Ironhack Challenge 3: Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign
As the start of the UX/UI Bootcamp is coming nearer the prework challenges combine multiple learned lessons now. This time we will have a look at the usability of travel apps in particular comparing Kayak, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor & Hopper.
The story behind this challenge evolves around the concept of the seven wonders of the new millennium. Christ the Redeemer is one of my personal favourite lookouts over the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. What better place to choose for a travel app challenge up the Corcovado.
User Type
In this case we had to choose a particular User Type from the following list and jump into their shoes (reminder: I am not going to Rio myself — yet):
- Worldtrotter, Backpacker — 18–38 y/o (1)
- Young group — 20–40 y/o (4)
- Young couple — 20–40 y/o (2)
- Family w/ children — 30–50 y/o(4)
- Small group of friends — 40–60 y/o (3)
- Elder couple — 60–80 y/o (2)
I chose the Young group, containing 4 different individuals who have one full year of planning to make sure all schedules are cleared. They all want to share the best time possible together, are price conscious about their savings yet still take this opportunity to spoil themselves. Finally they are looking for a mix of culture & leisure in the City of God.
Research
Before getting into details let’s summarise all travel precautions.
Airport:
The most common airport to arrive at is Rio de Janeiro Galeao International Airport (GIG). Approximately 25 minutes away from Copacabana Beach.
Currency:
Brazilian Reais, it is advised to do the exchange in advance in your home country. The current exchange rate is EUR 1 = BRL 6.6421.
Medical needs:
Be aware of the following diseases and get the standard vaccinations before travelling.
- Dengue fever — Dengue is a risk in many parts of Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Some countries are reporting increased numbers of cases of the disease. Travellers to the Americas can protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites. Same goes with Zika virus especially dangerous for pregnant women — it causes head deformities zika in newborns.
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis
- Flu (influenza)
- Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR)
- Polio
- Hepatitis A&B
- Rabies
- Measles
- Typhoid
- Yellow Fever
Most of these you should already have gotten a flu shot, make sure to check your yellow booklet.
Visa requirements:
- Holders of ordinary passports of the following jurisdictions do not require a visa to visit Brazil for up to 90 days
Wardrobe recommendations:
The beach is right around the corner, bringing light cloths, a hat for strong sunlight and your favourite SPF especially in the summertime is advised. Also being aware of mosquitos in the evenings. It helps bringing light long sleeves and mosquito spray to avoid these nasty buggers.
Pickpockets are going around often especially on the beaches, flashy watches and fancy cloths are a sign of wealth and could make you a target.
Days needed: 5–8 days, to relax at Copacabana & Ipanema beach, Cristo the redentor, Pao d’acucar, Tijuca Forest, Ilha grande (Depending if the travels continue to other cities nearby)
Benchmarking
The common apps I was comparing are:
Kayak
Skyscanner
Trip Advisor
Hopper
To evaluate their usability Nielsen’s UX Heuristic Evaluation has been applied with the following result in comparison.
Kayak
Kayak is a great example of minimalistic design and stylised to find flights in particular. They also offer Hotel search, rental cars and all inclusive deals for targeted at families or older couples. Notable mention: Price alerts and explore feature is also available to get new travel inspirations and stay up to date about available flights.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner has a very pleasant UX and the colors evoke a sense of trust due to the blue interface when looking for flights. The limitation again here is the feature of finding restaurants, bookable activities etc. Notable mention: Flight alert recommendation pops up on the top right hand corner when searching. Very helpful! Also their map shows prices on the map directly plus the total price is directly shown for individual Hotels.
(Screen shot Skyscanner App)
Hopper
Hopper seems to be highly gamified app with their own credit system with the so called credit cash. It’s a fresh approach to booking but might be turn away more conservative users. I decided not the take this app because it “only” deals with Flights and Hotels. Notable mention: Flight watch feature to save search for future bookings.
Tripadvisor
Finally I chose Tripadvisor for their all-in-one platform that is known to have a huge international travel community. A great fit for the young group that want to make the most of their trip while keeping an eye on their cost and get the most bang for their buck.
Also I personally saw some features on other apps that could really round up the app and make it even more wholesome. I wanted to find out what the particular user type had to say and what problems they identified.
Testing
For the direct feedback testing I chose 3 people that are keen on travelling together and I explained the following situation:
The users had 5 seconds to take a look at the home screen of Trip Advisors metasearch (5 second usability test). After 5 seconds, they returned to the call and I continued to ask the following questions:
- What did you see?
- What can this tool do for you?
- Where would you search for a flight?
→ User 1: App for travelling, flights, restaurants. Flight button is in the center
→ User 2: Search for places/locations, apartments, very straight-forward. Flight button right in the middle.
→ User 3: Travel app with Things to Do, Covid Notice & nearby places. Simple design and six buttons to use.
Afterwards I told them the following backstory and task to get into their user experience and analysis the app thoroughly.
Task: You are planning to go to Rio de Janeiro with 3 other friends to see the Christ Redeemer, the goal is to share as much time together as possible. You are looking for a mix of culture & leisure. You are price conscious (100 Euros per day). You are looking for an Apartment or Hotel. You are staying for around 1 week. Think about what places to visit, restaurants to discover, day-trips to do.
- What is your experience in the app?
- First impression vs in-depth use?
- Are there any immediate pain-points in connection with your group (user type)?
- What can be simpler?
- Why?
Insights
The general navigation and overview of the app was very pleasing for all users and they enjoyed the Things to Do, and community lead Travel Forum section.
→ Good user interface design in terms of buttons, navigation and finding inspiration in a new city
They jumped on various activities and started collecting ideas in a personal Trips (Favourites) list. One pain-point was the signup before any purchase though which threw them off a little bit.
A few more different problems appeared especially due to the User Type: Young Group. Given the group needs to plan ahead the users were looking for flights 1 year in advance. No results showed up for March and early February was the next available (even before carnival season)
→ We discussed a price or booking alert for early ticket price advantages or early bird deals would keep the users from coming back to the app. This way experience can be beneficial and seems planned ahead even though not final
Another observation during the interview was the filter option when looking for hotels or apartments. If the users are very price conscious and have lots of time to plan their approach a price filter that also works when looking at the map would be super helpful.
Currently you can filter price ranges but when going back into the map mode and swipe through the options they are sorted by Best Value (price & community reviews) first.
→ A solution here can be seen inside the Airbnb app or previously examined travelling apps which show all prices directly in the map. (Additional feature: search this area seems only to work for apartments but not for hotels)
Finally when building a list of “Favorites” (clicking the Heart button) for the coming group trip the users considered a certain budget. In this case I communicated 100€ per day.
The interviewees were keen on saving some money on the apartment and spending more time on activities such as sailing trips, guided tours etc. They also noticed prices for hotels are very vague even though a specific number of 4 travelers and 2 bedrooms were filtered beforehand. These values were not carried on when being redirected to the hotel’s booking page.
→ Painpoint: When trying to book a hotel a View Deal button redirects to the hotel website, however the searched 4 person, 2 bedrooms filter is not adopted in some cases. This could lead to wrong bookings
→ Additional feature It would be very helpful to keep track of prices also in the itinerary to have a rough price range and adjust daily budgeting accordingly.
Wireframe Redesign
After looking at the Trip Advisor App all it’s extensive features and functions there is a lot to comment on but I would rather simplify a few helpful elements that make it even more convenient to accomodate the Young Group User Type.
The three additions I found most useful are:
- Alarm (Price / Flight availability)
- Price Map
- Total Itinerary Budget
The ideas were quickly brought to paper:
For the next step I simply used the great app as it is and included extra features where you commonly find similar buttons in different apps. This way the recognition of UI elements are already apparent. I will demonstrate the change in a before and after comparison below:
Alarm (Price / Flight availability)
→ Flights were not available for one year in advance which goes beyond this UX/UI design scope. However an Alarm to get notified for a specific date range would be really helpful and support the system & real world link. Furthermore it gives the user flexibility and freedom to return when the supply of flights increases.
Price Map
→ Finding a reasonable price was not as intuitive as hoped according to the interviewees. After discussing a price map and later finding similar features in the Skyscanner and Airbnb App I knew this is such a simple and yet effective solution to use and make the map more efficient. Having the prices appear on top of the searchable area plus including a little more information about the price per night in the hotel description facilitates the search.
Total Itinerary Budget
→ While having an Itinerary to start with is a fantastic idea and works well with the “Trip” section of the app. However prices are displayed everywhere in the app for this section nothing is available though. A simple sum calculator and daily cost overview would help to keep a travel balance in check and allow further statistics for frequent travellers.
Conclusion
This challenge was clearly a summary of all previously learned skills. I was quite thrilled to challenge myself and compare different approaches to this exercise. I am a passionate traveller myself therefore not getting involved in the Testing phase turned out to be a constant issue which I managed with subtle reminders.
Nevertheless I really got in the flow after having all data and insights in front of me. Sometimes less is more or even better. Observing and comparing competitive apps really helped me to see these subtle changes come to life.
With this simple proposition in mind I tried to not confuse the large and active community on Trip Advisor and just expand the User Interface rather than completely restructuring some long established features like appearance of offers.
I hope you enjoyed this case study as much as I did. Happy to hear your thoughts and ideas below!
