)
20
0
80
100
40
60
20
0
80
100
40
60
Looking back
People, Ideas, Love
The best part of MakeMyTrip was working with amazing teammates—sharing ideas, crafting thoughtful designs, and supporting each other through every challenge (even the visual fatigue 😮💨)
A key takeaway for me was the value of exploration, clearly shown in this Figma file (attached image). The clutter tells a story—every version and detail, from button placement to color choice, was crucial when designing for such a diverse audience.
Ultimately, I learned that designing for a billion users isn't about getting it perfect on the first try—it's about being thorough, open to feedback, and ready to iterate countless times. Empathizing with our users is the first step in making that happen ❤️
…and huge shoutout to all the mentors who gave me that learner's high 🧠
Open to new ideas, good conversations, and even better coffee.
Talk to me ->