Tripaneer - Search Experience
I led the redesign of Tripaneer’s search experience to address decision paralysis caused by high content density and inconsistent filtering within an existing marketplace architecture.
Sole Designer
B2C
End-to End Design
Figma
Miro
Research
Notion
Travel Marketplace Platform
IA
Interaction Pattern
Role: Product Designer
Scope: End-to-end redesign of search, filtering, and discovery flows, focusing on IA restructuring and interaction patterns to reduce cognitive load and enable faster, clearer decision-making.
Timeline: 10-12 weeks
Impact
Reduced cognitive load
fewer steps to reach listings
Improved navigation clarity
clearer category understanding
Better intent alignment
users start with context, not filters
Challenge
Make the user understand and Search from a diverse Supply
Decision paralysis + inefficient exploration
Observation
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Search behaved like filtering instead of intent entry
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Categories were unclear and overlapping
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Filtering required too much upfront decision-making
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No guidance existed for users who didn’t know what to search
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Users defaulted to random browsing instead of structured search
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Filters forced early commitment before understanding options
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Category hierarchy was not reflected in the UI
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Search lacked contextual support
Constraints
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Large legacy marketplace structure
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Fixed backend filtering logic
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Limited development time
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Multiple product categories with different behaviors
Solution
"Contextual" Search Bar
Reframed search into structured entry points:
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Introduced category tabs (Trips, Trainings, Retreats, etc.)
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Reduced dependency on filters
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Guided users through intent-based discovery
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Allowed exploration before narrowing
Competitor Research - Intent Models
Search is not input → it’s guidance.
Competitor analysis showed that users respond better when choice is structured progressively rather than presented all at once.
Market leaders don’t rely on raw filtering, they:
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Guide users through intent-based entry (Airbnb style)
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Reduce cognitive load with progressive disclosure
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Support exploration before commitment
Strategy & Constraints
Instead of expanding filtering options, I restructured search around intent-driven categories, allowing users to move from broad exploration to detailed filtering only when needed.Steps 1–4 focus on maintaining momentum by delivering incremental improvements while technical limitations are being addressed.Low-effort, lower-risk features are intentionally prioritized to optimize time, show visible progress, and refine the experience in parallel with backend restructuring.
The trade-off
Some high-impact changes are delayed, but overall progress continues without blocking on technical dependencies.
Information Architecture
Users can understand “what exists” before choosing
Reorganized the experience:
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Clear category separation
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Flattened unnecessary hierarchy
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Integrated categories directly into search
The new structure prioritizes high-level intent categories before exposing detailed filters, reducing early cognitive load while preserving depth for advanced users.
This clarified how to integrate them into the search experience with core categories as main tabs,
Context Aware
Copy within each search bar section adapts to the active tab to reinforce context, guide user intent, and confirm their current choice.
This ensures users understand what they are searching for and why, while receiving immediate feedback aligned with the selected experience type.
Search with clarity
Search suggestions, visual cues, and contextual copy guide users toward relevant results without requiring precise input, supporting both exploratory and goal-driven behaviors.
