One of the great ironies of the web is that researching and booking a relaxing holiday can be one of the most stressful things you can do online. Before you can flop yourself on a beach in a far-away clime you need to consider and navigate through a choice of options that all begin to look the same and hope that you get through the long booking process without making a critical mistake.
We have worked with airlines, luxury hotel chains and regional tourism bodies performing usability testing, user needs research and iterative user centred design. We’ve seen and heard usability test participants do everything from looking dreamily at gorgeous foreign beach hotels to clenching their fists in frustration at barriers they hit booking their flight. We’d like to share these experiences with you and identify what are the key elements that make or break the user experience in researching, booking and managing travel & leisure online. This talk will cover
The psychology of booking travel : known unknowns and unknown unknowns
Primary and secondary choice parameters in travel, tourism and leisure
Typical barriers in researching and booking travel
The role of mobile UX in the complete travel customer experience
Innovative ways of presenting information for the travel & leisure context
International aspects – what works for one audience may not work for another
User Experience in the Travel and Tourism Industry - Ucd2013 conference talk by Chris Rourke
1. Session A5
Chris Rourke
Make it easy to take it easy : User experience in the Travel,
Tourism and Leisure industry
chris@uservision.co.uk
@crourke @uservision
@ucduk #ucd2013
Supporters
Sponsors
Organiser
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4. The UX challenge for travel, tourism & leisure
Travel is emotional - expectations are high
Relaxation
Entertainment – self & family
Service
Catering for special circumstances
Travel booking is complex - many parties involved
Flight operations & parameters
Third parties & partners
Site and booking process may not be fully controlled
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7. Main usability and UX challenge areas
First impressions
Workflow of the search & book process
Page level interactions
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IA and categorisation
Search
Date selector
Form interactions
Smart defaults
Geolocation (mobile)
8. Choice Parameters - flights
Secondary parameters
Loyalty points
Service level
Connections
Date/ time
Price
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10. Workflow – Flights
Previously
Put in some info
And some more
And more to specify
Press submit
Scroll through huge
results list
Start again or revise
Not in control
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Now
Put in little info
Submit
See the results
Filter & refine
In control & confident
11. Workflow – Hotels, holidays & leisure
Offer options to let customer learn & decide by
what matters to them
Price – location – hotel – room
Hotel – price – room
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Location information
Inspiring photos
Clear differences between room options
Facilities
29. Satisfice your customer
If no results,
query
relaxation
allows me to
choose options
slightly outside
my original
search.
www.newzealand.com.
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30. Be Persuasive
Reciprocity – If you do something for them (offer a
discount, give a free sample, add in an optional extra)
people are more likely to do something for you
Commitment and Consistency – If people commit in
writing to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honour
that commitment. So the more people type in details,
the more invested they are in proceeding
Social Proof – If other people are doing it, people
become much more confident that they too are doing
the right thing
Authority – People will tend to obey authoritative
figures. These can be classic authority figures, celebrities,
or official ratings and scales
Liking – People are easily persuaded by people “just like
me”, as demonstrated by the power of viral marketing
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Scarcity – If something is short supply, or time-limited
supply, it will generate demand and pressure to buy in
case you lose out on a bargain
31. Persuasion in Action (2)
Reciprocity
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Commitment and Consistency
Social Proof
Authority
Liking
Scarcity
33. Be mobile
Mobile is the glue for the
user experience
Can make – or break experience
Allow customisation in
settings
Usual airport
Usual payment card
Usual seat etc
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34. UX Research for the sector
Recruit specifically for credibility
Experience - What people bring with
them is important
More “let off the leash” tests – let the
user set their own parameters
Remote
moderated testing
self moderated testing
unmoderated testing
A/B & Multivariate testing for
conversion funnels
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35. Content & journey inventory
Chart describes a typical research journey and where the information needs are met
INFORMATION NEED
Price
Weather
Latest deals?
What is included in price?
How does XXXXX compare?
What is there to do for kids?
What is there to do locally?
What’s new with XXXXX ?
Special deals for customers?
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36. Key takeaways
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Recognise – and foster – the emotional aspect of travel
Discover your target users’ parameters
Let the user play by their own rules, be in control
Allow previews, avoid pogosticks
Research in context