Improving Agoda's hotel booking experience — UX/UI Case Study
In this case study, I will discuss my learnings while designing a seamless hotel booking experience for Agoda users.
Let’s get familiar with Agoda
Agoda is an online travel agency catering primarily to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region. Agoda facilitates reservations for lodging, flights, ground transportation, and activities. It is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings.
Why Redesign?
Agoda has over 5 Cr app downloads and over 13L reviews and not to mention a 4.5 overall rating well despite being awesome recently the user of the app stated some negative reviews so I decided to look into it and found some fundamental problems that can be fixed with the help of redesign.
Understanding the problem space
- As I set out to redesign the Agoda app, I knew it was crucial for me to understand Agoda’s usability challenges.
- To achieve this, I conducted a thorough evaluation of the app’s design using established usability principles.
- During this process, I uncovered a few issues that needed attention, such as poor navigation, a bad user interface, inconsistent icons, bad spacing and layout. These factors significantly disrupted the user experience.
- On top of that, the search feature wasn’t delivering good results, making it hard for users to find the hotel they were looking for.
To valid these problems I went to check some recent reviews on Agoda mobile app and look what I found…
I also studied the user reviews to understand their experiences better and I discovered common themes and pain points, such as difficulties in applying and redeeming coupons, frustrations with the user interface, non-transparency about the hotel price, and challenges with the payment checkout.
This information helped me validate the issues I identified earlier and gave me a clearer picture of what needed improvement in the redesign process.
User Flow
With a thorough understanding of user needs and expectations in mind, I created a flow to map out the best possible journey for Agoda app users.
This also helped me to pinpoint areas of difficulty and discover opportunities for enhancement.
Let’s take a moment to recall the challenges faced by Agoda users: Difficulties in applying and redeeming coupons, frustrations with the user interface, non-transparency about the hotel price, and challenges with the payment checkout. Now, let’s explore the solutions I implemented to address these pain points and create a seamless user experience.
1. Hotel Discoverability
In my quest to help users discover hotels easily, I prioritized improving the rating and sorting options functionality.
By adding auto-suggestion and camera features, along with recommended products on the home screen and refined sorting options, users could effortlessly find what they were looking for.
Improved Sorting & Star Rating Options
- The first look at these options gives the following indication that the price might include pricing filters
- The Sort option might have other options but not anything specific. Therefore, a user has to click on it to actually know what will be in the sort option just like filters
2. Revamped the user interface
A user-friendly interface was implemented for users to have a good experience while navigating the Agoda app.
The user interface underwent significant improvements, addressing key aspects such as spacing, layout, decluttering the hotel’s card and description, icon uniformity, and the use of high-definition images featuring the hotel and its rooms. Now, let’s explore the journey from the previous interface to the new solutions in detail.
i) Hotel explore Page
You Must Be Thinking 🤔 ….How did I finalize the Hotel card?
Here is the full iteration process of the hotel card:
ii) Hotel Description Page
Here is the sneak peak of the hotel description page 😉
Now, let’s explore the journey from the previous interface to the new solutions in detail.
The problem of navigating a specific section doesn’t get solved here. So, I added a new feature…
When the user scrolls up on the screen three navigation options show up i.e., About, Reviews, and Nearby
Once the user is sure about the hotel they want to stay in, it’s time for them to choose a type of room they want to stay in
iii) Choose a Room
The previous design for choosing a room has few problems
- The room shown above is one but the prices shown below are multiple.
- This leads the user to feel confused about which option to choose
- The number of guests is already entered by them before exploring the hotel so what’s the use of showing them price variations due to the guest count?
Instead, I created a screen where the user can choose the type of room they want to stay in
After selecting a room type, a full description of the room can be seen by the user and they can make the instant booking on the same screen right away.
iv) Room Details and Booking
Details about the new screen
You have made it to the end!
The process of redesigning the Agoda app was an experience filled with valuable lessons. It taught me the importance of empathy in understanding user needs and frustrations, which greatly influenced my design choices.
These lessons will shape my future design endeavors and help me create impactful and business-driven user experiences.
Looking to collaborate on exciting design projects or have any questions?
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