DOCUMENT OF PROOF

Project research & development

Simone Moretti

ITM4
Lucia Prokopova 223924, Sam Kasprzak 226084,
Kess Caris 221286, Job Woldendorp 213742
Table of Contents
Empathy................................................................................................................................................2
Insights from our desk research.........................................................................................................2
Our empathy canvas..........................................................................................................................3
Insights from user interviews.............................................................................................................4
Define....................................................................................................................................................5
Ideation and Prototype...........................................................................................................................7
Explanation of the decision process...................................................................................................7
Description prototype 1.....................................................................................................................7
Testing and final product.......................................................................................................................9
Testing...............................................................................................................................................9
Test phase 2.....................................................................................................................................10
Appendices..........................................................................................................................................12
Respondents' details.........................................................................................................................12
Topic list Empathy interview...........................................................................................................14
Prototype 1:.....................................................................................................................................14
Prototype 2:.....................................................................................................................................15
Final product:..................................................................................................................................15

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Empathy

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

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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).

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.

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 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 are 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.

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 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
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.

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 With these two problems noticeably clear to us, we created an IST and a SOLL for our two
problems:

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

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

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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

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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

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).

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 To get the most out of our interview, we structured what we wanted to say and ask. The way
we did it was as followed:
- 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.
Some of the most important questions we asked and used were:
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:
1. Make everything clearer. How the app works, what is does, what features it has.
2. Using this app might not be easy for the older generations aboard of the cruise.
3. This app should be advertised before the boarding as well as on the boarding.
4. Focus more on group activities.
5. A feature that offers you to make reservations at different restaurants would guarantee a
higher used by passengers.
6. Make sure to also include on-land activities.
7. Add a map of the ship and information about the cruise.
8. Competitive group activities that make different groups interact with each other would be a
good touch.
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

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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:

1. 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.
2. It is not clear on how you can see if someone has the same interests.
3. 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.

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 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
Respondents' details

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Topic list Empathy interview

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Prototype 1:

Prototype 2:

Final product:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFTYTrdjjw/tj_pRHhG9o5SVctYAo0oxw/edit?
utm_content=DAFTYTrdjjw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=share
button

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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

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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/

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