Selecting accommodation is not a frequent activity for most people; it often occurs only when choosing a place for an annual vacation. Such a decision must be accompanied by the conviction that the chosen place is the most optimal among the available options. What distinguishes hotel booking from a wide range of other goods is that there are high expectations and hopes for the trip. For this very reason, the process of searching, choosing accommodation, and booking must instill a sense of confidence, control, and security. Even 35% of bookers conduct as much research as possible before making a reservation. According to research, searching for and finding the best deals is a source of satisfaction in and of itself. In the following case study, I will endeavor to identify the needs of users searching for accommodations and address them by proposing new functionalities and a redesign of the Trivago website.
Problem:
The travel sector
has one of the
highest bounce rates of all industries that conduct business online - between 81% and 85%.
As research shows, the main reasons for transaction rejection are:
Task:
Identifying the most common issues when selecting
accommodation. Implementing changes on the Trivago website to enhance comfort during the
accommodation selection process, thus increasing conversions.
Target Audience:
Leisure
travelers who travel primarily with their
partners or friends.
I created a short survey in Google Forms to gather some insights and form suggestions for potential solutions. The validity of the survey was determined by whether the user had made hotel reservations in the previous two years.
1. How many sessions do you need to choose a hotel?
2. How long was the stay?
3. Have you ever abandoned the booking process? If so, why?
4. How long do you plan your stay?
5. How many booking websites do you visit before choosing a hotel?
6. What is most important when choosing an offer?
Emphaty Map
I created an empathy map as a supporting tool to find solutions to all the user's aches and pains. The map externalizes knowledge about users in order to create a shared understanding of user needs, and aid in the decision-making process.
User Pains
User Gains
Persona
In addition to the empathy map, I built a user persona based on the replies to the survey questions. A user persona is framed from real customer discovery and research into the needs, goals, and observed behavioral patterns of a target audience. The persona was used in the next step, which was making a Customer Journey Map.
Customer Journey Map
The function of the Customer Journey Map was to visualize the experience of interacting with a website during the booking process from the customer’s point of view. It has made it more obvious which aspects of the offer booking process are problematic for the user.
Conclusions and suggestions:
As the results show, in most cases the process of choosing a hotel and thus booking is time-consuming. Although the results do not allow for definitive conclusions, they lead to the following conclusions:
The website's current design is kept simple and minimalistic, which is unquestionably one of the website's highlights. Many applied solutions make it easy for users to use the features without significant obstacles, so while working on this project, I've been focused on improving existing features and possibly adding some new ones, rather than making substantial modifications to the present design concept. I tried to develop features that would allow the user to get through the whole search and choosing the offer process more smoothly, by giving him more control and decreasing his cognitive overload.
As research shows, users don't like revolutionary changes in the design of their favorite websites. The minimalistic design of the website, apart from ensuring the lucidity of the performing activities, is the showcase of the website and, ironically, makes it a stand-out among other booking sites. However, on the other hand, it looks a little monotonous, so I decided to add a couple of changes, bringing variety to the design. I added the background illustration to add a little more dynamism and life to the graphic look, because I wanted the interface to communicate the website's profile to a larger extent. Furthermore, I chose to frame related objects more apparently, because the present way of doing so, which relies solely on contrast, could be insufficient. For some people, the current combination of white and gray hues may be hardly apparent.
The changes:
The main search bar allows users to search for places with a specific profile of the desired experience, both in terms of location and attractions. Additionally, the user can set a price range when searching for weekend getaways. The icons representing experiences can be moved, ensuring that they maintain the same appearance on tablet and mobile resolutions
I have added an element to the date picker that informs the user about the number of nights they intend to book. This is intended to build a sense of security, confidence, and prevent potential errors. The date picker is displayed as a modal window, with the aim of focusing the user's attention on the selection.
Access to the search history is available from the landing page and can be accessed without changing screens. The browsing history is presented in the form of a side panel, allowing users to, among other things, save any previously viewed offers, repeat a search, or navigate to the details of a specific offer. "I have also added notifications regarding price changes for previously searched offers.
The search results screen has been enhanced with additional filtering options, a redesigned information architecture for offer cards, and additional features to streamline location search for various user profiles
The changes:
The filtering option has been expanded to include filtering by aspects such as hotel amenities, room features, facilities, and more. Individual options are grouped thematically to avoid overwhelming the user with too many choices. The user can use the search tab at the top of the window if they are looking for a specific category.
Disclaimer: At the time I worked on this project, neither the price slider nor the possibility to save offers were available on the Trivago website. Later, this was introduced. Let this serve as an example that my observations were accurate :)
Based on the surveys I conducted, it became evident that the process of choosing accommodation and the research made by users can often be time-consuming. The 'hunters' and 'browsers' make up the vast majority of all types of users (the confident users, 'the buyers,' are approximately 5 percent overall). I conducted a brief comparison of other major booking sites' functionalities for comparing offers. Most of them provide the option to save offers only, which creates an interesting opportunity for development. Therefore, to make the search process more efficient, I propose adding functionality that allows users to compare previously saved offers. Previously, to compare offers, the user had to switch between the offers, memorize the details of each one, and may have used a notepad or another tool to summarize the pros and cons of each place. The implementation of this functionality aims to reduce cognitive load, shorten the time required for choosing a location, and provide the user with a sense of control and confidence.
Additionally, the user can specify the aspects that are most important to them. Based on the selected options, the algorithm aggregates the chosen data from each offer, then compares the results of all offers and converts them into a percentage score. If the user has selected amenities, the algorithm takes them into account in the final offer assessment.
The user can manually select which amenities or other aspects are important to them and add them to the comparison tool's card. Just like with filters, I have implemented grouping for individual amenities and other aspects.
In order to book more than one place, the user has to do the whole booking procedure again from the beginning. There is no option for the user to plan multiple bookings on one screen.
The functionality enables multiple bookings, including sequential bookings and multiple accommodations when the user is organizing a trip for a larger group. The functionality allows setting a budget, which can be convenient for many users - research shows that 62% of users set a travel budget in advance. On the graphic table, the user can see what his budget is, how much the bookings he selects cost, and the amount that is left. If the user decides to find a cheaper offer in place of the already selected one, the "looking for alternatives" button located on the offer card.
The current 'explore' option appears to be nothing more than a collection of articles that the user must browse to find something suitable for themselves. There is no encouragement for the user to do so, and there is no guarantee that they will find an offer tailored to their preferences. My concept adds a survey-like function to the features, allowing users to get more precise, personalized search results. The user specifies the type of trip they are planning (for example, vacation or business purposes) by answering a series of questions, the profile of this trip (alone, with an accompanying person, family, etc.), how far the journey will be, what types of attractions are most interesting to them, their budget, and so on.
The questions are displayed one at a time to avoid cognitive overload and are presented in an appealing graphic format to engage the user. The main heading changes dynamically based on the options selected, so in the end, the user constructs a sentence describing their own preferences. As a result, the results that are most tailored to the user's preferences are displayed. This step can be skipped entirely.
