Community recommendations
Destinations shared by travelers and locals, each with photos, tips, tags and contributor info.
Earlier work · Travel
Travel recommendations you can actually trust.
ExploreTogether is a crowdsourced travel platform that helps people discover authentic destinations through community-driven recommendations, designed around trust, simplicity and exploration.
The problem
Travel discovery is dominated by ads, SEO articles and influencer content. Travelers struggle to answer simple questions: Is this place worth visiting? Are these recommendations real? Is it safe and accessible? So they spend hours jumping between Instagram, blogs and Google Maps.
Research
12 interviews with frequent travelers, a competitive analysis of TripAdvisor, Google Maps, Instagram and Airbnb Experiences, and behavioral mapping of travel planning. Three patterns stood out:
- Discovery happens socially: through Instagram, TikTok and friends, not travel apps.
- Trust is inconsistent: people question sponsored content, influencer promotions and fake reviews.
- People save constantly: across saved posts, map pins and notes apps, all fragmented.
Constraints
No large travel database at launch, limited moderation and a small development team. So the design focused on simple contribution flows and trust signals instead of complex algorithms.
The solution
Smart filters
Filter by vibe, budget, accessibility and safety to narrow options fast.
Save lists
Lists like “Mexico trip” or “Hidden beaches” replace scattered saves across apps.
Trust signals
Contributor reputation scores, verified visits and community reporting.
Validation & learnings
Usability testing with 6 users showed people loved photo-first exploration and that trust signals increased confidence, but the contribution flow needed fewer steps. Iterations simplified submission, improved filter visibility and enhanced contributor profiles.
Community platforms have to balance openness with trust, and people only contribute when it’s frictionless and rewarding.
Next case studyEvent planning where communication is the product.