Nomi

Nomi helps independent travelers make confident decisions before, during, and after a trip.

Nomi is a map first iOS travel companion. It brings currency conversion, nearby ATMs and exchange services, itinerary planning, flight information, and travel records into a single app built around one trip. Travelers usually manage each of these in a separate app and piece the information together themselves. Nomi does that work for them. Plan where to go, understand money abroad, find a reliable place to exchange or withdraw, and keep a record of how the trip actually went.

Client

Independent Project

Year

2026

Project type

Mobile Product · iOS App

Credits

Hwang jaeha

Challenge

Every travel tool works well alone. The traveler does the connecting

Travelers check exchange rates in one app, search places in another, plan days in notes or spreadsheets, track flights separately, and store memories in a photo gallery. Each tool does its job. None of them knows about the others.

So a traveler can know today's exchange rate and still not know whether the nearby ATM is trustworthy,
whether a local price is fair, or where a saved place fits into the day. The missing piece was never information.
It was the link between decisions.

A traveler might know the current rate but not whether a nearby ATM is reliable, whether a price is reasonable, or how a saved spot fits into the rest of the day. Access to information was not the problem.

The gap sat between one decision and the next.

Research

The problem was not a lack of travel tools, but a lack of connected context

I reviewed currency apps, trip planners, map services, flight trackers, and expense tools to see how travelers
actually complete common tasks. Then I mapped the decisions they make before departure,
on the ground, and after returning home.

The research revealed three gaps

Money lacked location. Plans and actual movement drifted apart. Useful information required repeated input.

Before the trip

  • Saved places were scattered across maps, screenshots, and social media.

  • Flight details lived apart from the itinerary.

  • Daily plans gave little sense of geography.

  • The same information was entered into several apps.

During the trip

  • Exchange rates were hard to apply to real purchases.

  • Information about exchange services was inconsistent.

  • Planned places and actual routes drifted apart.

  • Memories and expenses lost their place and time.

How might we?

How might we tie money, places, and movement to one trip, so travelers can decide on the spot instead of switching between apps?

My role

I designed the product and shipped the iOS build myself

As the sole product designer, I took Nomi from problem definition through information architecture,
interaction and visual design, prototyping, SwiftUI implementation, and QA.

Building the MVP myself changed how I designed it. Location tracking, API reliability, data consistency, performance, privacy, and App Store requirements were constraints I had to design within from day one, not details to hand off later.

Key contributions

01

Analyzed travel and finance competitors.

02

Defined the end to end trip journey.

03

Designed currency conversion and the FX Map.

04

Built map first itinerary planning.

05

Linked plans, routes, and travel memories.

06

Automated flight ticket entry.

04

Built map first itinerary planning.

05

Linked plans, routes, and travel memories.

06

Automated flight ticket entry.

Key solutions

Three features, one trip behind them

Nomi ties financial decisions, itinerary planning, and actual travel activity to the same trip.

Instead of stacking unrelated features, I designed each one around what the trip already knows.
where the user is going, what they plan to do, and how they move. That shared thread is
what makes each feature useful at the moment it is needed.

  • Key Solution 01

    Money in context

    Nomi goes beyond basic conversion by pairing live rates and quick amounts with nearby financial services.
    The FX Map shows ATMs, banks, and exchange offices with distance, availability, fees, and directions.

    The question changes from "what is the rate?" to "where should I go, and is it worth the walk?"
    That is the decision travelers actually face.

    Design Principle

    Financial information should guide action, not just display numbers.

  • Key Solution 02

    Map-first itinerary planning

    Map-first itinerary planning

    Because the plan is spatial from the start, it stays realistic and is easy to adjust mid-trip when things change.

    Design Principle

    A plan you cannot see on a map is a plan you will have to fix on foot.

  • Key Solution 03

    From plan to travel record

    Nomi keeps planned routes and actual movement separate, then attaches expenses and memories
    to the places and times where they happened. Nothing has to be logged by hand.

    After the trip, the record shows how the journey actually unfolded, including where reality diverged from the plan. That honesty is what makes the record worth keeping.

    Design Principle

    The best travel journal is the one you never had to write.

Dashboard for writers

Outcome

A working iOS MVP, not a concept

01

Unified core travel features in one iOS MVP.

02

Designed four core travel journeys.

03

Automated flight lookup with three inputs.

04

Separated plans from actual routes.

05

Built a reusable design system.

Reflection

A useful travel product has to earn trust, not just look polished

The hardest part of this project was scope. Currency, maps, itineraries, tickets, route tracking, and memories could
each be a product of their own, and adding more features does not add usefulness. Nomi only held together
when every feature served the same trip and a clearly defined user journey.

Implementation taught me the second lesson. Data accuracy, permission timing, failure states, accessibility, privacy,
API limits, and App Store requirements are product decisions. Treating them as cleanup after the interface is
finished is how travel apps lose trust.

Next, I would validate the core loop, from creating a trip to using it on the ground, before expanding
into social or community features.

Next project

Artlier