Product Designer

Travel romantic helping others to discover the world of possibilities they live on and have a good time doing it.

I apply my background in psychology to product design by bringing an understanding of how our perception and attention work into the design process. I love creating data-driven solutions, that's why I apply a continuous process of learning from users and data.

My conversion optimization skills have been developed while working for travel industry leaders whose traffic counts in millions. Connect with me to talk about product design opportunities.

After COVID-19 and its impact on business operations there was growing consciousness within the business to invest in customer self-service, so we developed a new manage booking page.

Research

A survey with 2,441 Ryanair customers found:

• The main reason for contacting customer service (CS) was changing booking details, along with COVID-related issues
• 90% of customers reviewed the website/app before contacting CS
• 81% of customers declared that their query could not be solved on the website due to various issues
• From the 19% who could solve it using the website, 33% had additional questions and 20% needed reassurance

-> Customers want to self-serve online, but the current website does not allow them to do so successfully.

Data analysis done on contacts tagging by CS agents found:

• Managing a booking was the top reason for contacts (36% of all chats/calls in 52 weeks)
• 15% of the manage booking category related to confirming booking details
• Other functionalities included changing passenger type (8%), changing flight (6%), and changing name (3%)

-> Users seem unable to check basic booking information and complete certain functionalities, this suggests bad information architecture and complex design.

A UX heuristics and best practices analysis was conducted on the current website:

• The current page has a complex information architecture
• The information about your trip and actions to modify it or add new products are separated illogically

-> This makes the page hard to navigate and not intuitive to use.

A brief interview with 12 customers found:

• Customers usually visit the airlines website after booking to check their flight details and ensure everything is correct
• Anxiety and trust issues drive these visits
• Users also want to add or modify products like seats or bags
• The ideal post-booking experience should be simple, quick, easy to read, and have all the relevant information on one page

-> Users don't want to look for information or anything too fancy.

Design strategy

The redesign aims to provide users with all relevant information about their upcoming trip and quick access to modifying and adding new things to their trip.

Quick help articles are added next to relevant functionality to proactively answer some of the questions customers are contacting CS about.

Flight cancellations are one of the highest contact drivers, so the redesign includes a clear and easy way to manage this situation

• The affected flight is presented along with possible solutions explained in a way to calm doubts users might have
• A new quick solution is introduced to switch to an alternative flight if there are available flights on the same route +/- 1 day of the original flight

-> The redesign encourages self-service and enables resolving their cancellation quickly and easily to reduce stress

Testing findings

Unmoderated user testing was performed on the main design and cancelled flight scenario.

• The testers were able to complete all tasks related to top contact drivers to CS such as checking basic booking data and making changes
• One improvement identified was making the search bar sticky so users always have a clear call to action even when they scroll down

Moderated user testing was performed on the redesign and the current website with 6 Ryanair customers who had been in contact with CS before.

Users completed the same set of tasks on both versions, and the order was randomized to avoid bias.

• The new design received very positive feedback and was considered "easier to use", "much less cluttered and better organized"
• Users especially liked the easy access to chat and open customer service requests
• Testers rated their global satisfaction with a 9.2/10, the ease-of-use 8.6/10 and the appeal 9.6/10 for the new design
• In comparison, the current website was considered cluttered, and users found the layout inconsistent
• Testers rated their global satisfaction with a 8/10, the ease-of-use 7.8/10 and the appeal 7/10 for the current website
• Two users couldn't find their baggage allowance on the current website, reflecting the contact drivers for CS data analysis

The airline's business model relies on low fares, making it challenging to upsell higher-priced fares with additional services. The project's business request is to upsell fares in a personalized way to customers.

Research

A Hotjar poll with 2,469 respondents found:

• 36.2% of respondents did not pay attention to different fares offered, with 22.1% citing too much text as the reason
• Among the 63.8% who paid attention to fares, 40% felt that the benefits of buying a fare versus adding ancillary services individually could be better explained

-> The poll results suggest there is room for improvement in upselling fares to a significant portion of users

Design strategy

The key is to improve how users choose between different fares, guide their choice and increase revenue by:

• Making use of information that we already know about the user's current trip and their customer account data

By creating an indicator called "Trip fit", a 3-level rating scale, users will be guided between options

• "Trip fit" is represented visually and indicates how well a fare fits a user's trip
• It is the evolution of the well know tag “Recommended”
• "Trip fit" is presented as a scale with explanations, making it more objective and trustworthy

Testing findings

Unmoderated user testing confirmed the Trip fit rating concept as successful

Two groups of users were identified:

• The first group, described as experienced, price conscious, and deals-driven travelers, did not interact with the Trip fit rating, found it patronizing and did not trust Ryanair to provide an honest suggestion. This group probably falls within the category of users who always go for the cheapest option or already knew the best option for them.
• The second group of users were intrigued by the Trip fit rating, interacted with it naturally, and had a positive view of the rating afterward, understanding it as a recommendation based on previous purchases, which they found convincing.

-> Negative language like "Bad trip fit" should not be used when implementing the rating to avoid alienating the first group of users.

Research

Interviews with leisure travelers found:

• Travelers don't think much about how to move within cities
• They have access to different options like taxis, ride-hailing services, and Google Maps to help them get around

-> Presenting many different options to users without overwhelming them is a concern

Hick's Law states that the more choices presented to users, the longer it takes to make a decision

A comparative analysis was done with products such as Google Maps, Omio, and Rome2Rio

Design strategy

Users needed a simple way to understand different options for transportation on the platform

• The options are grouped into categories and have displayed minimum price and time for each category
• Using the Google Maps style grid as a familiar interaction pattern made the product more intuitive

For the business it was important to give more focus on different service providers and their distinguishing features

• The results card gives visibility to multiple providers and highlights service features
• This type of comparison is a novelty when compared to competitors

Testing findings

A user testing found:

• Users were confused about the categories of transportation available
• The landing page needed extra space for explaining the service offered
• The results page was easy to navigate and compare transportation options
• Users considered it a great trip planning tool and would recommended it to friends
• Users wouldn’t use the mobile version of the website while travelling when comparing the UX to already established ride-hailing apps

-> Future development should instead focus on miniming the biggest pain point for users, entering data