I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the client.
THE CHALLENGE
Lead the end-to-end redesign of one of Australia’s biggest B2C travel companies online presence (Website, content and marketing strategy) to address both customer and commercial needs and objectives. The process involves designing pages for various travel categories such as flights, hotels, cruise, holiday, destinations, activities, transfers, car hire, agency profiles, travel insurance, corporate pages and documentation such as invoices and itineraries.
THE APPROACH
Here is an overview of the my approach in dealing with this project;
STEP 2: RESEARCH
Marketplace and consumer R&D
Trend R&D
Brand audit
Marketing materials audit
Website audit
Competitor audit
Customer analysis
Agent and agency analysis
STEP1: DISCOVERY
Defined why we are doing this and what value it can bring to the business, agent and consumer
Defined scope of project
Top level business analysis
Partner and supplier analysis and requirements
General discovery workshop exploring travel, customer experience, agent experience, what the future may look like vs what we want the future to look like
STEP 4: EXECUTION
Gather teams, resources and tools
Production planning
Iterative design cycle
Copy writing
Video content
Destination guides
Iterative testing
Iterative development cycle
Iterative testing
STEP 3: SYNTHESIS
Information synthesis
IA (Card sorting, content frames)
Idea generation (Wireframes, prototype etc)
Feasibility study
Present findings
Define what success looks like
Define business and design strategy
DISCOVERY
The discovery and R&D phase audit the existing work, review the competitor landscape, understand our client's vision, and begin research into user needs, behaviours and pain‐points.
SWOT TAKEAWAYS
STRENGTH
Network scale
Access to product
Potential company resources
Potential market reach
Ability to negotiate commercial pricing to provide customers with exclusive deals
Agent knowledge and travel experience
People in the online team
WEAKNESS
Organisation hierarchy causing inaction
Agent fear of online presence
Agency model restricting online competitiveness
Lack of understanding in potential and execution of modern marketing and online platforms
Poor online presence which creates the perception of an untrustworthy brand
Lack of autonomy for the online team who are area experts
Brand is not memorable and not front of mind for many general travel consumers and when it is recognized the brand is positioned below main competitors in the market
Visual identity is dated and not flexible enough for cross platform digital marketing purposes
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
Aging customer demographic without renewal strategy
Bricks and mortar competition
Digital competitors focused on volume selling and referrals
Voice systems filtering search options to highest options ranked only
Changes in consumer behaviour
Local and international economic effects
Local and international issues
Under engaged and viable untapped customer segments
Website missing product segments
Underrepresented product offerings
Enhance online brand positioning as an online trusted advisor supported by bricks and mortar stores
Potential to increase traffic for agents through improving online presence and communications
Position value proposition around traveler experience reinforcing company slogan “Travel professionals“
USER EMPATHY
We used both real world quantitative and qualitative user data as well as customer personas throughout the project to guide design decisions, priorities, and create empathy amongst the our team and stakeholders.
Agent Needs
Through various discussions and interviews we found;
Create individual agency online presence which gains trust from the consumer. This presence will provide consumers with the agencies value proposition, the expertise of the agents within the agency, and information about an travel agency including contact information
A globally accessible and intuitive interactive agency finder so customers can easily locate their nearest or preferred travel agency. Must work smoothly across mobile and desktop devices
Easy access to all online products the consumer maybe browsing both through the website and through any back-end systems so they can customize travel options or provide a better deal
Provide agents with access to digital versions of new and currently relevant brochures, catalogues and other marketing material available to the public
Create a simple and meaningful mechanism to convert online traffic to in-store business
Feel the company website is supporting their B2C business not competing with it
OUR CustomerS
Through interviews, surveys and analytics of existing customers and consumers of similar demographics and psychographics we found;
The majority of customers the current customers are mature adults to elderly
While many customers will research online many of these customers still use traditional print brochures and flyers to find their get away.
The primary customer base find purchasing online a little daunting and avoid making large or bespoke purchases online due to lack of confidence and understanding of digital systems, preferring to deal with a human being
Customers who book through an agent are looking for valuable, affordable experiences and the perceived assurance of trouble free travel which comes through booking with an agent
GENERAL TRAVEL CONSUMERS
The majority of consumers are looking at price point or a valuable experience.
The majority of consumers will research online through a series of small/ micro sessions defined as moments, these moments occur primarily on mobile devices in what would normally be down time
Whilst the majority of research is done via mobile or tablet the ordering process in Australia is still done primarily through desktop with a sharp rise in mobile purchases as consumer confidence in large mobile transactions increases
A segment of online consumers become area experts and become influencers in their social circles
Customers aged xx are more likely not to use an agent while customers xx will
Younger customers making their first trip are likely to visit a travel agent
OUR IDEAL CUSTOMER
It turns out our persona hypothesis needed not one ideal customer but several ideal customers addressing key archetypes each representing a different traveller segment such as cruise, flights, hotels, holidays etc.
Through careful analysis of research (in particular demographic & psychographic), we identified sufficient behavioural patterns and variables to segment our user audience.
These findings could indicated purpose of travel, frequency of travel, time of travel, travel needs, confidence and motivations for travel.
With all this user information the design could be customized to provide targeted consumer groups the most value as well as provide the business with the highest potential ROI.
RESEARCH & SYTHESIS
Research involved the following;
Marketplace and consumer R&D
Trend R&D
Brand audit
Marketing materials audit
Website audit
Competitor audit
Customer analysis
Agent and agency analysis
This research provided many insights into successful SEO strategies, content strategies, usability features as well as who was not our customer and what wouldn’t work for our audience. During the research process many holes in our own marketing material and brand became apparent which need to be addressed.
REDESIGN STRATEGY
Defining structure
To achieve this I focused on understanding and defining existing, required and beneficial site content which was then converted into content frames per category and per page. This information helped shape the design strategy and structure. This processes clearly informed wireframe requirements which saved time on design and allowed us to design at high fidelity making it easier to engage stake holders.
CONTENT STRATEGY
The content strategy design focuses on delivering quality content (Unique where possible) which is scalable and automated (Where possible). This content was not just for product but also included destination editorial, factual content modules and specific video content. The purpose of going to this much effort is to build brand, fulfil our value proposition, building trust with our travel consumers as well as drastically improve our SEO ranking.
Examples of the content along with detailed plans were created outlining the execution requirements, procedures, resources and costs to develop the content. This was supported with various examples, case studies and white papers as evidence to support the strategy.
Video content strategy example
AFFORDANCE
During the design process we found there were many improvements and opportunities we could seize which would provide a smoother, clearer more valuable user experience. We also realized what others in the travel space as well as the B2C space are doing right. With this in mind we did not reinvent the wheel if there was evidence that an approach connected with our audience and would likely help us reach our commercial objectives we would adopt it. This decision was taken to make the experience as familiar as possible reducing user confusion and frustration that comes with a completely alien experience.
NEW FEATURES
Through the process it became apparent that there were fantastic opportunities to provide great value to experience focused customers. The potential of these features was apparent and could lead to higher conversion rates as well as assist agents in store. These new features are completely customer centric, designed from the ground up and are the first of their kind in the travel sector.
UI DESIGN
The UX and UI have been designed to work across desktop, tablet and mobile (With voice on the way) with focus on creating a clear, intuitive, frictionless experience.
The certain elements of the UI presented challenges due to issues with the design of the brand identity which presents issues in relation to responsive design and accessibility. These issue were challenged and resolved while maintaining brand guidelines.
Original design
New design
PROTOTYPE TESTING
Thru testing the new design appears to be more effective at addressing various customer journey types providing higher value, driving higher engagement and increase conversion.
EXECUTION
To date the website is not yet live as development priorities have been focused on another project I am working on which is the very successful Skiddoo.com.au
Update: The website update is currently on hold and will need to be re-addressed due to the impact that Covid-19 has had on the world. The redesign will need to take into account the changes to the travel landscape as well as traveller health protocols and procedures.