FamQuest
A responsive website that aims to make the process of booking a vacation as easy as possible.
ROLE
TIMELINE
UX Researcher
65 Hours
UX Designer
OVERVIEW
Expedia is one of the leading online travel agencies, providing users with a platform to search, compare, and book flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation packages, and activities worldwide.
PROBLEM
While Expedia offers a vast selection of travel options, its user interface and experience could be improved to enhance usability, increase conversion rates, and drive customer satisfaction.
THE GOALS
While Expedia’s website contains all necessary information and vast options for travel, there are areas where improvements could be made to enhance the overall user experience.
Simplify the layout of the homepage and reduce clutter to make it easier for users to find what they need.
Highlight key features: functionality, deals, and popular destinations.
Group related categories and options in the navigation menu to facilitate easy exploration.
Provide options for filtering by price, location, amenities, ratings, and other relevant criteria.
Provide clear guidance and progress indicators to keep users informed of their current status during the booking process.
RESEARCH
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
To better understand the competitive landscape and identify opportunities for FamQuest, I conducted a competitive analysis of five leading family travel websites. This research focused on exploring their features, usability, and design choices to uncover strengths and gaps. By analyzing these popular platforms, I gained insights into best practices and potential improvements, ensuring FamQuest offers a unique, user-centric experience tailored to families seeking curated travel adventures.
USER INTERVIEWS
Some key findings:
Confusion about package inclusions, discrepancies in images, and dislike of redirects to partner sites.
Ease of use, clear details, simple interface with filters for location, date, price range, and best ratings are important factors.
Less clutter, more distinct designs between various travel sites and comprehensive packages that include flights, hotels, and rentals are desirable mentions.
Frustration with the commonality of travel sites looking too familiar.
Users rely on Google searches, recommended sites, and consider rates, safety, and family activities.
Challenges in browsing for accommodations include frequent full bookings, high prices, inconsistent experiences based on reviews, and difficulty finding pet-friendly accommodations.
Location, amenities, dining options, and room amenities are important to users.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Most travel sites current user interface lacks clarity and ease of use, leading to user frustration and confusion during the booking process. This impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Improving the responsive web design is essential to enhance usability, streamline navigation, and provide a more satisfying booking experience for diverse user needs.
COMPONENTS
User Persona
User Flow
DEFINE
Next, I created two personas based on the insights gathered from my research. The first persona, Emily, represents a food enthusiast who prioritizes unique dining and activity options during her travels while balancing comfort and cost. The second persona, Sarah, embodies a family-focused traveler seeking safe, family-friendly, and pet-accommodating vacations. Her goals including finding all-inclusive deals and ensuring a comfortable experience for everyone. These personas helped me tailor the design to meet the diverse needs of family travelers and leisure explorers.
USER FLOW
Creating this user flow allowed me to design an intuitive pathway for users to achieve their goals while exploring accommodations on FamQuest. Starting with the search bar, users can input their travel details and proceed to view points. At decision points, they have the flexibility to apply filters like price and amenities to refine their search. The flow culminates in users viewing results in either a list or map format, ensuring smooth navigation. By visualizing these steps, I prioritized simplicity and alignment with user needs.
COMPONENTS
Mid-Fi Wireframes
Hi-Fi Prototype
DESIGN
Based on the user flow, I started the design phase by delving straight into the mid-fidelity wireframe concepts for the homepage and the search results page. This process allowed me to experiment with various ways of organizing the content.
The Landing Page of the FamQuest website
The Search Results page
HIGH-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Next, I developed the high-fidelity screens based on the wireframes I had previously designed for FamQuest. To reflect the theme of family-oriented travel, I incorporated a warm, inviting color palette and rounded design elements to create a friendly and approachable user experience.
For example, I styled the accommodation and itinerary cards with soft shadows and clean typography to enhance visual clarity while maintaining an intuitive layout. These design choices helped emphasize the family-friendly aesthetic of the site while ensuring usability and a polished, professional appearance.
The landing page of the FamQuest website
Date Input
Traveler Input
Applied Filters
Filtered Search Results
TEST
To bring FamQuest to life for user testing, I created an interactive prototype using Figma that simulated key user flows and validated the site’s functionality and design. I incorporated essential actions, such as entering travel details in the search bar, filtering results, and navigating through accommodation options. By linking screens with transition and interactive components, I provided a seamless experience for testers to explore the travel planning process, ensuring that the prototype reflected real-world usability and aligned with user needs.
TASKS
Search for Travel Destination.
Apply Filters.
Interact with Popular Itineraries.
TASK COMPLETION RATE
100%
TEST OUTCOME
To validate the prototypes for FamQuest, I conducted usability testing with real users, allowing them to interact with the site’s core features, such as entering travel details, applying filters, and exploring accommodation options. I observed how users navigated the interactive prototype and gathered feedback on usability, task completion, and overall satisfaction. These insights helped identify areas for improvement and ensure that the final design aligned with user expectations and needs.
WHAT WORKED
The overall navigation was intuitive, allowing users to easily move through the core features of the site.
The search and filter functions were straightforward and provided useful options for narrowing down travel accommodations.
The layout and visual design were appealing and aligned with user expectations for a travel site.
WHAT NEEDS WORK
Some users felts that more interactive visual elements could further enrich the browsing experience (i.e., suggestions for adding a clickable hover image feature would enhance usability, especially for quickly accessing more information about accommodations.)
ITERATIONS
In conclusion, by carefully analyzing user feedback, I implemented a clickable hover image feature as an iteration. This minor, yet impactful adjustment, significantly improved the usability and accessibility of the travel site, allowing users to quickly access key information with ease. This change demonstrates how small, targeted updates can meaningfully enhance the user experience.
⚡️ PROBLEM (Figure 1)
An issue that arose was users struggling to quickly locate information due to the lack of a clickable hover image feature on itinerary previews.
⭐️ SOLUTION (Figure 2)
To address this, I implemented the feature to provide instant access to key details when hovering over images.
FUTURE ROADMAPPING
My future road-mapping includes enhancing and expanding features outlined below:
Expand Interactive Features: Incorporate a “Save Itinerary” function to allow users to bookmark trips for future planning.
Personalized Recommendations: Develop AI-driven trip suggestions based on user preferences and past interactions.
Localization Option: Offer multi-language support and currency conversion for a global audience.
Sustainability Filters: Include eco-friendly travel options for conscious travelers.
MY REFLECTION
USABILITY
This project emphasized the importance of creating user-centric designs. By integrating features like clickable hover images, I enhanced navigation efficiency and ensured users could access information quickly.
SCALABILITY
Developing this travel site inspired ideas for future growth, such as incorporating AI-driven recommendations and expanding personalization options to meet diverse user needs.
FLEXIBILITY
Through iterative improvements based on user feedback, I adapted the design to address specific pain points, like adding dynamic elements, while maintaining a balance between aesthetics and functionality.
