User & Competitor Research
Cabin Booking Site
THE CHALLENGE
Developing a nature-focused booking site required initial research to identify user goals and understand competitor products.
I conducted user research for a booking site including competitor analysis and qualitative user research, including designing a survey and usability testing to understand the target audience's goals and experience. This data was analyzed and prepared for implementation in the design process.
My research identified how other products supported or hindered customer goals, related to heuristics, and identified opportunities to best cater to unmet needs. I worked with feedback from a senior designer to create a 'happy path' user flow from landing page to booking.
Context
Capstone research project
Role
Researcher collecting new and applying pre-existing research
Timeline
6 months < part-time
Aims
Getting an understanding of the user's needed involved learning from our competitors and intended audience. I synthesized this data both alone and in collaboration with designers.
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This ideal flow will help us retain customers by providing a familiar environment with fewer pain points than competitor websites.
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My objectives were to:
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Examine best-in-class website solutions for solving user problems
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Identify design conventions and best practices to emulate in our product
Competitor Analysis
First was competitive benchmarking with a focus on heuristics. I applied this to four top search results that would likely compete with this company, including AirBNB, VRBO, HipCamp, and GlampingHub.
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I gathered and pitched my analysis of three top competing booking sites. This included simple rating system based on pain points and targeted design heuristics. This also provided some insight into current design practices.
Usability Testing & Heuristics
I scripted and interviewed a target audience member -one who currently books sites for outdoor activities- and conducted usability testing of competitor sites.
"What is already kind of bothering me...is that I can't do like a flexible [date] thing”
-V, participant
Mini-Survey
A booking survey was designed following the 'golden three' questions to get some more user insights.
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​A short survey was conducted that, while only garnering six responses, gave some starting considerations. The survey covered recent use of booking sites, what worked and what didn't, aims, type of location booked, and what would improve their experience.
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This was not enough to conduct quantitative analysis, but yielded qualitative content.
“Implement a more intuitive and interactive map interface for easier browsing."
-Survey participant
Transcription
I transcribed and did behavioral, sentiment and heuristic evaluation of my interview and interviews conducted by other designers.
Synthesis
I developed a customer journey map and mock user, Helen, to personalize the journey.
Collaborative Analysis
My data was gathered and shared for collective review with other junior designers. We reviewed content and clarified uncertain documentation.
Affinity Diagram
We collaboratively conducted an affinity test live through FigJam to consolidate insights into labeled groups and organized according to flow process.
Conclusion
Additional research would help refine the prototype, but by combining data from a variety of sources, we got a broad look at current practices, pain points, and understanding of how users interact with competitor sites.
