Document of Proof

Who does what?

Empathy = Lucia, 223924
Define = Sam, 226084
Ideation and prototype = Kess, 221286
Testing and final product = Job, 213742
Appendices = Everyone

Empathy (1-3 pages)

- Insights from desk research empathy phase (including context map)

CONTEXT MAP

Insights from our desk research:

In the first empathy phase, we´ve done desk research and came up with issues, trends, and
developments in our challenge area, "cruise travel”. We´ve done the context analysis of the cruise
industry and understood what is going on. We created the context map based on these facts and
divided them into macro, meso, and micro levels. We discovered that the industry is growing, and its
further growth is also highly expected in next years(Statista Research Department, 2022).
At first, it was difficult to think about what could be potentially improved on cruising, since
nowadays cruise ships are already very modern, and futuristic and they´re trying to attract many types
of target groups. But the more we researched, the more imperfections we found in this highly
developed industry.
Cruising companies want to attract more and more people, put more attractions on board and
make the experience even more enjoyable for tourists. There were many innovations and trends in the
cruising industry in the last few years, such as digitalization, modern technologies on board, cruises
sailing to new destinations, and a lot more (Caiazzo, 2019). Some cruise companies offer extreme
sports, so travelers can try ziplining while on board, rock climbing, enjoying the water slides, or even
seeing the night sky full of stars in a planetarium (Beaven, 2022).
Nowadays it is common for cruise companies to buy a whole exclusive island or provide theme
cruises which are becoming immensely popular (Disney cruise, Star Trek cruise, knitting cruise, the
KISS cruise…). (Fielding, 2022). Also, social media has an enormous impact on the cruise industry
and Instagram travel is becoming exceedingly popular (Leposa, 2019).
Those were the positive innovations and developments, but unfortunately, cruising also faces and
causes negative trends and problems. Some countries are trying to avoid mass tourism by reducing or
prohibiting cruise ships in some cities. For instance, Venice banned cruise ships from entering the
city, because it wasn´t the type of tourism they wanted, and many cities seem to follow this action as
well. The reason for this is that the cities are becoming overcrowded, and people are not spending
money there since they have everything included on a cruise, so they do not support the local
economy and do more harm than good (Pianigiani, 2021).
Society is becoming more environmentally focused and cares about sustainable living. It´s not a
secret that cruising has a significant impact on the environment, it´s harmful to marine wildlife, and
its toxic waste and CO2 emissions are even higher than flying (Comer, 2022). People are starting to
be more aware of this fact and this can cause problems and risks for cruising industries in the future.
Another issue that can have an impact on cruising is inflation. It´s possible that people just won´t be
able to attend the cruise for economic reasons which can cause less profit for cruising companies.
Also, the services and fuels crucial for cruising can cause companies to spend more and risk economic
problems (Sozzi, 2022).
Insights from user interviews (including empathy canvas)

OUR EMPATHY CANVAS

Insights from user interviews:

After the first step, the desk research through which we understood more about what´s happening in
our challenge area, we had to find out more about our target group, their needs, wants, and previous
experiences with cruising. Every member of our team interviewed one single traveler and we came up
with interesting and helpful outcomes.
Firstly, we needed to think about the structure, formulate the questions, and put them into a logical
order, so we could see exactly what we need to do and achieve during our interview. The questions
we used are listed below.
 The most common reason our respondents were interested in cruising is the fact that it´s
something different and unusual for them. They wanted to experience something new, see the country
and ocean from a unique perspective and one respondent don´t even like the idea to be in the air, so
that was one of the reasons why to choose a cruise instead of flying. The expectations were different
from person to person. Some of them did not know exactly what to expect or expected to meet a lot of
new people and some expected to explore the destinations in detail.
Answers to the questions like what length of cruise you prefer, how many stops, or what
destination you want to visit, were vastly different, some of our respondents prefer shorter cruises
within Europe, and some of them prefer longer, more exotic ones.
There were various aspects our respondents were struggling with while on a cruise. One person
said that stops were too short, so they constantly had to stress about being on time so they couldn´t
enjoy the whole place, but on the other hand, other respondent thinks that stops were amazing, such a
nice touch, and with the right amount of time. So, we dedicated, this really depends on the type of
cruise you´re on.
The experience with food was incredibly positive among our chosen travelers. All of them liked
the variety of different food cuisines and the only obstacle that one of the respondents noticed was the
amount of food waste that the cruise produces. Their dining preferences are diverse, some people
prefer to choose a la carte, others prefer buffet and some of them do not care about it.
We thought that the budget question would be one of the main problems for single travelers and it
really was. They are used to staying in cheap hostels or Airbnb's, but on a cruise ship, there wasn´t the
possibility to book a different kind of accommodation than the whole cabin which is unnecessary
while traveling alone and it increases the cost. One of the answers to this question was also that it´s
not a problem to take a sleeping bag and sleep somewhere in the corner.
The activities our respondents want to do are seeing the sights of a country, but also the unexpected
and unknown things about a country. So, it would be great if a cruise would not only show the ‘draws’
of a country, but also the ‘unknown pearls. While cruising, single travelers would like to join some
social events, where people can get together, drink some beer, play some games, or dance.
For the question of whether they want to socialize or stay alone, we got a clear answer that they do
want to socialize. However, most of them had issues with socialization while on board. We
discovered that it was hard to find someone to spend time with since most of the people were with
families or friend groups, so it was almost impossible to integrate. One respondent said that
socialization during the scheduled activities felt forced and not natural. We also had an answer that
since it was not a big cruise with not that many people on it, socializing on board was not that hard,
but off-board during the stops it was more difficult.

Define (1-2 pages)

- Problem themes delivered from the received information
After we discussed our interview, we made a table to make it clear to us what the similarities were
that kept recurring in our interviews:

General Problems
Expensive Socialization felt
impossible because
of varied reasons
There´s no possibility
to book single bed,
just a whole
room/cabin
Not enough time to
explore on land
destinations
A lot of food waste

This table made it clear to us that there were two problems for single travellers going on a cruise, that
came back every interview. The first problem was the budget, because this is too high for a single
traveller. This is, because single travellers must book at least a two-person cabin, what makes it
awfully expensive for them. This does not make going on a cruise incredibly attractive for a single
traveller. We thought of many ideas to lower the budget of a cruise. An idea that came to our minds
for example was to change the cabins a cruise has nowadays into the shared ‘hostel beds’. This way,
more people can sleep on the cruise and the price per person can then be reduced.
The second problem that became clear from our interviews immediately, is that it is too difficult for
many single travellers to socialize on a cruise. This is, because it feels very forced and because on a
cruise there are many people who have been a group together for a longer time (there are few single
travellers), which in turn makes it much harder to spontaneously join them. Also, for this problem, we
thought of a solution. An idea we had for example, is to organise more group activities (on and off-
board), so people can meet each other in a casual environment. Also creating certain ‘meeting points’
on the boat, where people who want to socialise can go to, could be a solution for our problem.
With these two problems noticeably clear to us, we created an IST and a SOLL for our two problems:

IST SOLL
It is too expensive to book a whole room/cabin Single travellers want more affordable cruises
for one person.
 Single travellers feel that it is hard to socialize Single travellers want to be able to socialize
while on board and that there are few with others, find a community, feel included and
possibilities to do so. do activities with other travellers

- Design challenge and motivation for choice of the design challenge

After we decided our IST and SOLL, we thought of two frames per problem. That resulted
into this schedule:

PROBLEM FRAME A FRAME B

Budget Reduce quality Reduce quantity
Socialization Schedule more social Change the interior to
activities/opportunities for increase socialization
travellers to get together

After we decided what our frames were going to be, we decided our design challenge. At
first, we had to think about 2 design challenges:
1. How can we offer better prices for our customers?
2. How can we increase the socialization between tourists on a cruise?
Both design challenges were possible for us because they would both solve our problem and
we already had ideas for both. Eventually, we chose to go for the second design challenge:
‘How can we increase the socialization between tourists on a cruise?’, because we could
think of more solutions for this challenge. We also had many more solutions for this
challenge, that could be feasible in practice.

Ideation and Prototype (1-3 pages)

- Description of Ideation phase and proof of creative process

We started this phase with brainstorming about realistic solutions for our design challenge: ‘How can
we increase the socialization between tourists on a cruise?’. This way, we diverge again to come to a
solution for our problem. We started the solution-thinking process, with everyone thinking about
solutions individually. This way, we hoped to come to more solutions (and different kind of
solutions). After this, we made a mind map with all our ideas, so that it was visible to us how many
ideas we had. This way, it also became clear to us that we had a lot of the same ideas, or ideas that
looked much alike. Those ideas, we could combine. Below there is a picture of our mind map.
 - Explanation of the decision process
After we made our mind map and looked at all the solutions that we wrote down. At first, we were
very enthusiastic about the idea of designing the ‘hostel beds’ for our single travellers, so they could
socialize easier. The hostel beds would also make it possible to offer the cruise cheaper to our single
travellers. But after thinking about this idea more carefully, we concluded that it would be better to
combine all our other ideas into one, rather than only choosing for the hostel beds. This is how we
came up with the idea of creating an app, which has multiple functions to encourage socializing.
- Description prototype 1
The app we have developed for prototype 1 has different kind of features. At first you start with filling
in a question list, to make clear what your interests and preferences are. This way the app knows
which people have the same interests and the app can ‘match’ them with each other. We chose for this
feature, because people with the same interests socialize easier with each other, so knowing you have
the same interests makes it more accessible to really get to know each other (Valen, 2022).
Another function we want to add to our app, is the possibility to see your friends and events on a map.
This way you can easily see what everyone is doing and if you would like to join them. You can also
invite people to an event, or just to meet up together. This feature also really increases the socializing
on the boat.
With our app, it is also possible to switch your availability button on and off. This is important, so
also single travellers still have their privacy. Even single travellers want to be alone some time, so this
feature is also particularly important. If you see that the profile picture of someone is green, this
means that they are available to socialise, and you can approach/invite them. But if the profile picture
is red, this means that that person wants some time for himself and does not want to socialise with
anyone. This way it is clear to everyone what they want and now one would have to waste any time.
The last feature we want our app to have, are some socializing games. This will help people to start a
conversation and talk with each other about different things that they would usually do. These games
also allow people to get to know each other in a very informal and relaxed way, this again makes it
very approachable for everyone to socialize more with each other.
Testing and final product (1-3 pages)

Testing:
After making a prototype it is important that you test it. This way you know what people
would like to have changed before you make your product. One way of finding out what the
consumer will think is interviewing, so that is what we did. We went back to the people who
we interviewed to find a challenge area and ask them what they thought of our idea, and
most importantly what they would give as feedback. This feedback can really help, because
they look at it from a unique perspective as us (the makers).
To get the most out of our interview, we structured what we wanted to say and ask. The
way we did it was:
- Introduce product and tell them about the app we have developed and the name of it.
- Talk about the problem we want to solve with the app: socialization was too difficult for
single travellers on cruises.
- Show the prototype and explain the features the app has.
- Record the reaction of the person you interview.
- Ask them for feedback on your product and ask what features they think the app is still
missing.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is your first impression?
2. Do you think this app can solve the problem?
3. What do you think about the features of the app?
4. Is there something you miss in the app?
5. Is it clear for you how to use it?
6. Would you use this app
7. What would you change?

From these questions we got some valuable feedback. The feedback that we got was
- Make it clearer. How it works, what is does, what features it has.
- Would be difficult for older single travellers to understand and use the app.
- We should advertise it before people book the cruise.
- Focus more on group activities.
- Create something where you can reserve tables in a restaurant, so you can plan
group activities and make the app more interesting.
- Off board activities.
- Add a map of the ship and information about the cruise.
- Group against group activities

After we got this feedback, we immediately started thinking how we could apply those
features without making the app even more unclear. Because that was something that came
back in every interview. Other feedback that we received the most were, advertising it
before the cruise, add a map and information about the cruise and focus more on group
activities. Because these were given the most, we wanted to start on implementing them
first.
The first thing was advertising. How were we going to make it so that people wanted to
download and use the app, and even chose a certain cruise because of it. To do this we have
to advertise it on the website of the cruise, so that people see it before booking a cruise.
This way they can download it in advance and already have an account ready before going.
This can also help by attracting single travellers to a certain cruise. So that on the cruise
there are more people with at least 1 interest the same, single travelling. However,
advertising should only be done on the website, but also in the confirmation mail and we
thought of a flyer in each room on the cruise, with a QR-code. This way people get more
notice of the app.
The second thing we wanted to implement was a map about the cruise with information
and a chance to reserve things like, a table at a restaurant or a bowling alley. This makes the
app more attractive for a lot of people, because it makes it convenient and gives it another
beneficial use. This also implies the step in the door technique, since people may download
the app for that reason and then participate more easily in the social side of the app.
Reserving could also help by creating group activities, which was also feedback that we
heard a lot. For example, people could reserve a bowling alley and invite other people to
play with them on the app.
At last, we wanted to just make the prototype and the app itself clearer. We wanted to do
this by making a clean design and give more details, information on what the function on
the app is and how to use it. This makes it difficult to include some of the features we
wanted, because more features most of the time make it harder to understand how to use
it.
This were all the things we implemented and changed in prototype 2, to make it clearer and
make the customers have all the options they want on the app.

Prototype 2:

Test phase 2:
We asked the same questions for this test phase as the first test phase. This because we got
some great feedback from our first questions, so we thought that that would also be the
case for test phase 2.
And it was, although we got a little less feedback, we still got somethings that we could
improve. The feedback that we got this time was:

- Make it that people must fill in their interests off board, so it would be easier to also
make groups to visit things from your interest.
- It is not clear on how you can see if someone has the same interests.
 - Give more examples on group activities you can do.

We used this feedback to make our last adjustments on our app. To do this we first started
with thinking of what would be the best way to show that people have the same interests as
you, because we did not want to do this with using the same swiping technique as tinder,
since that could cause for some awkward situations if you run in to each other. So, what we
came up with was a colour system, where people you share interest with appear greener on
the map. This way you could meet up with the people that appear the greenest, but also still
go with people less green.
The next change we wanted to make was on the interest questions, because of the feedback
“Make it that people have to fill in their interests off board, so it would be easier to also
make groups to visit things from your interest.” We wanted to base the interest questions
more on what they would like to do. Like what are the things they would like to visit when
they are in a city. This way people could link up to do the things they are both interested in,
onboard and offboard.
At last, we wanted to add some more group activities people could reserve and do on the
cruise, like going to an arcade, swimming or some special activity organised by the cruise.
After adding all these features, we ended up with our final product. Which was a socializing
app focused single travellers on a cruise. Where people could meet each other and make
groups of friends while travelling. Which was something that people struggled with based
on our interviews.

Appendices
- Details on respondents (initials, age, family status, profession, lifestyle)
Respondents' details
- Topic list Empathy interview
 - Visualization of final prototype 1, adjusted prototype 2 and final product
Prototype 1:

Prototype 2:
Final product:
Sources:
Beaven, K. (2022, January, 14)18 Adventure Activities You Didn’t Know You Could Do on a Cruise
Ship. Cruise Critic. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=6700

Caiazzo, D.(2019, June 3).  9 Cruise Ship Innovations That Help Travel Advisors Sell More Cruises.
Travel Market Report. https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/9-Cruise-Ship-Innovations-
That-Help-Travel-Advisors-Sell-More-Cruises

Comer, B. (2022, May 16).  What if I told you cruising is worse for the climate than
flying?  International Council on Clean Transportation.  https://theicct.org/marine-cruising-flying-
may22

Fieldig, J. (2022, November 16).  The Best Themed Cruises for 2022, 2023 and Beyond. Cruise
Mummy.  https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/best-themed-cruises/

Leposa, A. (2019, October 2) Stats: Cruise Travelers More Likely to Engage With Social Ads. Travel
Agent Central. https://www.travelagentcentral.com/your-business/stats-cruise-travelers-more-
likely-to-engage-social-ads

Pianigiani, G., & Bubola, E. (2021, October 10).  Italy’s Government to Ban Cruise Ships From Venice.
The New York Times.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/world/europe/venice-italy-cruise-ship-
ban.html

Sozzi, B. (2022, June 8) Cruise stocks may face trouble as demand 'seems to be eroding': BofA, Yahoo!
Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cruise-stocks-may-be-in-trouble-as-demand-seems-to-be-
eroding-bof-a-200745167.html?guccounter=1

Statista Research Department, .(2022, September 22 ). Forecast size of the cruise tourism market
worldwide in 2022 and 2032. Statista.
https://login.proxy1.dom1.nhtv.nl/login?url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1332145/market-
size-cruise-tourism-worldwide/