Trip Advisor: Usability Evaluation and App Redesign
The Objective
The goals for this usability evaluation are to:
- Analyze the Trip Advisor app to brainstorm areas of friction for users
- Conduct usability tests to confirm pain points or uncover new ones
- Design new wireframes to resolve major pain points
Before diving into the usability testing, I have compared three different travel applications (Trip Advisor, Kayak and Skyscanner) and have chosen the one that performs better according to my selected user type, Trip Advisor.
User Type
Young couple — 20–40 y/o (2)
They decide to go on a 4-night trip to Amman, Jordan. They have both saved enough for the tickets and are planning to save as much as possible for the next 6 months to do this trip. They want to be efficient and have everything they need organised to enjoy at 100% while there. They are also aiming to spend at least one night in Petra, the beautiful archeological city.
Why Trip Advisor?
Trip advisor is one of the world’s largest travel and restaurant platforms. It assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. Trip advisor provides the opportunity to browse through hundreds of travel destinations by comparing prices on transportation and accommodation options while also providing entertainment recommendations based on the selected travel destination.
Initial Observations
I had a good first impression of Trip Advisor; it has a coherent design with appealing icons and consistency in color. It also provides a wide display of images that portray reality and attract users, a good marketing strategy!
However, while using the application more, I figured out many weaknesses that need updating. For example, it was challenging to figure out how to find an alternative travel option than flying, in fact there is no option for that at all! It was also unclear how to book package deals (travel and hotel); the option only appears after choosing a flight or choosing a hotel separately.
Usability Testing
Having these impressions in mind, I set out to conduct usability testing for 2 young couples, so 4 individuals. I have specified multiple tasks for each individual to conduct:
Tasks:
- Book a flight to Amman based on shortest and best connection.
- Book a 4 or 5-star hotel including breakfast.
- Book a tour to visit Petra with a possibility to spend a night there.
Results
These are the results obtained from the usability testing on 4 individuals.
Pain Points
I chose two main pain points that arose from the usability testing on these 4 individuals.
Pain point #1: 3/4 individuals were not able to sort the flight according to the requirement. The problem is that the “filter/sort button” is only interactive once all the flight options are loaded. Unfortunately, the yellow bar showing that the flights are loading, is not very apparent which pushes the user to click on the first flight option or on the popping option of “Book Flight + Hotel & Save”. The latter is clicked on by 4/4 individuals during the usability testing.
Pain Point #2: 3/4 individuals failed to search for a hotel with the option “including breakfast”. Although on the hotel booking page the “filter” botton is obvious, once in the filters’ page, options are a bit too hidden. Filter options are categorized under titles but only visible once clicking on the title. This often takes the user too long to find or he/she gives up before digging deeper into the options.
Solutions and Prototypes
Solution for pain point #1: I have moved the option to book a package deal (flight+hotel) to the main page of the application. By that, users are less distracted when booking ONLY for a flight or a hotel and are given the chance to search for a good deal from the beginning. I also changed the “filter/sort button” into being interactive at all times, even if the flights are still loading. In addition to the existing yellow loading bar, I have added a text that indicates more flights are being searched for.
Solution for pain point #2: Since the filter button is quite visible, I only had to fix the visibility of the filter options. At the beginning I thought of just having the whole amenities list appear after clicking on the filter button, but still under their corresponding category as was in the existing situation. Unfortunately, it complicates things. Instead I decided to add icons next to the “Amenities” to show what is in. A visual indicator makes the user flow clearer for the user.
Conclusion
This challenge taught me that no matter how much you think an application is “done”, there is always room for improvement. I learned that to be able to redesign an existing app, one has to really listen to pain points of the selected user type and make sure to use the information obtained from the usability testing. I also found it fun and interesting to look at an app from a different perspective, it makes you notice things you haven’t noticed before!
