Services
Brand Identity
UX/UI Design
Startup
Intro
Yama is a dual-sided marketplace that connects users to local guides offering unique experiences.
Yama provides activities that you may never have been able to experience.
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Challenge
(Insight from 2020) Individuals, friends, and families often do not know what to do for fun and find the process of finding experiences cumbersome (either at home or on vacation). The current solution is to do a Google search or do the taxing work of flipping through article after article or travel brochure after brochure...
Solution
How do we create a platform and brand around this market opportunity? Solution: create a company that addresses the market problem of finding experiences and things to do. Create an authentic, energized brand to get users and guides excited to become a Guide or go with a Guide on their experience. Finally, a place to find experiences near me or where I'm going!
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Logo Design
Although ‘Yama: 山’, is of Japanese origin, meaning ‘mountain’, the logo has a rich, Greek history. You can notice similarities between our logo and the Oracle of Delphi by looking at it from a top-down perspective. We took this as inspiration and simplified the design into a modern, meaningful logo.
The Oracle of Delphi is a sacred site in ancient Greece where people would go to gain direction and get guidance from the high priestess of Apollo. Yama is the modern-day version of the Oracle of Delphi.
You come to Yama to find something to enrich your life or maybe to find something to do. Yama will connect you to an experience that gives you the guidance you are looking for.
Starting with User Research
How do people feel?
User Interviews
For the interview protocol, we found people who are active, interested, experienced, and passionate about an adventurous lifestyle. Yama sought to find answers to the following questions:
Is there an obvious need for a platform like Yama?
Is there a way to adapt the Yama platform, to something more needed?
Do people want a more adventurous lifestyle?
How much money is someone willing to spend on an adventure?
How do people currently find things to do, either at home or when traveling?
Key Takeaways from Interviews
24/25 of our interviewees agreed that a service connecting them to unique experiences would be a positive influence in their life.
Individuals equated the comfort level of going on the experience with that of ‘getting in an Uber’. Comfort level went up depending on the number of good reviews on the Guide/Experience.
Currently, to find experiences and unique things to do, users mainly use online search (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor) and friend recommendations.
How big is this 'experience' market?
Industry Research & Competitive Analysis
The total Addressable Market for Experiences is a striking $1.4 trillion. This figure is based on an Experiences market report from research firm Euromonitor. It includes $239 billion in recreational leisure spent by tourists and another $1.1 trillion in non-travel-related recreational spend. The categories include leisure, recreation, and food service.
Market Competitors: Airbnb, GetYourGuide, Viator, TripAdvisor, and REI.
Airbnb Grew from 500 experiences in 2016 to 40,000 in 2019 — Resulting in 175 million in revenue. Successful competition further affirms the need for an 'experience' market.
Next, Brand Strategy
Target Audience
~43 years old, estimated with ($866 to $1,334) disposable income to spend on experiences. Family and friends are important to them; a desire for adventure comes to a close second. Values a life rich in memories: "Life is short, I like to embrace the present moment".
Designing to Connect to Target Audience
Thinking about why our target market uses Yama?
They enjoy searching for experiences, they want to be inspired to be spontaneous, want to be influenced by others and see what is out there in terms of experiences
They want to manage the perception others have of them, which means doing cool things in their life through Yama
They have a deep desire to do more in their life and participate in new experiences. Thrive off of learning and enjoying time with others
Therefore the branding should touch on these deep human desires and emotions through advertising to bring awareness of Yama Experiences to the target market or niche.
Brand Mission — Yama is pursuing a more accessible world for those who want to reach out of their comfort zone, explore new hobbies, or create new experiences. Yama enables people to foster a life well lived.
Brand Values — Spontaneity, uniqueness in all facets of the business and life, accessibility of experiencing a new activity or hobby, satisfying curiosity, and desire for new experiences, trust, community, and encouragement of positive growth of one’s self.
Brand Tone of Voice — Confident, safe, excited, focused on action, with a fun and creative view of life. Uses action words.
Color Choices — Vibrant green touches on the spontaneity value and hints at the color of growth and life. Dark colors provide a clean feeling and modern design, that comes with the perception of cool creativity. Overall, users will feel intrigued by how we want them to feel about new experiences.
Platform Design
Our original plan was to build the dual platform on an app. In Adobe XD, Demetri and I designed wireframes, created a prototype, and tested it with users. We updated based on feedback and brought our final design to development teams for an estimate. These cost estimates were expensive, even the MVP. We simply couldn't afford it. So, we pivoted to creating a website.
Once again, we designed the platform in Adobe XD. Once again, we went through the process of finding a developer, only to hit another wall. Custom development seemed too large for a small budget. Opting for a faster site launch of the MVP, we decided to pivot to build the site in Wix ourselves. Given the Wix platform design and functional limitations, we applied our XD planned design in the best way we could. The development timeline was cut in half, and the budget was reasonable. It was a success! We even received $5,000 in startup funding from Michigan State University (Burgess Hatch Program). The result was a working, MVP. We could now move on to finding guides to host experiences on our LIVE platform, 'Yama Experiences'.
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I would tell you to visit the live website but,
We are no longer operating due to pivoting after we found the real value of this startup idea wasn't the business idea itself, but rather the TEAM. So, we decided to what we were good at: starting, designing, and helping businesses. We became a small design studio, 'YOSH CREATIVE STUDIO'.
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YOSH Creative Studio
Nikko Wood — Operations and Supply Chain Graduate, University of Utah Graduate. Exceptionally skilled at leading, finding opportunity, and creating efficient systems. Currently a project manager at Northrop Grumman.
Demetri Zervos — UX Major Graduate, Michigan State University. Talented in Videography, Photography and Editing. Creative mind, questioner, and visionary. Currently a videographer and editor working with Gimbalgod.
Bella Wood — Creative Advertising Graduate, Michigan State University. Designer skilled in website design, branding, and graphic design. Currently an Art Director at a New York advertising agency, Medical Knowledge Group.
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Journey Overview & Key Takeaways
I learned starting a business is hard, but rewarding. "You get out what you put in." Overall, co-founding this startup was an experience of a lifetime. I'm immensely grateful for my team and our effort in making this a reality.
Some stats:
Onboarded 7 passionate Yama Guides
Drove revenue of $400 on the first booked canyoneering experience.
Created a reel/video and social media campaign:
Gained a following of 105 users and reached an audience of 1,584 accounts, with 15 website visits, 25 shares, 13 comments, and 1 save.
The reel was boosted over 2 days and the targeted location was in Salt Lake City, UT.
Overall, not only did we net positive, but we learned a great deal about how much effort, adaptability, and endurance it takes to start and run a business from just an idea. That's the best outcome ever.
All Works
