The Itinerate deck is not a full business pitch but a dedicated product walkthrough. It utilizes a 14-slide sequence to illustrate the user journey of 'Kim' as she discovers venues and builds a group itinerary. The interface relies heavily on familiar mobile patterns, specifically a swipe-based discovery mechanism (left for no, right for yes, up for favorites) applied to local bars and events like 'The Daily Pint' and 'Venice Art Crawl.' The deck excels at showing, rather than telling, how group coordination works through a shared chat and voting system. However, as a standalone document, it…
Key takeaways
- The deck focuses exclusively on the user experience (UX) and product flow, omitting all business and financial data (Slide 1).
- The discovery interface uses a Tinder-style swipe mechanic for venues, with red 'X' for rejection and green checkmarks for interest (Slides 3-4).
- A 'Favorites' screen categorizes saved activities into segments like Hot Air Balloon Tours and Scuba Diving (Slide 6).
- The app includes a granular search filter for date, time, price range ($ to $$$$), and proximity (up to 15 miles) (Slide 9).
- Itineraries are built chronologically, showing walking distances between venues, such as a '5 minute walk' between Gjelina and Venice Art Crawl (Slide 10).
- The product features a 'College Friends' group chat to facilitate collaborative decision-making on the schedule (Slide 13).
- Social integration is highlighted via a mock-up of a Facebook post showing a shared schedule on 'Itinerate' (Slide 14).
- The deck uses a consistent persona, 'Kim,' to anchor the narrative of planning a Friday night out in Santa Monica (Slides 2-14).
The UX-First Approach: A Product Walkthrough
The document titled "UX Portion of Pitch Deck" for a company apparently named Itinerate (based on Slide 14) is a specialized subset of a fundraising deck. It does not attempt to sell the market opportunity or the team's pedigree. Instead, it focuses entirely on the product's utility and user interface. For founders, this serves as a masterclass in how to present a mobile app's 'happy path' without cluttering the slides with excessive text.
Slides 1-5: The Discovery Loop
Slide 1 introduces the section with the title "The User Experience" and four circular profile photos. These photos likely represent the target demographic rather than the team, as they are later used to demonstrate social features. Slide 2 introduces our primary persona, Kim , and shows the 'Discover' screen featuring a venue called 'The Daily Pint' in Santa Monica. The UI is clean, displaying a photo, neighborhood, category, price point, and a link to the website.
Slides 3, 4, and 5 demonstrate the core interaction model: the swipe. Slide 3 shows a left swipe (red 'X') to reject a venue. Slide 4 shows a right swipe (green check) to save a venue. Slide 5 shows an upward swipe (gold star) to favorite a venue. This is a direct lift from dating app mechanics, applied here to local discovery. By using large hand icons to indicate gestures, the deck makes the functionality immediately obvious to an investor without requiring a live demo.
Slides 6-9: Organization and Filtering
Slide 6 displays the "Favorites" screen. It organizes saved items into large, image-heavy blocks like 'Hot Air Balloon Tour' and 'Scuba Diving.' This slide suggests the app is intended for more than just bar-hopping, extending into activities and tours. Slide 7 provides a summary view of the three swipe actions (X, Check, Star) side-by-side, reinforcing the simplicity of the input method.
Slide 8 and 9 transition from discovery to logistics. Slide 8 shows Kim tapping the "Create an Itinerary" button. Slide 9 reveals the search and filter parameters. The user can select a date (Friday, Aug 21st, 2014), a time range, a price level (selecting three out of four dollar signs), and a proximity radius (15 miles from current location). This slide is crucial as it proves the app has the back-end logic to handle specific user constraints beyond just random discovery.
Slides 10-12: The Itinerary Builder
Slides 10 and 11 showcase the output of the planning process. The "Itinerary" screen for Friday 08/27 shows a vertical timeline. It includes 'Gjelina' (6:00pm - 7:30pm), 'Venice Art Crawl' (8:00pm - 11:00pm), and 'The Daily Pint' (11:30pm - 2:00am). A key UX detail here is the "5 minute walk" indicator between stops, showing that the app calculates travel time between venues. Slide 11 shows how a user can tap an 'info' icon to see a description of the event, such as the Venice Art Crawl being a community event showcasing local art.
Slide 12 demonstrates the flexibility of the itinerary. It shows a swipe gesture on a specific time slot, allowing the user to swap 'Gjelina' for 'Salts Cure.' This interaction proves that the itinerary isn't a static list but a dynamic planning tool that allows for last-minute changes.
Slides 13-14: Social Coordination and Viral Loops
Slide 13 introduces the "College Friends" group chat. This is where the four personas from Slide 1 reappear. The screen shows a threaded conversation where Zach asks for Saturday plans, Kim adds Gjelina to the schedule, and Kyle adds The Daily Pint. This slide communicates that Itinerate is a collaborative tool, not just a personal one. It solves the 'where should we go?' debate by centralizing the suggestions and the schedule in one chat thread.
Finally, Slide 14 shows the external social proof. It features a mock-up of a Facebook post: "Kim shared a schedule on Itinerate." The post displays the visual timeline of the night. This is a strategic inclusion in a pitch deck because it hints at a low-cost user acquisition strategy through organic social sharing. If users share their 'cool' plans, their friends are likely to download the app to join or replicate the experience.
What Works in This Deck
The primary strength of this deck is its visual clarity . By using a consistent background color and high-fidelity mobile mock-ups, the founders allow the product to speak for itself. The use of a single persona (Kim) and a specific location (Santa Monica/Venice) makes the use case feel grounded and real rather than theoretical. The inclusion of logistical details, like walking times between venues, shows a deep understanding of the user's pain points when planning a night out.
What Is Missing
As this is explicitly labeled as the "UX Portion," it is missing every standard business slide. There is no Market Size (TAM/SAM/SOM) , which is vital for an app in the crowded travel and social space. There is no Competitor Analysis —how does this differ from Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Foursquare? Most importantly, there is no Business Model . It is unclear if the app intends to make money through affiliate bookings, sponsored venue placements, or data monetization. Finally, there is no Ask ; we don't know how much capital the founders are seeking or what milestones that capital will achieve.
Founder's Playbook: What to Copy
Show, Don't Tell: Instead of writing a bulleted list of features, use sequential screenshots to walk the investor through a specific task. · Use Personas: Naming a user (Kim) and giving them a specific goal (planning a Friday night) makes the product's value proposition much easier to digest. · Highlight Micro-Interactions: The inclusion of the '5-minute walk' detail and the swipe-to-swap gesture shows that the product is thought-out at a granular level. · Demonstrate Social Loops: If your product is social, show exactly how it looks when shared on other platforms. This helps investors visualize your growth strategy.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary problem Itinerate is trying to solve?
- Based on the UX flow, the app addresses the friction of group event planning. It combines venue discovery (swiping), logistical planning (calculating walking times between stops), and group consensus (chat and shared itineraries) into a single mobile interface, aiming to replace fragmented communication across multiple apps.
- What business model is presented in the deck?
- There is no business model presented in these 14 slides. The deck is strictly a product walkthrough. Potential revenue streams like lead generation for venues or premium planning features are not mentioned, as the focus remains entirely on the user interface and social features.
- How does the app handle venue discovery?
- Itinerate uses a card-stack UI where users see a photo, location, category (e.g., 'Dive Bar'), and price level. Users swipe left to dismiss, right to save, or up to favorite. This gamified approach is intended to make the initial 'discovery' phase of planning more engaging than traditional list-based search.
- Does the deck include information about the founding team?
- No. While Slide 1 shows four small profile photos under the title 'The User Experience,' these appear to represent user personas rather than the founding team. There are no names, titles, or professional backgrounds provided for the creators of the company.
- What is the 'Itinerate' social sharing strategy?
- The deck suggests a viral growth loop through social sharing. Slide 14 shows a mock-up of a Facebook post where a user shares their specific schedule. This indicates the founders intend for the product to gain visibility by allowing users to broadcast their social plans to their wider networks.
