Ironhack Prework Challenge 3
Using and redesigning Tripadvisor
For the third challenge of the prework, Ironahck asked me to evaluate the usability of a travel mobile application and redesign some critical parts of it. I had to choose the user type I was going to focus on and for this UX/UI study I decided to interview young couples (20–40 years old).
User type
Young group — 20–40 y/o (4)
You and your friends have decided to invest and spend some quality time together. You are planning your trip one year in advance to really make it happen and accommodate everybody’s schedules and needs. You’d like to share as much time together and plan for a lot of fun. You’re interested in a mix of culture and leisure. You have all saved for the last year for the trip so, while you’re still price-conscious this is the opportunity to spoil yourselves.
Destination: Bali, Indonesia
- Nearest / most convenient airport to destination: Denpasar, is the capital of Bali and the main gateway to the island.
- Currency and exchange: Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) or also shown as Rp. (25.000 Rp = 1,5€)
- Medical needs: The only vaccine required by international regulations is yellow fever.
- Visa: No Visa needed for European visitors, if they stay less than 30 days (Free Visa Entry Stamp or Visa Exemption)
- Days needed to visit attractions: a week
Benchmarking
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
I had to choose a travel app to work on among Kayak, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner and Hopper. To do so, I conducted a Heuristics Usability evaluation with Nielsen’s Principles and chose Tripadvisor. I took into account the fact that my user type decided to invest and spend some quality time together, making their trip a mix of culture and leisure.
Considered this, I tested out two possible scenarios that included booking a flight to Bali, Indonesia and booking some outdoor activity. I ended up deciding to use Tripadvisor due to several reasons. Tripadvisor has a beautiful and clear interface, that from the very beginning let the user choose among several categories of interest: Hotels (accomodation); Activities; Restaurants; Flights and Travel forum.
Also, Tripdadvisor has the ability to filter out the activities and tours that are near landmarks which was a great feature to have for my task at hand. This was not the case for apps such as Skyscanner which is essentially a booking service.
Now, let’s find out what users thought about Tripadvisor!
Testing
First of all, in order to get a first impression of the app’s performance, I asked the users to do the so-called “five second test”. I showed them the app’s home screen for five seconds, then covered it up and asked them:
- What do you think this app is mainly for?
- What can this tool do for you?
- Where would you search for a flight?
Everyone understood what the product was about and 5 over 6 users recognized the app since they normally used it. Everyone said they would use this tool to plan a vacation. Most of them answered they would search for a flight in the central-top area of the screen and remembered the possibility of choosing from several categories.
The second task the interviewers had to deal with was to think about a possible scenario and specifically, I asked them to book a flight for Bali and to make a reservation for some tour or special activity. I told them they should choose an activity for small groups and that they had a mid-range budget: they should be price-conscious but this trip would be the opportunity to spoil themselves!
Results and redesign
To detect the main friction areas and discover the “pain points” of the app, I have asked 3 couples (6 users in total) to simulate the process of booking a flight/activity or tour. The point was to understand what could be blocking the user to have happy results or the experience they expected.
I decided to focus on the process of booking a group activity or tour and found out that all the users were disappointed by the fact that there was no filter option within the “Activities” subcategory.
Filter/Map Tab layout
In fact, in order to had the chance of filtering the results the user currently has to click on the green CTA “See more” (Vedi tutti) and only after moving to the second screen of the reservation process the Filter icon floats on the bottom of the page.
Many users (4 over 6) were unable to see the Filter icon at first sight and needed more than 10 seconds to find it. I would suggest maintaining two tabs layout at the top of the screen, right under the dates, to let the user decide whether to filter them or see them on the map.
Since my user type were small groups, once the user has decided the dates he is interested in, I think it would be helpful for him to select how many tickets he would like to buy and have a clear idea of the expense of the tour.
Ticket/Number of people selector
Conclusions
In this challenge I have learned that, although there are a series of established principles that determine if the design of an application can be considered user-friendly, understanding the real needs of users and finding a useful solution for them, can require modifications to a product that until that very moment seemed just fine!
Even if at first glance the design of an application seems great and already “perfect”, there are always details to be polished in order to improve the user experience.
