Approach: Competitive benchmarking - evaluate UX and UI choices against heuristic principles and grade the positive or negative impact using a three-point scale.

Key findings: 

• Searching by flexible time periods is becoming a convention. But this is not always successfully implemented.

• Business goals should not interfere with page hierarchy.

• Accessibility features at hotels aren’t introduced until the user reaches filters.

Approach: Online survey - determine user goals and behaviours from previous experiences of hotel booking. Assess the popularity of apps and devices.

Key findings:

• 92% of respondents used a marketplace app rather than a brand’s own app.

• 62% of respondents used a mobile to browse hotels, 49% used a mobile to book their hotel.

• Price and rating are the most important factors to users.

Approach: Note taking - write notes that are detailed, clear, and scannable so research can be revisited. Identify patterns in these notes and apply learnings to future stages in the process.

Key findings:

• If a user is unsure, they are likely to return to the previous page with a back arrow.

• Visibility of system status should be clear and accessible to prevent users from getting lost.

• Pricing options are important to users but software often fails to present these in a clear way.

Approach: Affinity diagram - group and subgroup data into sets that can be analysed and learnings applied to challenger apps. Draw connections between groups that impact each other or show patterns.

Key discussion points:

• In map view, if there are a high concentration of hotels in a small area, they don't all appear until zoomed in. If the map shows them all at once, the screen is too busy.

• The user is surprised about being taken to the payment page. They feel they have not been provided with enough details about the offer that was selected.

• Edit of booking unclear once the user is at payment stage. In some cases, only number of travellers editable but not dates.

Approach: Customer journey map - Assess the sequence and emotional impact of the hotel booking experience in relation to the success or failures of user goals and behaviours. Gain rich user insights and pinpoint areas of friction to succeed where other apps haven’t.

Key considerations: 

• Consider the social aspects of booking accommodation. The discussion of suitability in person or online, and the impact of this on user flow.

• The payment process can be tiring. Made worse if the path to completion is unclear.

• Pop-ups make users panic and misread information. If absolutely required, the control to close the pop-up must be clear.

• The hierarchy should always be clear and skim-able particularly when the user is in panic mode.

Approach: Flow Diagram - reflect on the commonalities and issues found through research and analysis for the most common use case. Implement or solve these within the flow.

Outcome: 

• I must look at two flows. The first is the new customer, who then discusses the option with the other travellers, then returns as a returning customer for flow 2.

Approach: Sketching - build on the flow diagram created in the previous project through iterative problem-solving sketches. Explore hierarchy, screen states, and modes.

Outcomes: 

• Develop different experiences for the returning customer in flow 2 but retain familiarity.

• Software should respond to incorrect interactions to guide the user on how best to move smoothly through the flow. This could be in the form of polite error messages or contextual hints.

Approach: Wireframing - digitalize the design sketches. Add detail and focus on interactivity and flow before prototyping.

Outcomes: 

• Place the most important information and features above the page fold. If this is not possible, ensure there are clear affordances.

• Add a fixed scroll to any core navigational elements such as buttons to proceed through the flow or the tab navigation.

Approach: Medium-fidelity prototyping - design original components and utilize design systems to create a friction-less experience of interactions and micro-interactions. Animate loading screens and transitions between screens. 

Outcomes:  

• Transitions and interactivity should be consistent across an application to aid in familiarity.

• Use overlays to provide user feedback without requiring interaction and interrupting the flow.

• Know when to stop iterating at the appropriate stage and get a design in front of the user.

Approach: ChatGPT - test and experience the software’s capabilities. Find out how to best utilize the tool to prioritise time on other aspects of the design process.

Outcomes: 

• ChatGP will make generic copy suggestions that can be used at the prototype stage but must be improved upon for the final product.

• Develop copy suggested by ChatGP with additional prompts such as brand personality or preferred length of text. 

Approach: Annotations - add detailed annotations to the prototype in preparation for the handover to the development team. Anticipating any potential questions about behaviours and interactions. 

Outcomes: 

• Users will act in unpredictable ways so all use cases for the feature or interaction should be outlined. This includes when the user doesn’t take any action. 

• In an agile working environment, it is recommended that the rules for interaction are created in collaboration with the dev team.