TravelWish
Online Vacation Rental Marketplace Website
Case Study
Synopsis
Project Highlights
Role
Product Designer
Responsibilities
Design Strategy, User Research, Marketing Research, Research analysis, Data Synthesis, User Stories, User Flows, Information Architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping and Usability testing
Methodologies
Design thinking, User research, Interviews, Contextual inquiry, Card sorting, Competitor analysis and heuristic evaluation
Platform
Responsive Website
Tools
Axure, Illustrator, Pencil
Industry
Online travel Services
Timeline
12 Weeks
Project Objective
The goal of this particular project was to discover the essentials of secure and comprehensive online marketplace for travel, short-term rentals and experience services.
And also to identify the shortcomings of current online traveling platforms and to explore further design solutions to help overcoming the existing problems.
The Problem
How can people plan travelling and all they need on the go in one place, connect with local owners who rent out their properties, experience living like a local and manage their rentals and bookings including accommodations and local experiences easily, securely and more cost–effective?
Project Overview
In this project quantitative research has been conducted including contextual inquiry, interview and usability testing.
Qualitative user research has been conducted over a period of two weeks in the form of interview with participants from diverse demographics including age, gender, marital status, profession and location to gain insight into users’ experience and pain points.
User segmentation process has been defined personas based on users’ main goals which reveals our two key personas, hosts and guests.
Subsequently, the user research has been used to create user or customer journey maps for each persona which revealed additional insight into their pain points and deeper perception into users ‘ goals, attitudes and behaviour which resulted in creating an optimal User Flows.
Competitor analysis has also been conducted in detail as part of marketing research in which some shortcomings in travelling industry have been noted that mostly had been confirmed by user research.
Furthermore, the information architecture, wireframes and prototype design of the “TravelWish” website has been completed, addressing users and business needs from the key findings of user research and market research.
And lastly, User testing has been conducted with participants, as potential users representing identified personas to determine the success of the tasks and validate the usability of design solution.
Project Approach
My design approach and thought Process is based on design thinking and human centred design to find users’s paint points and turn them into delight points.
I apply a non-linear, iterative process to understand and study users, explore information, analyze data, challenge assumptions, synthesize data, map user stories, define user flows, redefine problems, ideate creative ideas, validate design and finally create innovative solutions.
Empathise > Research > Analyse > Discover > Synthesise > Define > Envision > Ideate > Decide > Design > Validate > Iterate > Develop > Deliver
Discover
- Empathize
- User Research
- User Research Analysis
- Market Research
- Competitor Analysis
- Validate Hypothesis
- Develop UX Strategy
Define
- Data Synthesis
- User Stories
- Develop Personas
- Users Journeys
- Redefine the Problem
- The Product’s Goals
- The MVP
Ideate
- Envision Users’ Experience
- Develop Possible Solutions
- Innovate
- Decide on Best Idea
- User Flows
- Form a Concept
- Sketch
Implement
- Information Architecture
- Wireframe
- Create Low-Fi Mock-up
- Validate Internally
- Design High-Fi Prototype
- Validate with Real Users
- Iterate
- Develop Product
- Deliver
Process
Discover
User Research
User research and interview with few people as representative of this type of platform users has been conducted over a period of 2 weeks on topic of online accommodation-letting service.
Interviewees were from a different range of age group between 20 to 50 both male and female with diverse cultural background.
The affinity map was conducted in which a qualitative data collected from user research findings was organized and grouped in categories.
Numerous subjects were discussed in the interview and a wide range of questions have been asked in relation to their goals, behaviours and attitudes in which as a result, provide an insight into people ‘s experience as being hosts and guests.
Interview Questions
- What is your main purpose to travel, rent or rent out a property?
- Which platform do you mostly use for this purpose?
- How have you become aware of such these platforms?
- How do you promote to rent out your properties?
- How, when, how often do you search and book for desired properties or activities?
- How does the platform working out for you?
- How was your experiences and interactions with the platform?
- What are your standards and priorities?
- What is your favourite location to travel?
- What are the types of properties or activities you are mostly interested?
- How was your worst and best experiences using such these platforms?
- What is your preferred method of payment?
- How do you make a decision before booking?
- What is your concerns and doubts, considerations, challenges and expectations?
- Tell me about your digital devices usage and your technology proficiency?
- Tell me about your apps usage and social media usage?
- How do you communicate on or off the platform?
- How do you reflect your feedback about the platform and the services?
User Research Analysis
Generative user research unveiled some insights in terms of users’ goals, behaviours and attitudes. It has been noted through research that there are a number of similarities between hosts and guests in terms of their objectives.
However, there are some dissimilarities in terms of their behaviour and attitudes among users regardless of their goals as hosts (local property owners) or guests (travelers).
Similarities in objective
Distinctions in behaviour and attitude
- They both would like to save money. Hosts by earning extra income through renting out their place to travelers and guests by managing their travel cost by renting decent properties with less rental fee compare to hotels.
- They both would like to interact and communicate with people from diverse cultural background. Hosts by exchanging and sharing their local experiences and guests by participating in some local experiences and living like locals. Communication and interaction between the host and the guest is considered a key factor of a desired experience for most users.
- Some users had the best experiences and some had disappointing experiences.
- Some guests prefer to have an occasional host with the most passion to communicate and share local experiences with their guests and some prefer professional ones with the most properties available but the least willing to interaction.
- Some consider quality over the price, and some do not and the rest consider both simultaneously.
- Some travel individually, some with the family and the rest as a group of relatives, friends or colleagues. And those travel as a group are willing to share their search results, favourite choices and to have the opportunity tocollaborate and make a final decision together in a timely manner.
- Some guests find it difficult to trust and mostly believe that hosts do not deliver what they promised on the platform and some do trust what they view and read on the platform prior to their booking.
- And finally, some of them feel relaxed and optimistic towards using the platform and the rest had few concerns in terms of affordability, reliability and credibility.
Similarities in objective
Distinctions in behaviour and attitude
- They both would like to save money. Hosts by earning extra income through renting out their place to travelers and guests by managing their travel cost by renting decent properties with less rental fee compare to hotels.
- They both would like to interact and communicate with people from diverse cultural background. Hosts by exchanging and sharing their local experiences and guests by participating in some local experiences and living like locals. Communication and interaction between the host and the guest is considered a key factor of a desired experience for most users.
- Some users had the best experiences and some had disappointing experiences.
- Some guests prefer to have an occasional host with the most passion to communicate and share local experiences with their guests and some prefer professional ones with the most properties available but the least willing to interaction.
- Some consider quality over the price, and some do not and the rest consider both simultaneously.
- Some travel individually, some with the family and the rest as a group of relatives, friends or colleagues. And those travel as a group are willing to share their search results, favourite choices and to have the opportunity tocollaborate and make a final decision together in a timely manner.
- Some guests find it difficult to trust and mostly believe that hosts do not deliver what they promised on the platform and some do trust what they view and read on the platform prior to their booking.
- And finally, some of them feel relaxed and optimistic towards using the platform and the rest had few concerns in terms of affordability, reliability and credibility.
Market Research
Market research and Competitor analysis has been conducted across three websites including Booking.com, Airbnb and HomeAway which all considered main competitors among online rentals marketplace, promoting diverse range of short-term rentals accommodation worldwide.
Although they all pursue similar objectives, their approach is slightly different and so do their content and their target audience.
Through marketing research and competitor analysis some shortcomings have been noted in competitors’ platforms which mostly have been confirmed by user research.
Competitor Analysis
Market Research Analysis
Hypothesis Validation
There have been some assumptions in relation to product itself and product users that generative research findings have been validated them.
These assumptions have been validated and either confirmed by research findings or have been in conflicts with them.
Define
The Users
In the process of identifying target audience or product users, a varied range of groups with different goals and subgroups with the same goals have been noted among users. However, despite considering all these subgroups of users, user segmentation primarily has been defined our users based on their main goals.
Our two key personas which have been identified are hosts and Guests. Therefore, it has carefully endeavoured to select interviewees, as representative of product users, to include all the groups and subgroups identified.
Persona Development
Hosts are people or owners who would like to rent out their properties to travelers and guests are people or travelers who are looking for properties to rent and stay as temporary accommodation.
Users’ Goals
The user research study has revealed both groups of users’ needs including hosts and guests. In response to users’ needs and their pain points, users’ goals have been identified through research findings which can result in resolving users’ problems.
- To be able to search, find and reserve all they need for traveling in one place
- To be able to search and find properties matching their standards
- To be able to travel to regions without a decent hotel or no hotel available
- To be able to plan and share their travel schedule with their fellow traveler
- To be able to securely and easily pay platform host commissions or guest reservations fee
- To be able to have more information about the guest or host through efficient communication
- To be able to earn extra income by renting out temporary accommodation to travelers
- To be able to enhance their rental properties visibility on the platform and so their reservation rate
Users' Problem
The data collected from the user interviews and the key insights from user research has revealed the users’ pain points. Through affinity mapping, the pains identified in research findings synthesized and problems grouped under common themes which defined main users’ problem.
In addition to persona, a user journey map were developed to communicate the pain points and guide new design opportunities.
User Journey Map
A user journey map were developed for each group of persona based on their goals, behaviour and attitudes to communicate the pain points and guide new design opportunities.
Redefine the Problem
How can people plan travelling and all they need on the go in one place, connect with local owners who rent out their properties, experience living like a local and manage their rentals and bookings including accommodations and local experiences easily, securely and more cost–effective?
The Product
TravelWish is an online vacation rental marketplace and travel services website provides people a worldwide online platform that enbles local property owners to easily rent out their places to travellers and allows travelers to efficiently search, find and book what they need with affordable prices, all-in-one including short-term vacation rental accommodations, flights, transportation, restaurants, food delivery, local experiences services, events, tours and adventures in partnership with other agencies.
This platform allows connection between local property owners as hosts and travelers as guests.
Booking.com, Airbnb and HomeAway are some examples of its competitors.
Product's Vision
TravelWish is committed to provide the most secure and comprehensive online traveling service and the best customer experience from the beginning to end.
Product's Goals
The generative research study has revealed users’ pain points. Therefore, in response to users’ problems and their pain points, a product is required which is able to provide delight points and solve users’ problems. These solutions discovered through research findings would be considered as product or business goals for TravelWish.
The MVP
The MVP for TravelWish has been identified which is a minimum viable product (MVP) that defines a product with just enough features and functionalities to be able to use effectively by early customers, who can then provide feedback. Then these validated learning can be applied for future product development that will result in maximum productivity of the product.
- Enable travelers to book all they need in one place
- Enable host to rent out their properties
- Provide an affordableand reliable service with satisfying customer support
- Enable users to connect and communicate efficiently through the platform
- Provide user friendly responsive website with clean and simple well designed interface
- Provide comprehensive contentwith clear and logical navigation and call to actions
- Provide a well-defined and efficientmulti options filtering system
- Provide a detailed description and visualsfor rentals with transparent policy
- Provide an easy, secure and hassle-free multi options payment system
Ideate
Based on the above problems and MVP identified, which will help to understand the business requirements, I worked towards addressing these pain points by coming up with opportunities. These potential solutions with considering technical feasibility of the design concept would be able to turn these pain points to delight points.
User Flows
UserFlows were developed based on personas and potential solutions in response to their pain points.
Implement
Information Architecture
SiteMap
Design
Wireframes Sketches
High-fi Prototype
Validation
The prototype of TravelWish website was tested to validate the proposed design solutions and wether they would solve users’ problems. The recruitment plan were done and participants as representative of potential users including returning participants from user research phase and new participants were recruited for this round of testing.
Usability testing has been conducted over a period of three days in which on average every user testing session took roughly one hour to complete.
During user testing sessions participants’ interaction with the website prototype and the steps they follow to complete the tasks and explore the website functionality were closely observed.
They were asked to complete a total 16 tasks and sub-tasks based on scenarios which had been written in advance as a test plan for the purpose of exploring the key website’s functionality.
All these testing sessions have been audio and screen recorded for the purpose of further observation and analysis.
Validation Analysis
Findings from usability testings indicated that users found 87.2% of the tasks were easy to do and that 96% of the tasks have been successfully completed by users.
Tasks Easily Followed
User Testing Tasks 87.2%
Tasks Successfully Completed
User Testing Tasks 96%
- Key findings revealed that some minor modifications needs to be considered to improve the prototype as well as making it accessible for users with different level of abilities including applying appropriate text size and colour contrast.
- It also highlighted the importance of simplifying the user interaction and consider using a well-defined familiar term throughout the website
- And more importantly to fulfil the security and reliability of the platform.
- These insights will be considered in iteration phase.
Outcome
Solution
TravelWish is an online vacation rental marketplace and travel services website provides people a worldwide secure online platform that allows travelers to easily search, find and book what they need all-in-one including short-term vacation rental accommodations, flights, transportation, restaurants, food delivery, local experiences services, events, tours and adventures with affordable prices in partnership with other agencies.
- TravelWish helps travelers to save money by renting temporary accommodations from locals with reasonable prices while experience living like a local and taking advantage of household amenities. As such they can have more autonomy and less expense in comparison with staying in hotels room.
- TravelWish also enables local property owners to save money through earning extra income by securely renting out their places to travelers who are looking for local vacation rentals with affordable prices.
- This platform allows connection between hosts (local property owners) and guests (travelers).
Prototype Demo
Impact
Positive feedbacks have been obtained from the users regarding the inclusiveness of the platform to provide travelers all they need in one place with informative and structured content.
I like the idea of having more choice and seeing all I might need for travelling in one website, even though I might not always want to do them at the same time.
I find it really simple to understand. The site makes it very clear the steps I should take specifically for searching and filtering in the order I want to see them up until booking what I want.
Impact
Positive feedbacks have been obtained from the users regarding the inclusiveness of the platform to provide travelers all they need in one place with informative and structured content.
I like the idea of having more choice and seeing all I might need for travelling in one website, even though I might not always want to do them at the same time.
I find it really simple to understand. The site makes it very clear the steps I should take specifically for searching and filtering in the order I want to see them up until booking what I want.
Challenges
There are some shortcomings and limitations that have been identified in this qualitative research which might restrict the ability to reach a precise conclusion.
- This research is based on a consultation (interview) that have been conducted on a small group of users, who cannot be necessarily considered representatives of all users of our product. Therefore, it would be beneficial conducting various research methodologies such as interview combined with surveys.
- The users who were available and took part in the interview as representatives of all user were in the age range of 27 to 50 years old. However, the users of these platform can be people over 18 years old. Therefore, it is essential to consider recruiting interviewees for further research as well as participants for user testing from a broader range of age.
Future plan
As a future plan the next step would involve applying the proposed solutions and possibly upgrading the prototype in terms of interactivity, functionality and fidelity to some extent followed by a second round of testing to assess the improvement of the prototype.
Reflections
There are some key takeaways that I have learned from this project.
- It is important to know when and where to focus your time, energy and efforts and not worry too much about the details.
- Considering non-technical users’ insights in the process of designing is very important as they can think out of the box naturally due to their lack of technical knowledge and so they will be unlimited with their ideas.
- Knowledge of web technologies will reduce any project rework and redesign later as having insight of the technical limitations in advance and what is possible will help to inform best design strategy throughout the design process.
- User testing is an iterative process that should be conducted at every milestone of the project to identify the biggest pain points in the current version. This can be done by gathering feedback and revisiting the prototypes and test again which can help to discover and eliminate pain point at early stages. As a result of this feedback several significant changes can be made to improve functionality.
Thank you for reading through my research, design and thought process!