XP Capsule: keeping the feeling after the boat docks

The challenge

Lobosonda was one of the first whale watching companies in Madeira and built its name on respect for wildlife. Its guides don't chase animals, they say upfront that the trip may not find any, and they explain the science as they go.

Guests trusted the brand, but the experience ended at the harbour. In a crowded market where most operators compete on volume, Lobosonda risked looking like one more tour.

Our approach

We started with the guests: who chooses Lobosonda, what they feel at sea, and what they keep afterwards.

• Guest interviews after their trips.
• Affinity mapping of the interview material, which became an insights report.
• Competitive analysis against other whale watching and marine experience companies in Madeira.
• Desk research on how contact with wildlife shapes wellbeing and conservation attitudes, and on co-creation.

What we found

The strongest moment of the trip is a feeling, not a sighting, and it fades on the walk back up the harbour. Guests told us the best part was the sense of connection, freedom and wonder at sea. Some already turned their own photos into prints for their homes.

• Respect is why they book. Guests chose Lobosonda because it doesn't chase animals.
• They arrive sceptical. What won them over was honesty, such as being told upfront they might not see anything.
• Science told as a story works. Guests valued facts shared in conversation by guides who clearly cared.
• Travel comes with guilt. Guests tried to offset their impact by choosing operators that share their values.

That led to the design question: how do we give guests back what they felt at sea, in a form they help make themselves?

The solution

We recast Lobosonda as an ocean conservation hub that turns visitors into advocates, and mapped a six touchpoint guest journey across digital, physical and on board moments. At its centre is the XP Capsule, a mobile web app that gives guests their trip back. It lets them:

• See and share their own trip's photos and route
• Make their own mementos, printed onto sustainable products such as postcards, prints and tote bags
• Learn about the species they met, filtered to their trip
• Add to a shared trip log with their own stories, photos and videos

We set the product concept, the MVP flows and the information architecture. After the first build, we ran a heuristic review and delivered revised flows, a UI component set and the front-end spec the developers worked from.

Where it stands

The XP Capsule went from a research finding to a working first build. Alongside it, the work produced an insights report and competitive analysis, a proposed brand positioning and communication strategy, and a partnership case for a premium camera brand. We defined how success would be measured before launch:

• Share of guests who open the XP Capsule after their trip
• Share of app users who order a memento
• Revenue from print-on-demand mementos
• Recommendation intent, repeat bookings and referrals