Challenge 3: Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign
For the third challenge we are going to take a trip to Petra, Jordan in order to complete a usability evaluation and gather research to generate ideas for site redesign.
Our user for today’s journey is a 18–35 year old backpacker, who will be traveling in 6 months time and is flexible and open to adventure. Their priority is meeting new people and creating a real and genuine experience of the place they are visiting. The one constraint to our user is their budget, they are looking for affordable options only.
As our user is price-cautious, they can make use of the following apps to better suit their user needs and work with their constraints to plan their trip:
- KAYAK, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor
These metadata websites allow comparison of options for the biggest cost and most vital part of their trip; flights and accommodation. Next we will compare the three apps and determine which best suits our user.
Utilizing Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics to measure usability we can find that all 3 apps are aesthetic and use minimal design. They are consistent and standard and allow users flexibility and control in use. After analyzing the apps according to our user profile, it was determined that Skyscanner is the best option in our specific scenario, having a traveler on a budget.
The next step was to interview 3 people who are in-line with our target user. Users were tasked with finding the best value flight from Madrid — Amman, Jordan in the next 6 months. Later they had to filter to find the best accommodation option close to Petra, Jordan using those same dates. After conducting these interviews, the following problems were discovered:
- Users would like to have a map view of economic flight options
- When searching for a flight, there is no option to search for price, you must go to the home page and use the explore all places option
- Users must go to another page to purchase tickets, it is not possible through Skyscanner
- Users value the option of searching by month with price, but that feature often does not work accurately
- There is no option to combine flight and hotel searches into one to find the best value
To solve these problems, the below lo-fi wireframes were developed.
One of the features added to the Skyscanner app is the option to search destinations using a map. In addition, when searching a specific location, filters were added to be able to search by lowest price and by month. When user arrives to the checkout, there is an option to also book a hotel using the same dates and specifications, also allowing for user to search other popular destinations nearby. This way, the user can buy both the flight and accommodation using the same platform and dates. This eases their pain of having to buy multiple things from multiple different platforms.
