“Traveling With Migraine”
Condé Nast Traveler
Developed from a third-person perspective—with limited input from readers who actual cope with the condition—the majority of “traveling with migraine” content across the web lacked the perspective of lived experience. To fill that white space, Condé Nast Traveler created an online destination with input from actual migraine sufferers with a passion for travel that accurately reflected their common frustrations and offered actionable tactics that empowered them to hit the road again without worry.
Guided by insights gathered from their custom, 500-person survey, the Condé Nast Traveler team set out to create an immersive experience that addressed the recurring themes respondents entered—triggers and stressors, condition management while traveling, and top destinations for sufferers. Having established that framework, editorial and design teams set out to create a suite of resonant content housed within a highly visual and immersive destination to aggregate the elements in one place and drive user engagement.
Filling out the hub, eight articles radiated out from an embedded statistic that editors distilled from survey respondents (e.g., “76% said lack of or too much sleep was a trigger”). While each statistic revealed itself in a highly visual GIF, the longer form article accompanying it provided in-depth, expert advice (from both medical professionals and travel insiders) to address them. The selected themes covered every stage of the travel experience including pre-planning and packing, preventative measures while abroad, and coping mechanisms for unexpected onsets to equip readers with a holistic playbook for a more rewarding and memorable travel experience.
Punctuating the destination was a unique aural and visual experience that enlisted Minka Brooklyn, a community-centered and spiritually driven space for wellness, to address the top migraine trigger respondents referenced—stress. In a nearly 10-minute calming exercise for travelers, a soothing meditation guided them visually and vocally to combat the anxious moments of a journey. Whether stuck in traffic on their way to the airport or those nervous moments prior to takeoff, they could always access this resource and breathe deep. To extend its reach to target audiences, and in a first for Condé Nast Traveler, a partnership with United Airlines saw this video featured in headrest screens for travelers looking for a moment of Zen.
