Tripcompanion
Creating a compelling UI design with visual branding for an AI-Driven travel app
Context
Tripcompanion is an AI-driven travel app from an early-stage startup. Travellers describe their plans in their own words, and the app suggests the popular spots and hidden gems that fit them. Around that sits a community layer, where travellers rate places, share their experiences and keep a profile of the spots and routes they've visited.
I joined as UI designer next to UX freelancer Bianca Brandner, who owned the user flows and wireframes, and worked directly with the founder.
Problem
The flows existed, but only as a mix of sketches and screenshots of other apps. There was no interface yet and no design system to build one from. What the brand did have was a clear character: a fictional travel companion. The job was to turn loose wireframes into a product that felt intuitive and on-brand on every screen, while the product itself was still taking shape.
Process
I translated the wireframes into high-fidelity screens and built a reusable component system alongside them, so every new screen started from the same parts instead of from scratch. Next to the UI work I brought in my own UX ideas and tested visual directions with Bianca. The companion became the thread through the app. It greets users on the splash screen, leads the onboarding and returns as the voice of the AI when it asks follow-up questions and serves recommendations. That turned a recommendation engine into something that feels like a guide.
The founder built a first version from the designs and tested it with real travellers. I then reviewed the build against the designs and the test findings. Where the build had drifted from the system, I flagged it.
Proposal
A complete app UI across four core areas. In Discover, a map and an AI chat work together: users type something like "a spring holiday with my 8-year-old, somewhere in Europe" and get a curated set of destinations with must-sees and hidden gems. Saved collects what they like. Community lets travellers rate attractions and read each other's experiences. Profile shows the spots visited, routes taken and hidden gems claimed. Underneath sits the component system that keeps it consistent and gives the build one source to work from.
Result
Tripcompanion went from sketches and screenshots to a working first version in the hands of real travellers.
The design held up well enough to build and test on, and the review round turned what testing surfaced into a sharper, more consistent second iteration of the interface.
