ABOUT THE PROJECT:
This was a personal project that I decided to take on, the reason why I wanted to redesign the Expedia App was because I had booked a trip through the app and found it very confusing. Mainly the fact that I did not know where
I was in the process of booking my flight or hotel at any time while using the application. I found this very frustrating and confusing, by showing a status bar somewhere on the screen and a sub total the user will know at all times where they are in the process and what there purchase will add up to.
PROJECT GOALS
Make the app less cluttered
and easier to use with better
design hierarchy
Give users an indication of where they
are in the booking process at all times
Redesign the hotel booking process to give
the app a more dynamic layout
RESEARCH
Primary Research
Online Surveys - Qualitative Research
A series of online surveys where conducted asking various questions around the online trip booking process to find different pain points that people run into. The questions asked specifically touched on how people use applications to book vacations and if they find it overwhelming and confusing or not. Also a series of questions where asked regarding what specific part of the booking stage does the user find confusing and why.
Results & Key Takeaways
1. 81% of participants said that when using certain travel booking apps they find specifically the hotel booking stage confusing.
2. 66% of participants said that it would be nice to have a status indicator or bar to let the user know where they are in the process.
3. Participants stated that on some travel booking apps there is no feature that allows you to compare similar prices in the area you are looking in which would be very helpful when finding the right hotel to book.
4. 51% of participants stated that it would be very helpful to have a step by step, basic instructional onboarding slideshow or infographic to give the user an idea of what steps to take when booking. Especially if the user is new to the application.
Secondary Research
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed a similar tool trivago.com and compared certain components that touched upon the pain points that where brought out by my primary research and components that did not which I focused on in the design of the application.
Design Features That Touch Upon Pain Points
- Price comparing feature
- Easy to navigate
- Allows users to go back and edit their trip details
Design Features That Are Missed
- Status bar that shows where the user is throughout the booking process
- Booking confirmation screen that indicates to the user that the booking process if is over.
- Clean modern layouts with Horizontal Scrolling features that allow the user to compare pricing with out scrolling
Quantitative Research
Statistics
“ 79% said that it would be very helpful to
have a price comparing feature in the app
to help users see other hotels and flights that may be a better deal. ”
“ 33% find the booking process in the app confusing, and find that there are a lot of
added steps that make the process overwhelming. ”
“87% of participants said that some sort
of status bar or a step by step instructional
on boarding screen would help the user understand the process of booking
on the app. ”
CONCLUSION
Insights from the research that was conducted provide a clear path forward to how the Expedia application can be designed. Actionable points include having a more intuitive price comparing feature that allows users to see other similar hotel and flight prices without having to scroll so far down the page. Another design component that should be added to the booking screens is a status bar that gives the user an indication of what step they are on while booking their trip. The target user for this application can be younger and older so making the user flow simple and easy to navigate will result in a better user experience for an older user that may not be that used to using mobile applications for bookings.
