Reimagining travel planning on Google Search
Role
UX Engineer
Duration
Summer 2024
Team
3 UX Designers
1 UX Researcher
1 Product Manager
Skills
Interaction Design
Prototyping
Concept Exploration
Research Synthesis
Overview
91% of travellers turned to search engines for trip inspiration, and Google was the first stop for most of them. But Search was built around a single query, not the multi-session reality of actually planning a trip. Over a summer sprint, we defined a new planning framework for Google Search that was validated by UX leadership and fed into the 2024 Google Search shift in the product roadmap, helping start the move toward more visual search results.
Problem
Search returned text-based links with no memory between sessions. Every visit started from zero. Travellers had to stitch together inspiration, comparisons, and logistics on their own, across tabs, screenshots, and half-remembered searches. The product was built for a decisive user who, in reality, rarely existed.
No continuity across sessions
The average trip takes 34 days to plan. Search treated each visit as if it were the first.
Comparison without scaffolding
Users juggled tabs, screenshots, and memory to weigh up destinations with no product support.
Inspiration without direction
The explore phase was the most loved part of planning, yet Search offered no structure to build on it.
Goal
Design a travel planning experience in Google Search that helps flexible travellers move from inspiration to decision across multiple sessions, without losing context along the way.
Solution
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