Kalanava is a conceptual travel mobile application developed as the final capstone project of the UI/UX Design Bootcamp at Startup Campus. The project grew from an interest in Indonesia’s cultural richness and a growing gap between how people want to travel and how current travel platforms support that experience.
Tourism plays an important role in Indonesia’s economy, yet many domestic travelers still face friction when planning trips that feel personal, affordable, and culturally meaningful. Kalanava was conceived as a response to this gap. Rather than functioning as another booking tool, it explores how technology, sustainability, and culture can be connected into a single, cohesive travel experience.
This project was developed collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team. My role focused on product (UI/UX) design, with an emphasis on shaping meaningful end to end travel journeys.
Services
Scope
Client
Domestic tourism in Indonesia has declined due to overlapping challenges. Many travelers struggle to plan trips that fit their budget, interests, and limited time. Those who wish to explore ethnic or remote regions often face language barriers that prevent deeper cultural engagement.
At the same time, most existing travel platforms prioritize transactions over experience. They focus on booking efficiency, offer limited personalization, and provide little connection to local culture. This context led to a guiding question for the project: how might travel in Indonesia feel more personal, sustainable, and connected to the people and places behind it?
To explore this question, the team conducted research through surveys and interviews with domestic travelers, local guides, and tourism stakeholders. Several recurring patterns emerged.
Travelers wanted itineraries that aligned with their budget, schedule, and interests. They were looking for authentic cultural experiences rather than generic tourist routes. They also needed a single, reliable platform to plan, book, and manage their trips without switching between multiple tools.
These findings shaped Kalanava as both a digital product and a service concept, designed to connect technology with human interaction rather than replace it.
The problem is not a lack of motivation or capability, but the absence of a system that connects the right travelers with the right destinations.
Travel planning today is fragmented across many platforms and tools. Travelers move between websites and apps to research destinations, compare prices, read reviews, and book flights, accommodations, and activities separately. This process requires manual effort and forces users to assemble their trips piece by piece.
😢 Pain Point
This disjointed approach increases cognitive load and uncertainty. Travelers struggle with incomplete or unreliable information, difficulty creating itineraries that match their preferences and budget, and language barriers when exploring local or ethnic destinations. Managing multiple platforms often turns excitement into frustration before the trip even begins.
The analysis began by mapping the emotional journey of travelers. Many users felt inspired when imagining destinations, but became overwhelmed once planning started. Fragmented tools, unclear options, and too many decisions often drained initial excitement.
Kalanava was envisioned as a travel companion rather than a planner. Early explorations focused on simplicity, trust, and narrative. Travelers could explore destinations through interest based themes such as local heritage, nature escapes, or culinary journeys. The aim was to help users spend less time managing logistics and more time discovering experiences that felt relevant.
Every design decision followed a single principle: enable exploration by reducing cognitive load, not by adding more features.
A key turning point in the project was positioning artificial intelligence as the foundation of personalization rather than a standalone feature. The AI engine analyzed user preferences, travel constraints, and emerging trends to generate itineraries that felt tailored without being restrictive.
Beyond planning, AI supported translation features helped travelers navigate ethnic regions more comfortably. Recommendations surfaced lesser known destinations to encourage more sustainable tourism. These capabilities were integrated into a broader service flow that included real time updates, seamless booking, and community driven storytelling from local hosts.
The resulting experience was designed to feel intuitive and human, with technology working quietly in the background to support discovery rather than dominate it.
Early testing showed that both travelers and local tourism operators initially struggled with fragmented planning, unclear guidance, and too many decisions at once. This often led to hesitation and abandoned flows when moving from exploration to booking.
Kalanava addressed this by surfacing the most relevant actions at each stage of the journey. AI powered itinerary generation, interest based discovery, and contextual assistance helped users focus on what mattered without navigating multiple tools.
Impact:
SEQ scores ranged from 5.6 to 7, indicating easier core flows.
SUS score of 86.7, reflecting excellent overall usability
This project reinforced that meaningful design starts with empathy and intention. Technology alone does not create better experiences. What matters is how that technology aligns with people’s values, context, and motivations.
Working on Kalanava highlighted the importance of combining product thinking with service design. Travel is not a single interaction, but a sequence of moments that shape how people remember places and communities. The most valuable lesson was realizing that design can influence not only how people solve problems, but how they experience the world.
Kalanava became both a design exercise and a personal milestone in learning how to design systems that encourage curiosity, connection, and respect for local culture.
This project was developed collaboratively as part of a bootcamp team.
Special thanks to:
Alipa as UX Writer, Erwin as UI Designer, Sabiq as a UI/UX Designer, Yoanas as UI Designer, and Yolanda as UX Researcher, and Kak Jihan as a Mentor. Each role contributed to shaping Kalanava as a holistic product and service concept.
