Website | Destination Discovery Platform for Digital Nomads
Canada
For digital nomads, the world is an office, but the volume of choices often leads to extra problems rather than inspiration.
This project is an AI-powered discovery platform designed to find the best destinations for digital nomads. The goal was to create a seamless discovery process to replace hours of manual scrolling. We designed an intuitive, quiz-based experience that aligns a nomad’s lifestyle needs, from climate to workspace with their next location.
By answering a few questions, users can explore perfectly matched landing spots for their next journey.
1
Create a high-conversion onboarding flow that gathers necessary data without feeling like a survey.
2
Build an interactive discovery loop that encourages users to refine and explore.
Users Interview
We conducted interviews with digital nomads to discover their motivations, frustrations, and behaviors behind their travel planning process.
Key findings:
Reliable Work Setup Over Travel Appeal
Users prioritize stability over scenery, specifically citing time zone alignment (e.g., working EST while in Europe) and reliable internet infrastructure (city centers/mobile data) as the primary deciding factors. If a location doesn’t support their specific 9 to 5 work window or connectivity needs, it is immediately discarded regardless of its travel appeal.
Prefer "slow travel" to truly settle into a new city
Interviewees noted that it takes roughly 1.5 to 2 weeks to become familiar with a neighborhood’s transit and groceries. Staying for at least a full month is the preferred standard because it allows for a settled feeling, balances professional responsibilities with weekend excursions, and often unlocks better financial deals on accommodation.
Choose destinations based on where they can find friends or specific interests
Beyond basic amenities, users look for communities (specific sub-cultures like dance) or specific local experiences like cafe culture in Korea. The motivation for choosing a spot often stems from wanting to be near existing acquaintances or specific hobbies that allow them to integrate into the local social fabric quickly.
Legal rules and unexpected costs are the biggest "invisible" headaches
Users expressed constant concern regarding visa durations, safe working permits, and the financial "hiccups" of renting. There is a clear need for transparent budgeting tools (e.g., +$2k monthly buffers) and clear stay-period information to manage the stress of legal residency and varying costs of living.
User Personas
Based on the patterns identified during the research, we developed these personas to serve as a reference point throughout the design cycle.
Profile
A career-focused nomad who balances a full-time remote role with a desire for global exploration.
Age: 26 - 35
From: Edmonton, Canada
Education: Bachelor’s
Job Type: Full Time
Core Needs:
- Strict Time Zone Alignment, requires locations that allow for work during specific hours (e.g., EST or PST), often resulting in working late nights in Europe to keep mornings free.
- Infrastructure Reliability, must stay in city centers to guarantee high-speed internet and relies on mobile data as a backup.
- Commuter Accessibility, prioritizes proximity to airports and easy access to transit for seamless arrivals and departures.
Pain Points:
- The 9-to-5 Barrier, time zones can become a massive hurdle for maintaining traditional employment while traveling.
- Legal Uncertainty, constantly managing visa durations and the need to return home when residency periods expire
Profile
An adventurous nomad who prioritizes lifestyle, hobbies, and social communities.
Age: 18 - 25
From: Portland, USA
Education: Bachelor’s
Job Type: Self-employed
Core Needs:
- One-Month Minimum, prefers staying in one spot for at least a month to unlock AirBnB deals and want 1.5 – 2 weeks to fully settle into a neighborhood.
- Hobby-Centric Discovery, chooses destinations based on specific interests, such as dance communities or unique cafe cultures.
- Neighborhood Routine, spends weekdays living like a local and saves weekends for short trips to nearby towns.
Pain Points:
- Financial Concern, experiences "hiccups" with rental budgets and needs a monthly buffer of several thousand dollars for unexpected costs.
- Social Isolation, faces the challenge of needing to find friends or established communities to avoid feeling lonely.
Competitors Analysis
We audited some nomad and travel planning platforms to identify opportunities for strategic differentiation.
Nomad List
The most famous platform for nomads, focusing on data-driven scores for thousands of cities.
Massive Data Set, provides granular details on internet speed, cost of living, safety, and even air quality.
Active Community, includes a paid Slack group and "who’s here now" features to solve the loneliness pain point.
Heavy Paywall, almost all useful community features and advanced filters require a steep one-time membership fee (approx. $300).
Crowdsourced Accuracy, some data can be outdated or based on subjective reviews rather than real-time updates.
Roam Around
One of the first AI travel planners that uses ChatGPT to generate instant itineraries.
Incredible Speed, generates a full 7-day or 30-day plan in under 60 seconds based on a simple prompt.
Zero Friction, very easy to use with no complex forms or long sign-up processes.
Lack of Living Related Data, great for sightseeing, but often fails to provide the work essential data like specific coworking spots or time zone advice.
Generic Results, sometimes provides repetitive "tourist trap" suggestions rather than the deep, local experiences nomads prefer.
Wanderlog
A highly visual map-based tool to organize research into a single plan.
Excellent Map Integration, automatically plots every suggestion on a map, which is crucial for users deciding which neighborhood to live in.
Offline Access, perfect for users who are in transit or have temporary connectivity issues.
Planning vs. Discovery, better at organizing a trip you already decided on rather than matching you to a brand-new city you’ve never heard of.
Information Overload, the interface can become busy and overwhelming when too many locations are added.
Developed user flows based on research insights to visualize the platform's interactivity and information architecture.
Created low-fidelity wireframes to explore solutions and integrated them into user flows for a better presentation.
Homepage
We designed the homepage with several calls to action to support users at every stage of their journey, from those seeking guidance to those who prefer manual search or browsing.
Users seeking personalized recommendations can take the quick quiz to discover their next destination.
Manual search functionality for specific destinations or related travel data.
Featured Destinations highlights popular and trending destinations to spark user inspiration.
The Ranking section features categorized recommendations based on key data points
Quiz and Personalized Results
Users can take a short quiz to receive personalized results. We analyze their responses across various dimensions (i.e. their preference for adventure, the importance of personal growth) to define their 'nomad type' and identify the destinations that fit them best.
Users answers a few questions about their travel preferences to generate a personalized results.
Results are displayed in a radar chart, which visualizes scores across different dimensions such as adventure, personal growth, and lifestyle preferences.
Detailed explanations for each dimension are organized into tabs, allowing users to switch between them for more information.
Top 3 destination recommendations are shown under user’s score.
Each destination features its own scores and radar chart, helping users understand why this is good match for them.
Destination Details
A comprehensive overview of each city, featuring different data to help users make decisions.
The details page provides a comprehensive breakdown of city data, including cost of living, safety ratings, and other metrics.
Key Summary Facts presents a snapshot of the essential data for quick evaluation and comparison.
Offers section serves as a up-selling feature, allowing the platform to collaborate with travel agencies, airlines, etc to provide exclusive deals to users.
Event Calendar highlights top activities throughout the year, helping users decide the best time for their visit.
Destinations Comparison
Comparison tool designed to help users weigh cost, safety, and lifestyle factors across multiple locations.
Overlapping radar chart shows a direct scoring comparison, highlighting the key differences between selected cities.
A side-by-side data breakdown for the users, the Key Summary Facts section provides the most significant data differences
Offers section also available in this page to show the exclusive deals.
