Scurry
Make the most of every day, anywhere.
- Timeline
- 24 hours
Design-a-thon duration - My role
- Student UX Designer
Team of 3
The problem
Non-locals with limited free time and too many options need a reliable way to plan their activities efficiently.
As a college student who moved from Northern California to Southern California, I noticed that students who aren’t from SoCal often struggle to optimize their plans when it comes to activities in an unfamiliar area.
This sparked the question: why is it difficult for non-locals to efficiently plan their days?
The solution
Curated hangout plans for non-locals, saving them time and effort.
Have a curated plan
Curated itineraries to help non-locals efficiently navigate unfamiliar areas with personalized, time- and budget-aware recommendations.
Having structured, personalized schedules that can boost productivity by reducing stress.
95% of curated itineraries outperformed real-life plans.According to ScienceDirect.com
Efficiency is key
An app to optimize a user’s day in an unfamiliar area.
AI cut task time by up to 56%, enabling teams to reallocate effort toward deeper analysis and decision-making.
AI completes tasks 25.1% faster and delivered >40% higher-quality recommendations, reflecting stronger, more thought-through reasoning when tasks were within AI’s strengths.
According to Harvard Business School
Discover the community and build connections
- Share your itinerary with friends and plan together
- Discover new areas at your own pace
- Easily add must-visit spots to your plan
White paper research
Stress can lead to decreased enjoyment of the experience.
As I started researching articles about the difficulties in planning activities in non-local areas, I came across the article Htrends.com ↗.
“58% of travelers report feeling overwhelmed by too many choices when booking getaways.”
Competitive analysis
The competition lacks tailored itineraries.
I researched popular trip-planning services and found that most fail to adapt to real-life constraints like time, budget, or local transit. Instead, they provide generic, tourist-heavy suggestions rather than tailored plans that meet the unique needs of students and young people in unfamiliar areas, which soon gave me the opportunity to develop a solution.
User interviews
My interviewees felt overwhelmed by the amount of time they spent researching areas they are unfamiliar with.
In addition to my research, my team and I interviewed five non-local students who struggled to make the most of their day in an unfamiliar area. We asked these questions to see why they aren’t able to plan effective itineraries for themselves:
- When was the last time you planned an itinerary at a place you are unfamiliar with?
- What was the most difficult part in structuring your plan for each day?
- How does the difficulty of planning in a non-local area affect your overall experience and enjoyment of the day?
The main insight
The interviewees chose not to use the competitors’ apps because they didn’t account for personal preferences.
Based on the Infinity Map, I notice that students face informational gaps, time limitations, and emotional stress.
Planning challenges
- Limited knowledge of local options
- Time constraints
- Difficulty prioritizing activities
Emotional impact
- Feeling overwhelmed or stressed
- Frustration when plans fall through
- Anxiety about wasting time
Opportunity for solutions
- Need for personalized itineraries
- AI-assisted suggestions for time, budget, and transit
- Collaborative planning with friends
Student persona
Design
Setbacks + direction
Initially, my team and I considered adding an animation to the landing page. However, given the time constraints, I realized it would create more complications than value. Instead, we decided that a clean and minimalistic design would be more effective, capturing attention while keeping the experience inviting and less overwhelming for users.
Testing and improvements
2 major improvements in our design
Displaying a clock visual
From the recommendations of mentors, having a visual component to the page can cater to visual users.
Having a clock display the duration of the day can create a more polished appearance.
Update the layout
Based on my team’s feedback, we felt that the original layout was too structured and did not provide strong visual appeal.
Staggering the options resulted in a design that felt more modern and visually appealing based on our feedback.
Design system
Conclusions + lessons learned
What I’d do differently next time
This is my first-ever Design-a-thon (YAY!🥳). I am truly grateful for the experience, the constructive feedback, and the mentorship I received through this event, where my team and I earned first place in the Visionary Challenge category! Following this, I’ve learned:
Consistently communicate with your team.
I learned that verbalizing even half-formed ideas can spark new insights and help identify solutions that might not emerge when we keep them to ourselves. Sharing thoughts openly allows team members to build on each other’s perspectives, turning individual ideas into collaborative breakthroughs.
Continue improving through iterations.
If we had more time, I would have liked to explore more iterations, as the 24-hour time constraint limited our ability to pursue more optimal solutions. This ensures that every decision is intentional and thoughtfully considered, allowing our team to deliver more polished outcomes through deliberate iteration.
Be patient with the process.
I realized that in fast-paced settings, steps in the research and survey phase can sometimes be shortcutted. However, I learned that these steps are essential, as they contribute valuable insights that shape the bigger picture and lead to more impactful solutions. In the future, I will be sure to improve the overall delivery of our solution by being more intentional with every step of the process.
