Ironhack’s Challenge 3: Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign — Skyscanner
It’s time for the third challenge, where we have to test and redesign a travelling website or application.
While you are reading this article you might be thinking of vacation or travelling somewhere. Because of Covid, we all couldn’t travel much for the last year. But finally, things are coming back to place and we all can travel again. Now when it comes to planning a vacation, people nowadays plan their whole vacation through a website or even on an app. And there are a lot of companies who offer services like booking flight tickets, hotels, car rentals, activities etc. And from the standpoint of a user, what would be the ideal website to use?
Let’s do some usability evaluation of some sites and suggest some redesign.
For the challenge we had to follow 6 steps:
1. Choose a user type
2. Research about the destination
3. Benchmarking
4. Testing
5. Provide some insights
6. Redesign Wireframes
1. User Type
Out of 6 different user types, I chose World Trotter, Backpacker — 18–38 y/o (1) based on my audience reach.
Description of the User type: You’ve decided to finally go visit that wonder that has been sitting in your dreams for a long time now. You don’t have a long time to plan but also you don’t need it. You’ll be traveling in 6 months and are open to almost any possibility but have a budget constraint. You are price-cautious and prefer experiences where you have a chance to meet people and make acquaintances to enjoy the wonder together. You are not picky and you can accommodate the most affordable, adventurous, genuine experience.
2. Research
After deciding on a user type, we needed to choose a location for the users to visit.
- Destination: TAJMAHAL, Agra, India
- Users: French citizens
- Nearest airport: Agra Airport
- Currency: Indian Rupees ₹
- Exchange rate from euro: 1 Euro equals 88.85 Indian Rupee
- Vaccination: The CDC and WHO recommend the following vaccinations for India: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, meningitis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), chickenpox, shingles, pneumonia and influenza.
- Visa: Need to apply for an Indian Tourist e-visa with the French passport
- Wardrobe recommendations: Loose fitting and breathable clothing, with some comfortable shoes, scarf, and bug spray.
- Days needed to visit attractions: 2–3 days recommended
3. Benchmarking
I ran a usability test based on Nielsen’s Principles to determine which of the above-mentioned apps is the best for my target user group.
4. Testing
For testing, I am going with Skyscanner. To begin I interviewed 3 people from my target audience. The first test I had my users take was a 5-second test, after which they were to respond to the following questions:
- What did you see?
- What can this website do for you?
- Where would you search for a flight?
- Anything particular that grabbed your attention
- What’s the name of the company?
- Do you remember the logo or the colours of the company?
All of my users were already familiar with the Skyscanner app and its first screen. Next, I asked them to plan their vacation to visit Tajmahal in Agra, India. I also asked them to look for accommodation in Agra, look for some other activities that could be done in Agra and for some car rental services.
5. Insights
Results from the interview:
- Users found some unnecessary spacing while searching for the flights. There was an information box on the top which was taking a lot of space and a close icon to that box was missing.
- Users thought that the sponsored ads could be shifted to the left side of the website instead of placing it just over the flights.
- In the filters section, users wanted the Outbound filter and the Journey Duration filter option on the top (currently listed below)
- In the Hotels section, users wanted the design of the same filters as presented in the Flights section (easy and clear).
- A Like & Dislike button in the hotel description could be a great idea.
- Users wished if they can see Airbnb or stay at home etc options.
- Users couldn’t book or look for any activities page as the page doesn’t exist.
- And the end, it would have been great if they include a summary section.
6. Redesign Wireframes
Wireframe 1:
- Added Close button to the information box and removed unnecessary space.
Wireframe 2:
- Moved the sponsored ad to the left side.
- Rearranged the filters section.
Wireframe 3:
- Redesigned the Hotels filter section.
- Added a Like & Dislike button for the users.
Wireframe 5:
- Added a new segment called Activities.
- And added a summary section in the Activities.
Thinks I learned:
My first 3 words: I loved it!
No doubt, this challenge was the most difficult challenge in the prework but a great one for sure. I took a lot of time in this exercise and learned a lot. My favourite part was the 5-second test. In those 5 seconds, you can get the initial impressions of the website from a user. And while conducting interviews you learn that every user has a distinct pattern of analysing a website. And that’s why it’s so important to follow all these steps to have a great product.
