Mindtrip AI
The Project
For many people, AI-powered travel planning is the first time they see AI as a tool for action, not just a chat. That's what excited me about this project, being able to bring that functionality and a refined experience to Visit Walnut Creek's website.
What I Did
I executed on this project end to end: from vendor collaboration, content buildout, testing, implementation, and launch. I also created the GTM content for the release, including the promotional video below and supported the press release creation.
The Problem
The production of our yearly visitor’s guides had become expensive, lengthy, and would be out of date quicker than it could be updated as businesses closed and new ones opened. The guide would be printed and distributed across the region but it read more like a directory than a guide, with large lists of places to visit that never felt personalized or curated.
The Solution
We looked for an evergreen solution and found Mindtrip AI. By introducing this technology our guide to the city became personalized to the visitor who can give context for what they’re looking for like a family friendly weekend getaway or a day of outdoor adventure. It also stayed up to date with its ability to fetch business listings from the web while allowing us to control how they appear if needed. As an added benefit, it cut costs compared to the printed guide it replaced.
Phase 1 Implementation: Testing and Content Buildout
In phase one of implementation I created a test environment and added Mindtrip’s HTML code. From here I tested the system with sample prompts and flagged issues. This included sending images to the content team for popular listings to ensure the best user experience upon launch. I also created guides and itineraries to showcase the best of Walnut Creek to experience on launch.
Cross-Platform Integration with Ripe
During phase one, I saw an opportunity to connect Mindtrip with Ripe, the booking engine software the site uses, so visitors could be routed directly to our booking site from their AI chat. Rather than needing to look elsewhere once they had a plan to visit Walnut Creek, they could take action right from the tool and remain in our ecosystem.
Phase 2 Implementation: Integration and Additional Touchpoints
Once I was happy with the responses the tool was providing and the content was looking polished I integrated the final HTML product as a slide out button globally on our site. The next step was adding additional touch points throughout the site to give people more options to enter the Mindtrip interface since people may not know what the slide out button was for on the site intuitively.
I added these integrations as code blocks on the home page and strategically throughout the site pages. I utilized Claude Code to assist me in creating buttons that were responsive, matched the site style, and animated on hover. This was a new task for me but I learned a lot from trial and error to integrate these code blocks from scratch. The blocks utilized Mindtrip tags that could open the planner as an empty chat, the guides and itinerary menu, a prefilled prompt that related to the content they were viewing, or many other customizable uses.
Takeaways
This project brought together vendor management, content strategy, front-end implementation, and cross-platform integration, all in one initiative. It pushed me to pick up new technical skills and reinforced how I work best: collaborating on direction, then executing. It's the kind of work I do best.
Contact
ayonchrisj@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/chrisayon