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PROJECT_04 / Collaborative planning

TripScheduler

From a colour-coded spreadsheet to a shared travel planner.

Role
Planner & application creator
Domain
Travel planning
Timeline
2026 — ongoing
Type
Personal project

STACKExcel · Web application · Calendar & itinerary views

01

Overview

The project began with a practical need: make a holiday easier to plan. A colour-coded Excel schedule brought travel, stays, meals, and activities into a clear daily view.

My contribution

I created the original spreadsheet schedules and developed the online planner around the same daily-planning workflow, with shared trips and companion discussion.

02

The problem

As plans grew, the schedule needed a place for travel companions, discussion, maps, and expenses. Keeping those details alongside each trip makes it easier for everyone to understand the plan.

03

Planning approach

The online tool keeps the familiar visual schedule while adding a trip collection and shared planning. Calendar and list views offer two ways to read the same itinerary.

  1. 01Trip collection
  2. 02Daily itinerary
  3. 03Companions & discussion
  4. 04Maps / expenses / download

Technical decisions

Keep the daily view familiar

The spreadsheet already made the shape of a day easy to understand; that remains central to the online planner.

Offer a simpler list

A list itinerary is useful for checking the next activity without reading the entire calendar.

04

From spreadsheet to website

Examples of the original planning approach and the online version. Click any image for a larger view.

The original Excel planner

The Original Trip Planner

A short trip planned in Excel, with colours separating travel, meals, stays, and things to do. Names shown are fictional.

Planning a Longer Holiday

The same approach used for a longer holiday, keeping each day easy to follow. Names shown are fictional.

The online planner

All Your Trips

One place to find upcoming adventures and revisit past journeys. Names shown are fictional.

A Day at a Glance

See how travel and activities fit into the day. Names shown are fictional.

An Easy-to-Read Itinerary

A simple list of the day’s plans, ready to check as you go. Names shown are fictional.
05

Design challenges

01

Keeping a busy day readable

Problem
Travel, meals, stays, and activities compete for attention.
Approach
Retain a clear daily schedule and provide a list view alongside it.
Result
Make the same plan readable in two formats.
02

Bringing people into the plan

Problem
A personal spreadsheet leaves conversations and decisions elsewhere.
Approach
Keep companions and discussion alongside the trip.
Result
Give the group a shared place to plan.
06

Result & lessons

TripScheduler brings upcoming and past trips, daily schedules, companions, maps, expenses, and a downloadable itinerary into one place.

  • Start with the parts of an existing workflow that already work well.
  • A shared plan needs the conversation as well as the schedule.
  • Different reading views can make the same information more useful.