TRIPUP · 2026 · CONCEPT APP
journeys
clickable steps
Overview
Group trips run on five apps at once: plans in a chat, dinner argued in a thread, the bill in a notes app. I designed TripUp, one shared space per trip where the group plans, decides together and settles up, so the organiser does less, not more.
Role
Timeline
Responsibilities
Contents
01
The bet. If voting and paying happen where the trip lives, the organiser stops chasing people.
The scenario. Four friends, one long weekend in Lisbon.
Ari, the organiser. Sets up the trip, starts polls and pays the big bills. Wants decisions fast and money back without chasing.
Ren, the late joiner. Not on TripUp yet. Joins from a link, votes from the lock screen and pays their share.
Jo and Mie, the group. Vote when pinged and pay how they like: Apple Pay, Wise or cash.
Three journeys cover the weekend:
Plan and invite. Ari sets up Lisbon and gets Ren in with one link.
Decide dinner. The group picks a restaurant before 18:00 with a poll on the trip.
Split, settle and close. Ari scans the bill, everyone pays their share and the trip closes with a recap.
It works if polls close before their deadline and the group is settled up within 48 hours of getting home.
02
From references to a clickable prototype in five steps. Pan and zoom the Figma file below: references, wireflows and every final screen.
References. Key screens from apps that already solve each piece: Uber Eats and Glovo for maps, Navan for receipts, Splitwise for splitting, Wise for inviting people.
Wireflows. Paper sketches first, then 41 low-fi screens in 8 sections, cut to 20 screens in 3 journeys: the three moments where group trips stall.
Visual direction. iOS 26 Liquid Glass: photo-led trip spaces, a glass tab bar, role colours and very little copy.
Coded prototype. Built in HTML with Claude Code: 31 steps with two phones in sync, so you see what Ari does and what Ren sees at the same moment.
Iterate. About 20 review rounds, each change made in the prototype and checked on both phones.
Designing with Claude
Claude worked across Figma, code and this page. I set the rules and made the calls.
01
Spec before screens
A PM and tech-lead spec listed what the first poll got wrong before any pixel moved.
02
Borrow proven patterns
Claude walked every step against five reference apps. 13 patterns went in.
03
Feedback becomes memory
When I reverted a change, it became a saved rule, so no later session undid it.
04
Two phones, one state
One HTML file runs Ari’s and Ren’s phones in sync, so each action lands on the other phone.
05
An agent reviews the case
A second agent read this page as a hiring manager. Its notes cut the claims I couldn’t back up.
03
iOS 26 Liquid Glass. Photos set the mood, colour carries meaning.
Colour. Four roles, each with one job: terracotta for actions and polls, azulejo blue for places, ochre for time, coral only for what needs attention now.
Type. SF Pro, with Inter on the web. One heavy display size for the trip name and a tight iOS scale under it.
Icons. Lucide line icons tinted by the same roles, in a glass tab bar with no labels.
04
01 The organiser does less
02 Decide where you are
03 Money follows the receipt
04 Fewest words
05
Ari sets up Lisbon and gets Ren in. Ari opens the trip, adds people with one search and sends Ren an invite link. Ren signs up with Apple or Google, and Ari approves from the lock screen.
Decisions
Optional approval over required. Required approval slowed every invite for a risk most friend groups don’t have.
Invites go through the apps people already use: WhatsApp, Messages, AirDrop.
One search covers people in the trip, friends on TripUp and phone contacts.
06
The group picks a restaurant before 18:00. Ari adds three places from the map and sets a poll. The group votes on the trip, Ren breaks a tie from the lock screen, and the winner drops into tonight’s plan.
Decisions
Photo rows over result bars. People pick a place by how it looks, not by a percentage. Bars were tried and dropped.
Everyone sees the same poll card. Only the admin gets Close now.
A 12-hour dial, inspired by the iOS sleep timer, sets when the poll opens and closes in one gesture.
07
After dinner, the bill gets split and paid. Ari scans the receipt, fixes a price and takes Ren and Mie off the wine. Ren pays with Apple Pay, Mie pays cash, and Ari closes the trip with a recap.
Decisions
Simplified debts over exact pairs. 3 payments instead of 6. The cost: you may pay someone you didn’t share that bill with.
Balances come from the actual bills, so editing a price or adding a payer changes who owes whom.
Cash needs the receiver’s confirmation. Digital payments settle on their own.
Closing early is allowed: pay links keep working after the trip closes.
08
Real. The flows, the voting and the money math: editable receipts, several payers, simplified debts.
Simulated. Reading the receipt, the payments, and the other three people.
01 · TEST
Test with 5 groups
One real trip each. Watch where they fall back to the group chat.
02 · MEASURE
Time to settle up
Target: everyone paid within 48 hours of getting home.
03 · GROW
Plans beyond dinner
Bookings and day plans, using the same poll and plan flow.
OPEN QUESTIONS
