Author: Andrew M

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Group Travel : Iteration 3b

Issue #1: The first issue that our users encountered when doing the task of searching for a cruise within the $400 price range was that the search result included a lot of “pricing for this itinerary is not available at this time” entries. It showed up in the search results after the “price range filter” was applied. We found that the issue was caused by how the sorting was set; it was defaulted to “best value”. This is a violation of Neilsen’s principle of consistency and standards because the term “best value” is subjective, unlike “best price,” which is universally understood. The results with the “best value” included unavailable cruises that weren’t aligned with what users wanted to see. As such, this violates Neilsen’s aesthetic and minimalistic design principles, which provided irrelevant information on cruises that were not available. This feature also violates Neilsen’s visibility of system status principle because even when the user adds a new filter, the search results are still sorted by the “best value” deals, which continue to show the unavailable cruises. This negatively impacted the user’s experience because it added no value to their search results. The default sorting made the results unclear to the user. 

Recommendation: The first proposed solution is to provide the ability for end users to remove cruises that are unavailable. This can be accomplished by including a filter option to remove any cruises that are not available. The filter will be added on the left side of the page with a box that can be checked or unchecked. The filter gives the user control over the search results, allowing them to remove or keep cruises with “pricing for this itinerary is unavailable”. 

Secondly, the default sorting by “best value” is hard to understand and should be removed. The default sorting should be logical and clearly related to the filter applied to the user’s search. If they are searching by price range, it should be sorted logically by price from the lowest to the highest value, or vice versa. It makes it easy for the user to understand what is going on if the sorting reflects the filter being applied. The criteria used for sorting should be transparent and allow the user to have more control over their results. To easily find the “sort by” option, it should be moved to the left side of the result page. For added benefit, this option should remain in place as the user scrolls through the results. 

Issue # 2: Secondly, transparency of pricing was an issue noted by many of the users that we evaluated. The price originally presented was significantly less than the final price of the resort, activity, etc. This was frustrating for many of the users, who thought they had found a steal of a deal and wasted their time going through the booking process only to find the final price significantly higher than the initial quote. This violates Neilsen’s principle of visibility of system status because the actual price of the hotel is not what it is visible to the user. This also violates Neilsen’s principle of consistency and standards because the price shown in one page is different when transferred to the provider’s webpage. 

After our design workshop in class, we decided to prioritize highlighting why TripAdvisor is a better website than its competitors from a different angle. Instead of changing the algorithm to better display other entities pricing, we shifted our focus to the following:  

  1. TripAdvisor Plus, a premium subscription service where users can save on hotels, entertainment, and get exclusive travel assistance. We are highlighting the financial advantages of using TripAdvisor plus.  
  1. TripAdvisor’s reviews are provided by other people who have been on these trips and are a prominent feature of the website. We decided to highlight that feature in all the booking applications/ features.  

Issue # 3: With many competitors, TripAdvisor sets itself apart from them by offering better deals and providing context through user reviews. TripAdvisor’s value to its users over other sites like Expedia is TripAdvisor Plus.  

Our proposed solutions include the following:  

  1. Highlight reviews of search results throughout the user’s entire booking process.  
  1. Make TripAdvisor Plus benefits visually available for users as they are planning their trip. 
  1. The differences between TripAdvisor Plus and TripAdvisor should be distinct, codified, and easily recognizable by the user. This can be done by replacing The TripAdvisor Plus icon at the top of the page with a logo that draws the end users’ attention.  
  1. Secondly, the TripAdvisor Plus prices should be presented in the search results with an icon that symbolizes discounts, a Piggy Bank with sunglasses. This will help users associate TripAdvisor Plus with deals and savings.  
  1. The TripAdvisor+ logo should be available in the search results to be promoted more. This logo should also replace the TripAdvisor Plus icon on the ribbon that is on the bottom of the page. This will have a more visual impact and maximize its exposure on the page.  
  1. Lastly, when a user hovers over the TripAdvisor Plus icons, a small box should pop-up with information on what TripAdvisor Plus offers, highlighting the benefits of the subscription. This will also include a blurb about a trial period of 90 days to encourage users to try it out.  
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Individual Assignment #3: Representative User Test

Website: Trip Advisor

My group selected TripAdvisor, which is a travel information and booking site. It provides information, reviews, and photos on hotels and transportation from user-generated content. Users can book lodging, transportation and make reservations at restaurants. In addition to travel accommodation, it most popularly provides information on attractions and things to do on trips.  

The User

The user I have chosen for this scenario is a 29 year old woman who is currently 6 months pregnant. She is married to a service member and has moved 3 times in the last three years. She currently lives in the Raleigh-Durham area, however, travels frequently throughout the east coast to visit her family members. She has an undergraduate degree in biology and a doctorate of pharmacy from the University of Georgia. She loves to travel to tropical and adventurous destinations and has done so over four times this year. She wants to go on one final baby moon before it’s no longer safe for her to travel while pregnant. She wants to go to tropical location that is safe, luxurious, all-inclusive, and provides a “good” deal. She has used Trip advisor in the past to search for activity and destination reviews.

User Testing Method

The moderating technique I chose to utilize is the concurrent think aloud method. This method is designed to understand what the user is thinking as they interact with the website and talk aloud as they work through each one of the specified tasks. I chose this method because it encouraged my user to constantly think through every step/ process for each task and provided me with the most feedback possible.

User Tasks

a. The user’s first task is to identify the best all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean that she will be able to stay in within the next two months. She wants to identify a luxurious resort for her and her companion to stay at for five nights. They have a total travel budget of $6,000. I altered our group’s first task to fit the profile of my specific user, however maintains the same premise of selecting a location with a specific time range.  

b. The user’s second task is to find flights that accommodate her designated hotel dates. She prefers to fly with Delta airlines because she can use her mileage points, however isn’t dead set on Delta airlines. While this task differs from my group’s task #2, it shares a similar intent of having a user select a specific travel method and use the time ranges to find the best deals.  

c. The user’s third task is to identify three main attractions she will want to visit/ partake in either on or off the resort throughout the duration of her visit. This task mirrors my group’s task #3, which is to find different activities throughout the trip.

User Trial

a. The user’s first task is to identify the best all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean that she will be able to stay in within the next two months. She wants to identify a luxurious resort for her and her companion to stay at for five nights. They have a total travel budget of $6,000. I altered our group’s first task to fit the profile of my specific user, however maintains the same premise of selecting a location with a specific time range.  

My user immediately took to google and searched “best all-inclusive resorts- trip advisor”. The second link that popped up was, “The 10 BEST all inclusive Caribbean resorts- trip advisor.” She followed that link and immediately went to filter the dates to find reasonable prices within the time frame allotted by the task.

Upon selecting the dates she took to the filters to narrow down exactly what she was looking for. Knowing she has a strong budget and wanting to spend most of it on the resort, she selected all-inclusive, resorts, and hotel class 4/5 stars. After scrolling through ten or so resorts she found the one she liked the most based on the photos and reviews. Time to book it, but how? Knowing her second task she wanted some sort of package deal. After searching for about ten minutes the only link she could find was the one through the hotel. During those ten minutes I recorded her saying, “where do I book, i’m so confused by these prices, Trip advisor is the worst.” She gave up and booked through the resort website.

Hotel Booking Site

b. The user’s second task is to find flights that accommodate her designated hotel dates. She prefers to fly with Delta airlines because she can use her mileage points, however isn’t dead set on Delta airlines. While this task differs from my group’s task #2, it shares a similar intent of having a user select a specific travel method and use the time ranges to find the best deals.  

For the second task my user started on the trip advisor website, clicked on flights, selected RDU-PUJ, round trip, non-stop, 2x people, and search! Within a minute she had dozens of selections within her price range, but wait 11-hour layovers? She began sorting the selections by, “best value and duration,” which is where she started having issues. When she would attempt to remove some filters trip advisor would change her origin location. She started to feel defeated once that started to happen. As a 6-month pregnant woman her patience is already thin and trip advisor wasn’t making life easy. The comment, “this is why I use expedia” slipped out at this point and she gave up and went with the 11 hour flight (should only be 4 hours.)

Flight Portal

c. The user’s third task is to identify three main attractions she will want to visit/ partake in either on or off the resort throughout the duration of her visit. This task mirrors my group’s task #3, which is to find different activities throughout the trip.

The third and final task! My user thought this would be the easy portion, being Trip advisors bread and butter. She went to the trip advisor website, selected “things to do”, typed in Punta Cana, and let the search begin. She was immediately overwhelmed and this time there was no filter section to narrow down the choices. She backed out of the website, went to google, and searched, “Top things to do Punta Cana- Trip advisor,” which is where she found the top ten link (which really ended up being the top 30). After ten minutes of scrolling through the reviews and pictures, her decisions were made! The trip was complete. For this being a hypothetical trip, my user was exhausted.

Recommendations:

If Trip advisor truly wants to be competitive in the destination booking sphere they need to step their game up. Everyone wants steals and deals when they’re traveling and those usually come in the form of package prices. Trip advisor has a packages section, however the user has to dig. My user never found it, however having clicked on it on her behalf there were no deals offered for that time and location. Not true! When I did the same thing on Expedia I found plenty of deals. Trip advisor needs to instill confidence in the user that they’re getting the best deal possible, which clearly wasn’t the case in this scenario. The need to relook their “best deal” algorithm and highlight the package feature in their top display area.

The second feature my user had issues with was the filters. For some of the pages, ie the top ten things to do, there weren’t any additional filters she could select. I understand Trip advisor has created this pre-determined list, however let the user go as deep as they possibly can. By doing so, the site instills confidence that they’re making the best possible decision.

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Individual Assignment #2 (Hopper)

For my travel site I chose to review the app “Hopper,” due to its wide popularity and claims to provide the best possible deals. Hopper is a travel application designed simply to find users the best deals on flights and hotels. I recently came back from a trip to Aruba and booked my stay via AMEX travel for the hotel (Expedia) and directly through Delta.com for the flight. For this heuristic scenario, I have decided to book the same exact trip from beginning to end through Hopper and compare experiences and review hopper.com utilizing Jakob Nielsen’s 10 guiding principles.

First things first, I can’t use my laptop or desktop to book my trip?! Forcing a traveler to use their cell phone to book the entirety of their trip violates rules #4: Consistency and Standards and #7: flexibility and efficiency of use. The rule of consistency and standards states that an application should follow industry best practices, which in this situation would be to offer both mobile app booking as well as the ability to book on a website. Older users are much less likely to book a trip on their mobile devices than they are their desktop computers. The mobile application shrinks everything, which creates sensory overload for an app that depends on advertisements and a mass amount of options. The rule of flexibility and efficiency of use states that a user can personalize and customize their application. The fact that a user can only use their mobile application violates the principle of flexibility. Additionally, at no point was I able to customize or personalize my experience. In fact, I was only asked to create my account at the end of the experience right at the payment method step.

Moving on to booking my flight along with my hotel for the duration of my trip. This process was overwhelming. Again, an abundance of information all on a small screen was overwhelming and made for a stressful booking experience. I didn’t feel as though I was getting the best deal and didn’t find a way to combine booking my hotel and flight in the same process as I am accustomed to while using Expedia or similar sites. At the end of my booking experience I took to the airline and hotel websites directly and found cheaper rates! For a first time user this wasn’t a reassuring experience. Frankly, this is the point where I would delete the mobile app if this wasn’t for a graded assignment. These errors clearly violate the principles of aesthetic and minimalist design. More is less and in this case the UX designers need to reevaluate their mobile application layout. The designers need to be sure to make strong recommendations for the best possible flight/ hotel combination as well as the ability to book the both during the same process.

The final step that never happened were the recommendations. I was under the impression the Hopper app was the best at telling a user they weren’t booking the best deal, at the best price, at the best time. I was looking forward to the, “hey guy! don’t book this now! you can do better!” moment. This step violated the final principle, which is help. I was going to book a trip for way more than I should’ve and the app never helped me stop or even slow down. The app needs to have an automated help feature to assist the user with booking the best deal.

The Hopper concept is great and definitely one that had me thinking about using their product in the future. In order to more closely follow Nielsen’s heuristics principles, the developers can make a few significant changes. First, the developers need to bring the booking to desktop applications. By doing so, they’ll spread out their crowded interface and make the booking process easier for users accustomed to only booking trips using their preferred search engine. Second, if they’re stuck on solely using a mobile application they’ll need to reduce the amount of content each page has to display. Make it so a user can add to options as opposed to having them all laid out right from the beginning. I want to be able to do everything I can on this application as I can using a specific hotel or airline vendor. Points is life for frequent travelers and in order to stay relevant, Hopper should align their organization with other travel companies in order to provide the additional option of rewards points. Lastly, the application needs to constantly tell a user when they’re choosing the best deal at the best value. People use the Hopper app for helpful recommendations, they need to make sure a user is well-informed when making a poor decision, which is the helpful feature to ensure a user is making the best use of the product.

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Individual Assignment #1

Andrew Martin

User Profile

My chosen user is a 29 year old female with a doctorate in Pharmacy. She loves to travel to different locations throughout the world, however typically goes straight to specific vendors when booking flights and vehicles. When searching looking for events or hotels she uses google and the first application that usually pops up is Trip Advisor. With a trip planned to Sedona, AZ coming up, I put her to the test to plan and book the entire vacation via Expedia and at the end we would compare prices and experiences.

Novice Actions

The user went to expedia.com with the task of booking a trip to Sedona, AZ for four nights at the end of September. She needed to book a flight, hotel, car, and find 3x local activities while on the vacation. She began with entering the destination location, amount of people, dates, services desired, and then began the search.

Right away I could tell she was confused. The hotel prices were astronomical when compared to looking at prices via Google. This immediately seemed like the biggest ripoff and almost enough to click X on the tab and give up on this search. What she didn’t know and what wasn’t explicitly clear for a novice user was that the hotel price was the package deal. The flights and rental car are semi included in that huge price. I encouraged her to continue on and pick a hotel she would genuinely enjoy staying in. Right away she clicked on the 4/5 star rating filters and chose a $950 basic hotel room (something she would never do). She moved on to the flights, which is where she found out the hotel price included the base flight rates as well as the rental car. By the end of the booking process she was extremely satisfied with the end result and ease of use even with the initial confusion.

Next came time to book the activities for the trip. She lined up 3x great touring events and was excited to book, except when it came time to click they were all reserved for our selected dates. We went to sites to book directly through the venue and there was still plenty of spots available. We definitely appreciated Expedia providing free recommendations, but we had no luck booking our tickets through the website.

Recommendations

Overall, my user had an easy time navigating through Expedia and making selections for everything we needed to have for our trip. A few things she would’ve like to have been able to do. 1. Points are king when it comes to travel. While there are Expedia points, users want to be able to use their specific sky miles or hotel rewards points. A suggestion would be for the site to partner with hotel chain or airlines to make that possible when booking through their third party application. 2. While I haven’t had any confusion booking through Expedia, the site needs to make it very very clear to new users that they are booking a package deal price right from the beginning in order to avoid users clicking X right after seeing the initial sticker price.

Just like myself, my novice user enjoyed using all the various filters provided by Expedia. Right from the beginning she was able to eliminate dozens of hotel choices by selecting the 4/5 star ratings and reviews. From there was she was to deep dive various amenities and narrow down the location of the resort.