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This practice project/Client brief is the third one in this series from UX Design Mastery after the one for a Blog website and an eCommerce project.

Design portfolio projects for UX and UI designers

Included in each design brief is the following:

• Objectives (What is REQUIRED by the client. This part usually trips designers up as they go off designing what is not required)
• Timeline (For this to be realistic each brief has a timeline that is as close to real-world work as possible)
• Platform(Where your designs will live. Understanding these platforms will give a well-considered solution)
• Target audience (Users always come first and the design must accommodate the target audience’s pain points)
• References (If you are not sure where to start, clients normally give a set of examples or references they like. The closer the design solution is to the references, the fewer revisions a designer will have to do)
• Deliverables (Most importantly how the solution should be delivered. These represent what a well-detailed portfolio case study looks like so hit it out of the park)
• Recruiter advice (Portfolio advice from creative directors, CEOs and leading design creatives from the biggest companies)

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A little about me

Creating a portfolio project is hard work.

I still remember when I did not have a single project in my portfolio that would really make me stand out and get noticed by recruiters. 

I had just left my job as a Java Developer and was about to put all my effort into starting a design career. 

One of the very first successful projects I created was a conceptual mobile app for a local airline. I had recently been on a trip which was frustratingly delayed and poorly communicated to passengers. 

So I decided to creatively express my opinions through a conceptual project and it was responsible for me getting hired for my first design job. 

Its also my most appreciated project .

I hope this travel app project you work on, provides you with as many opportunities as I have received. 

Let’s get into it

Design Portfolio Project 3: Travel App

Client Brief

Client: Choose any travel brand of your liking

Timeline: 1–2 Weeks

Objectives

Create a mobile app design that can:
 • Allow a user to book a flight, a hotel and car on a specific date for different destinations
 • Find the best deals on flights, hotels and car hires
 • Ability to select holiday activities
 • Organize all travel plans into one itinerary
 • Notifications

Platform

Please design a travel app for either iOS or Android. So we require mobile screens. Pay attention to

iOS guidelines
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/visual-design/adaptivity-and-layout/
Android guidelines
https://material.io/design/usability/accessibility.html#hierarchy

Target Audience

References

Please conduct some research on the following travel apps that we love and get ideas for functionality and features to include

Deliverables

• Research (refer to references provided)
 • Highlight 3 enhancements or unique features you have included to make our app stand out and solve user pain points
 • Sketches of initial ideas
 • Wireframes
 • Visual mockups screens of
 ⁃ App Onboarding
 ⁃ Home screen where a user can book a Hotel, a Flight, a Car or an activity in a popular city
 ⁃ Listing page of Hotels
 ⁃ Map view showing hotels location
 ⁃ Itinerary screen
 ⁃ Possible notifications

 • Results section: Feedback from testing with 5 random people
 • Fonts: Brand related
 • Colors: Brand related
 • Link to this project

Nice to have

Video walkthrough (Screen record using QuickTime an Invision prototype interacation)

Pro-tip

Go through an entire booking experience to understand how the app is design.

Advice from recruiters

I wish more portfolio websites included little descriptions of what the designer’s role was in a specific project, or even pointed out some specific problems or personal thoughts about aspects of their designs. Too many portfolios now are just vanity shots and client name-dropping without actually communicating what was done. 

James Cabrera, Senior Product Designer, Refinery29

Going the extra mile and making sure it’s easy to consume, well-presented, and filled with helpful context about your projects tells us a lot about your communication skills. Ideally a portfolio should be more than just a collection of pretty thumbnails and mockups — it should speak to your problem solving skills.

Ryan Le Roux, Metalab

If you’re just starting out as a designer, a good alternative to unsolicited redesigns are personal projects. These self-initiated projects are a great way to build up your design and product skills, while also putting something out into the world for people to use. You’ll learn a ton from the experience of launching something and the feedback you’ll get from your users will definitely make you a better designer.

Elyse Viotto, Shopify

If you are interested in getting the PDF download of the travel app project and all my extra example case studies download below.