Designing for the Skies: UX Insights from Ryanair
User Experience:
User experience is a make or break for any business. There’s a reason companies like Amazon and Apple are so successful. There are many factors, but no one says that these companies are “difficult” to use. Anyone and everyone can easily use Amazon or an Apple product. Ease is a necessity for any industry and business. This is no different from the airline industry, and more specifically, Ryanair.
Ryanair:
Ryanair was founded in 1984. The company is based out of Dublin, Ireland. It is known for its low-cost flights. It is not a luxurious airline by any means. On their own TikTok page, they often make fun of how you have to pay for every single thing the flight offers.
Ryanair Website UX:
Ryanair, although known for its low quality, has a high-quality website. The first thing that caught my eye was the big meme in the middle of the page. It honestly made me laugh. The man has a girl right next to him but is in love with the Ryanair plane ticket. This type of meme is very popular and it’s smart that they used it. Especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner. Another thing that made the website high quality was the ease of booking a flight, car, hotel, and events/activities. In the past people used to go to travel agencies to help them, but now companies make it extremely easy to do it yourself. Ryanair is no different. Lastly, I really enjoy how Ryanair has “guides” for certain popular cities across Europe. When you click on these guides you are sent to another website that tells you where to go, what to do, experiences, and more. They make it a one-stop shop for travelers. Overall, Ryanair’s website user experience is great. They are comical, easy to use/navigate, and give great planning ideas. The website really is a one-stop shop for flights.
Ryanair App UX:
To start, Ryanair has a 4.6-star rating with 51 thousand reviews on the app store. This gave me high expectations for how the app would function and look. Upon opening the app I realized it has a very similar vibe to the website. The content is identical but shuffled around to look better on an app. Notice, how you have to buy the food on the flights, showing just how cheap their flights actually are. Regardless of the quality of the flights, the app is very easy to use. I think there should be a search function that applies to more than just flight bookings. Currently, you have to scroll to find things that are easier to find on the website. A search function would just make that faster. Other than that it is very similar to the website. I think Ryanair’s app user experience and overall user experience are comical, easy to use, and give great ideas for travel plans. The app did not disappoint and met my initial expectations from the reviews. A very positive experience as a whole.
