Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign of Tripadvisor

Introduction

In this story we will take a closer look at the travel website Tripadvisor. We focus on the usability of the site’s key functionalities. We will do this from the perspective of a real Worldtrotter; someone who is on a budget and is mostly looking for a genuine and social experience. To make the usability evaluation more tangible I have selected New Delhi and the Taj Mahal as our subjects’ travel destination.

Research and results

In order to get a clear understanding of Tripadvisor’s usability I conducted three online user tests of 20 minutes each. In the test we looked at three key tasks that are relevant for Worldtrotters. I also added some case details to give the interviewees more context and directions.

Task 1: Look for the cheapest possible flight to New Delhi in the next six months.
Task 2: Look for a hostel in Delhi that looks like a nice social place to stay.
Task 3: Look for the most memorable/genuine trip to the Taj Mahal.

I asked the interviewees to complete these tasks and give feedback at the same time. Five main friction areas derived from this research:

1. When searching for flights there was no way to look for the cheapest price over multiple days. This is a popular option in other flight booking websites.
2. The homepage didn’t show the most relevant categories for our test subjects. This caused confusion when looking for e.g. flights.
3. The interviewees didn’t like that they were being redirected to third parties and this happens a lot.
4. When going back and forward in the booking process prices seem to switch in amount and currency.
5. The search bar is very prominently displayed but it rarely gives the result that the user is looking for.

The focus of our redesign

Given the results of the user test, the main focus of our redesign will be the flight booking sequence. All interviewees gave clear feedback on how they couldn’t find the sequence and missed options that would help them search for the best price in a given period.

Beside the main focus of booking flights I will also pick up some quick wins along the way. These are small points of feedback that the interviewees gave that are easy to fix and have a big positive impact on the user experience.

The redesign

In order to fix the the Flight booking sequence, I executed the following revisions of the Tripadvisor design:

1. I revised the action categories on all pages. There are now only five options and they are placed in order of relevance for when planning a trip: Flights, Hotels & rentals, Things to do, Restaurants, More…
2. On the flights overview page I added three essential tabs that were missed by the test subjects: Direct flights, Alternative airports, and +/- 3 days. By adding these tabs you give the user more ways to check for the best date, price balance. These tabs were inspired by the cheaptickets.nl website.
3. I have added a detailed page of the +/- 3Days tab. This page shows a matrix of minus three and plus three days before your departure dates (see image below). This allows the user to very easily choose the best price.

I integrated these solutions in a clickable mid-fi prototype that can be found here. I welcome you to go though this prototype and interact with the new and improved features.

Of course I am interested in what you think of the new design and want to encourage you to give comments or notes.

Key learnings

Last but not least I want to share some of the key learnings that I have gained during this usability evaluation and site redesign.

The first learning is that you don’t need to do a lot of tests in order to get useful results. One interview can already be very interesting. Three tests, like in this case, already showed a clear pattern.

Secondly, I have learned that even big, famous websites like Tripadvisor aren’t perfect. There’s always room for improvement and you don’t even have to look that hard.

Lastly, I’ve learned that there are always multiple ways to solve a problem. Different websites use different approaches. In the Netherlands we have a saying that roughly means in English: “It is better to steal something good then to invent something bad”.