We Travel - Going Lean
WeTravel is a group booking site and their MVP was geared toward students booking a trip for school. These students were embarking on trips with their class. The school would give the students details about the trip beforehand and spaces were limited. The students were focused on getting through the process as quickly as possible to insure their spot.
They hire me to research a new demographic so that they can redesign the site to attract a broader range of group travelers. I did both the user research and the designs for the new booking product.
Transitioning Personas
We studied the group market and decided that it made sense for WeTravel to focus on an older demographic. We wanted to study a more challenging demographic because we wanted the process to be a clear as possible. We figured if we designed a product that was clear and simple for the baby boomers, that most other demographics can navigate the site.
Working Lean
We worked lean. We tested new designs every week, saw what was working and tweaked the ideas based on feedback. In total, we tested 20 users in five weeks.
The Beginning
We selected 5 different travelers to test the original site. This enabled us to understand what was working, what was not working, and the general mindset of someone booking a group trip. We quickly learned that there are some differentiating factors between booking a solo trip vs. group travel.
Our Lovely Group of Travelers
Each traveler was awarded their own color. We documented each pain point on a post it. Then we grouped similar pain points together to find trends.
What We Learned
Biggest Take Aways
The Next 3 Tests
Step 1: Making a very low-fi prototype that has a variety of different ideas. It is easier to do too much and cut back on what doesn't work. User are typically more vocal about what they don't like than what they want to add.
2nd Step: Refine the bigger concepts. This is the point that I really focus on hierarchy. Put a little bit more time in the UI but I always suggest to keep things fairly rough for the first few tests. It is harder to kill a design that I didn't spend 5 hours polishing.
3rd Step: Start focusing on the aesthetics. The previous tests told me where things should go. For step 3, I focus on the entire pictures and how everything works together.
