TripAdvisor — Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign.

My last challenge before Bootcamp starts is Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign. To go about this challenge, I have to:

1. Select a user type
2. Research specifics of a precise destination
3. Based on Jakob Nielsen’s Heuristics, Compare travel apps against my user scenario.
4. Choose one of the apps, adapted to my specific user type and scenario, and test it with actual potential users.
5. Identify pain points after interviewing potential users
6. Redesign the app based on the results

THE USERS

Latt & Ann

A young couple — 20–40 y/o
Meet Latt & Ann. Latt is a DevOps engineer and Ann works in Public health.

After the stress and excitement of planning the perfect Nigerian wedding, a peaceful, relaxing honeymoon is just what the newly-weds needed. And that was what they did not have because the typical Nigerian wedding costs a lot and they had to resume work almost immediately in Berlin. Now a year after their wedding, Lat and Ann want to go for a honeymoon.

The honeymoon has been slated for their first year anniversary in October. It will be a time for bonding. They want to have special moments to celebrate being together and to allow their bodies and minds to unwind. They have saved enough money for tickets and are planning to save much more over the next 6 months to do this trip. They have heard a lot about how beautiful Seychelles is and have decided that they would love to go there. Seychelles is an East African country in the Indian ocean that has about 115 beaches. It has all of the attractions they want: lots of sunshine, beach sand, outdoor water activities, fancy restaurants, and a serene and beautiful natural environment.

Mahé Island, Victoria, Seychelles

RESEARCH

• The nearest airport: Victoria Seychelles international airport, located on the island of Mahé near the capital city of Victoria.
• Seychelles currency and exchange: The currency is Seychellois Rupee and exchanges at 1 Rupee to 0.066 euros
• Travel needs: Since they are Nigerian passport holders, no special visa is needed, but a Visitor’s Permit (valid for a stay up to 30 days) will be issued upon arrival. The couple need valid travel insurance, return tickets, confirmed accommodation and sufficient funds for the duration of their stay (minimum of US$150 or equivalent per day).
• Vacation days: 2 weeks
• Wardrobe recommendation: Bathing suit, Beach dress, Light and comfortable clothing: shorts, t-shirts, tank-tops, summer clothes etc., Hat or something else to cover the head, Sunglasses, At least one smart piece of clothing for evening meals in a luxury hotel or resort, Flip-flops and/or sandals, Sports shoes (for hiking and the flight), Sports clothes, since they plan on going hiking, Water shoes, Beach towel, UV bathing shirt (or another t-shirt to wear in the ocean), Backpack or beach bag, Comfortable and warm clothes for the flight, Camera, Snorkelling equipment, etc.

BENCHMARKING

Before comparing travel apps like Kayak, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor, and Hopper, I tried to figure out what my user's travel needs were.

1. They want to be efficient and have everything they need organized, so they can enjoy their get-away while there.
2. They are tech-savvy and would like to use an app to plan their entire trip before October.
3. They want comfort, fun, and adventure.

Comparing these apps against my user's needs using Jakob Nielsen’s 10 general principles for interaction design, I decided that Trip Advisor would be the most suited for my users. It allows users to choose between different accommodation options like hotels, B&B and resorts. It can be used to book tours and trips. TripAdvisor offers a variety of recommendations for sightseeing, tours, and restaurants. There are forums where people record the highs and lows of their travel experiences for the benefit of future travelers. Thus, my users can read reviews from other travelers and plan their trip based on their personal preferences.

USER TESTING

To start, I identified 5 different young couples to interview that fit my user type. I gave them 5 seconds to take a look at the home screen of TripAdvisor. After 5 seconds, I covered the screen and asked them questions like: “What did you see?" "What can this app do for you?" "Where would you search for a flight or hotel?”

Then framing the objectives of this challenge with a story, I asked users to plan an entire trip, book a flight to Seychelles, find some of the top-rated activities to do in Victoria, Seychelles, find and choose highly-rated accommodation, book a tour, and decide on a reasonably priced place for dinner.

Using the data I gathered from the usability testing, I consolidated the insights and major pain points from each interview.

Insights and Painpoints:

• All users were able to identify the app pretty well. It was clear to All users that it is a travel app/trip planner.
• All users easily located where they could book a flight.
• Most users were however confused as to where to book accommodation: as some of their personal preferences were B&B instead of hotels.
• All users mentioned that ratings and the number of positive reviews were their main metrics when they were looking for an attraction spot or potential restaurant. This means the usability of filters is very important.
• Most of the users kept scrolling through the screen when searching for highly-rated attractions and missed the filter and map buttons towards the bottom of the screen.
• Most users could not identify individual things to do and attractions. Users identified that the major thing they saw was where to shop for tickets and tours.
• Few users were frustrated by not seeing at a glance more than one option to compare at each given time, especially since they were looking for the top-rated or highly reviewed restaurants and attractions.

SOLUTION AND REDESIGN

Taking the users needs for the specific scenario into consideration, I settled on these solutions in my redesign:

1. Merging the hotels and holiday rentals on the home page, since they are both for accommodation.
2. Created the "packages" icon on the home page. It caters to travel packages: accommodation, flights, feeding, etc.
3. Making all attractions accessible and showing more attraction options.
4. Moving the Filter and Map buttons to the top of the page so that users can see it and access them easily.

What I learned

Doing this challenge has taught me that design is a continuous process. I now see the importance of app updates. Through this case scenario, I learned the value of the user experience design process. I also found out that the best way to naturally find issues and pain points of using an app is by usability testing. I also noticed that users never do what you expect them to do, hence I now understand this course module's mantra “I’m not the user of the product I’m creating and evaluating”.

I generally feel better equipped with design processes even as I begin my IronHack bootcamp.

Want to learn more?

If you’d like to…

· learn all the details of Usability Testing

· get easy-to-use templates

· learn how to properly quantify the usability of a system/service/product/app/etc

· learn how to communicate the result to your management

… then consider to take the online course Conducting Usability Testing.

If, on the other hand, you want to brush up on the basics of UX and Usability, then consider to take the online course on User Experience. Good luck on your learning journey!