OTAs provide hotels and travel services with access to a broad, global audience, greatly enhancing their visibility. In return for driving bookings, OTAs earn a 15-30% commission on each booking and may also charge consultation fees for tailored marketing support.

Through workshops with the Vital and Milkinside teams, who are avid travelers themselves, we reflected on our own travel experiences to identify the common pain points and moments of delight.

We conducted an extensive review across leading travel apps and other platforms, analyzing experiences in discovery, booking, rewards, and reviews. Through this analysis, we identified several key strategies that contribute to a successful user experience

Through our research, we gained valuable insights into the industry and user needs, shaping a clear vision for what our product must achieve. This domain expertise enables us to apply best practices effectively, ensuring we deliver a valuable experience to our users.

To translate our insights into practical features, we first aligned with Vital’s plans for the types of experiences and features they wanted to offer users in the near and long term.

This booking flow diagram was developed to align with Vital’s vision for their app, mapping out both their immediate and long-term goals for user offerings. It highlights the services Vital aims to provide (such as hotels, flights, and entertainment) and showcases the booking process in a user-friendly flow. Filters like location, date, and price allow users to personalize their experience, while options to add bookings to an itinerary or share them with the community enhance engagement.

The team conducted a brainstorming session to identify additional features, beyond the main discovery and booking flows, that would be vital in delivering a valuable experience based on our users' needs.

Profiles will feature reviews and “Vital Interests,” showcasing users' preferences or endorsements, which may help others find relevant recommendations.

Rating Moment: A prompt for users to rate or review right after a transaction, encouraging immediate feedback while the experience is fresh.

The Vital Lifestyle Rewards System is designed to encourage user engagement and foster a community of authentic and valuable contributions. Based on our research, we incorporated positive reinforcement, the gradient effect, and social status to motivate users and sustain engagement. Here’s how it works:

The tiered system motivates users to keep participating, as each level increases their earning potential. By rewarding the impact of their reviews—how helpful others find them—we encourage users to contribute high-quality, authentic feedback. This structure helps Vital build a community centered on trust and engagement, where users are motivated not only by rewards but also by the value they bring to others.

We created interaction frameworks that make it easy for users to explore, book, and personalize their travel experiences. With streamlined flows and social features, these frameworks ensure that every interaction with Vital Travel feels seamless and engaging.

We wanted the the discovery to include a tailored experience through a conversation with AI to act as a travel concierge, while also allowing for a more traditional search function if users are looking for something more specific. We also wanted to include a free form discovery so users can stumble upon something based off their interests, what their community is doing, or based on other factors

To address the fact that many users find writing reviews to be a chore, we designed a simple, user-friendly review system. By allowing users to create reviews using just their voice or video content, our AI helps transcribe and organize their feedback seamlessly. This approach makes sharing experiences easier and more enjoyable, encouraging more users to engage in the review process.

This booking flow uses intuitive swipe gestures and expandable cards to keep the interface clean and easy to navigate. Users can quickly explore options, view details, adjust dates or guests, and even receive personalized recommendations through AI. Each step, from selecting a room to confirming payment, is streamlined to minimize friction, creating a smooth, efficient booking experience that feels personalized and engaging. These design choices ensure users can book travel effortlessly, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.

Everything worth considering can be found right in your Discovery feed. It’s here that Vital combines the joy of browsing and discovery with recommendations from other members and opportunities to take action to strengthen your network. 



The Discovery feed is a seamless integration of socially validated content and self-discovery opportunities.

Traditional monetization models have broken reviews and recommendations with bots and baseless self-promotion.  Our Members are seeking better and they will find it here.

The elements in the Discovery feed are optimized to offer opportunities for social validation and eliminate the hesitation of uncertainty in booking.

The Vital Card project presented a unique opportunity to address critical pain points in financial management and redefine user engagement through gamification and community-driven design. By stepping in to reimagine an existing product, we bridged the gap between functionality and user satisfaction, delivering a streamlined experience that empowers users to take control of their finances while fostering meaningful social connections.

Through collaboration, research, and strategic design, we not only met the immediate needs of Vital but also laid a strong foundation for future growth. The redesigned app and website exemplify how thoughtful design can transform a delayed product launch into a competitive offering in the financial technology landscape.

This project was an enjoyable and insightful experience, but it also highlighted areas where we could improve, particularly in client management and workflow prioritization.

One key area for improvement was our approach to the mid-fidelity wireframe stage. By not dedicating enough focus to mid-fi wireframes, we missed an opportunity to secure early alignment on the app's functionality. This oversight led to more time being spent on revising high-fidelity wireframes later in the process—a less efficient and more time-consuming approach.

Additionally, while our emphasis on research was invaluable, it inadvertently compressed the timeline for wireframing. As a result, we found ourselves rushing through this critical stage, which impacted the overall flow of the project. A more balanced timeline that allowed sufficient time for mid-fi wireframes would have streamlined the design process and reduced the need for late-stage changes.

These challenges were ultimately a valuable learning experience. Moving forward, we'll focus on improving timeline management and ensuring that each stage of the process gets the attention it deserves. Prioritizing mid-fi deliverables as a point for client feedback will help create smoother workflows and more effective collaboration.