Optimizing an online booking process
INTRODUCTION
Venku is the fastest growing marketplace to discover and book top-rated, high-quality outdoor experiences across America. A variety of experiences led by expert hosts can be discovered and booked through the site.
PROBLEM
Despite a variety of offerings, users often sought assistance from the sales team before booking, indicating potential usability issues and trust barriers in the online booking process.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Identify user pain points in the booking journey and develop behaviorally informed strategies to enhance user confidence and autonomy in completing bookings.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Who are Venku’s primary users, and what mental models do they hold regarding online booking?
At which points in the customer journey do users opt for assistance over independent booking?
What UX strategies can reduce friction and increase trust in the booking process?
Client: Venku
Duration: January - May 2022 (4 months)
Location: USA
Role: UX researcher and client liaison
Team: 4 behavioral scientists
Skills: mixed-methods research, competitor analysis, affinity mapping, prototyping, synthesis, usability testing
Tools: Miro, Figma
PROCESS
METHODOLOGY
Aimed at building a deep contextual understanding, we conducted mixed-methods research.
LITERATURE REVIEW: Examined behavioral science literature focusing on online trust drivers and emotional design principles to inform our research framework.
We also analyzed demographics, website stats, and a Competitor Analysis to understand the Venku customer, website features, and the strengths and weaknesses of the booking process.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS: We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with Venku’s internal team to understand customer demographics, common inquiries, and desired user experience improvements.
USER INTERVIEWS & CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY: Engaged with customers to observe their booking processes, identifying specific pain points and emotional responses during the journey. We wanted to understand why customers were unable to book trips without the help of the sales team and this allowed us to observe the exact moments where customers ran into issues.
USABILITY TESTING: Facilitated usability tests with 15 participants using scenario-based tasks and the think-aloud method to gather real-time feedback on the website's booking functionality.
SURVEYS: Deployed a survey to 23 users (both new and returning) to quantify satisfaction levels and gather feature enhancement requests.
Research insights
“I type ‘Montana’ in the keyword box to filter results but other states show up.”
“The details of this hunting trip are unclear — will it only be my group or combined with other groups?”
“The sales team can hear what I’m interested in and immediately curate recommendations, it takes too long to do it myself.”
KEY FINDINGS
Inconsistent Listings: Variability in listing details and unclear payment policies eroded user trust.
Insufficient Visuals: Current images failed to set accurate expectations for trips.
Navigation Challenges: Users desired improved map functionality and more robust filtering options to streamline the search process.
Demographic Insights: The user base skews older, with many accustomed to traditional booking methods, highlighting a need for a more intuitive digital experience.
DEFINE
AFFINITY MAPPING
Purpose: To distill and organize qualitative data from user interviews, usability tests, and surveys, facilitating the identification of recurring themes and insights.
Process: We utilized Miro to collaboratively cluster related data points, allowing patterns to emerge organically. This method enabled us to visualize user needs, pain points, and behaviors, leading to a deeper understanding of the user experience.
Outcome: Key themes identified included:
Desire for personalized assistance during the booking process.
Frustrations with inconsistent listing information and unclear payment policies.
Need for enhanced search and filtering functionalities.
BEHAVIORAL MAP
Purpose: To visualize the user's journey through the booking process, highlighting decision points, emotional highs and lows, and areas where users sought assistance.
Process: We created detailed behavioral maps that charted the steps users took from landing on the homepage to completing (or abandoning) a booking. This included noting instances where users hesitated, backtracked, or reached out for help.
Outcome: The behavioral maps revealed critical friction points, such as:
Uncertainty due to vague trip descriptions.
Difficulty navigating the search function to find specific experiences.
Lack of trust stemming from insufficient visual content and inconsistent information.
DESIGN
DESIGN GOALS
Our approach followed the Behavioral Insight Team’s EAST framework. If you want to encourage a behavior, make it:
ITERATIONS
After narrowing in on search functionality, we jumped into ideating website improvements. We ran an ideation session with 15 participants to get our ideas on paper and create lo-fidelity prototypes. My team created and presented 16 mid-fidelity prototypes to our client, after which we guided her through a prioritization exercise to narrow these down to 7 which would become part of our final recommendations.
Lo-fidelity prototype exercise
2x2 prioritization grid
DELIVER
RECOMMENDATIONS
Enhance search functionality: Revamp the search process to ensure users can confidently navigate the website to find their ideal experience. This includes improving filtering options and ensuring search results are relevant to user queries.
Simplify user experience: Streamline the search interface to make it more intuitive, reducing feelings of overwhelm and confusion among users. Implement clear categories and intuitive navigation paths to guide users effortlessly.
Integrate personalized assistance: Recreate the human element that users experience when interacting with the sales team by incorporating personalized features. This could involve chatbots, personalized recommendations, or virtual assistants to guide users through the booking process.
IMPACT
Take a look at some of our solutions on Venku’s home page:
Navigation Tabs
Customized Travel
Trust Badges
REFLECTIONS
Reflecting on this project, several key lessons emerged:
Importance of trust signals: For an older demographic, prominently displaying trust indicators—such as consistent listing information and clear payment policies—is crucial in fostering user confidence in online booking platforms.
Value of personalized assistance: Integrating features that emulate human interaction, like personalized recommendations or virtual assistants, can effectively replicate the support users typically seek from sales teams, enhancing their booking experience.
Need for intuitive navigation: Streamlined and user-friendly navigation, including improved search functionalities and filtering options, is essential to prevent user frustration and facilitate efficient access to desired information.
These insights underscore the necessity of aligning digital experiences with user expectations, particularly for demographics transitioning from traditional to online platforms.