A Focus On The User
A long term client of ours wanted to put their users at the centre of their strategy and future business plans. But before moving forward, they needed to understand how users were interacting with their site and whether it is aligned with their expectations and truly working for them.
The Challenge
A long time brand and media client with kwpx, came to us with some concerns about their tourism website, mainly around the usability and the way people were interacting with the site.
Wanting to focus on Customer Experience (CX) and take a more wholistic view of their brand, their customers and the interactions people have with
their business, they knew they needed to consider the entire customer journey by reviewing the users’ experience and aligning the goals and expectations they have for their site.
With personas already outlined, we focussed on their hypothesis and how we could test this in a real-world scenario.
The Hypothesis
As with many companies, they had a hypothesis about how their website was functioning. Unlike many companies – they wanted to challenge these assumptions and gain some evidence on how their site is actually being perceived and how people are interacting with the content. As well as testing the hypothesis, they also wanted understand their users better.
We focussed on a series of statements in order to develop objectives and an approach to our testing questions. We wanted to assess whether the look and feel of the website is consistent with the overall brand, whether it evokes an emotional response,
if the site portrays the area as a unique destination, as well as a series of practical questions around navigation & usability of the site, whether users could easily plan a trip and if the site effectively converts users to the next step of their journey.
The objectives were clear, we needed to determine if there was an emotional response from users, if there were any inconsistencies, determine how the site holds up against competitors’, identify any new opportunities for lead capture and create a simple website value proposition. As well as establishing a baseline for user performance and satisfaction for future comparison.
The Solution
We researched, planned, recruited and conducted usability testing with 45 participants on desktop and mobile from Australia, NZ, US, UK and Japan.
Testing plans were based around 3 specific scenarios, designed to reflect what we already knew about their persona groups of:
Dreamers, Planners and Bookers.
As an example, we knew from previously collected data that people who fit the “Booker” persona are ready to start booking elements of their holiday, therefore they often visited accommodation pages. Because of this, we included “accommodation” in their testing flow.
The goals of this usability testing was to establish a baseline of User Experience & Brand Experience against the hypothesis, and identify potential UX / UI / BX concerns.
The Findings
From conducting these detailed interviews and usability testing, we were able to provide insightful and actionable data to our client. At a high level, we discovered the need for a more compelling and emotionally driven online experience.
The experience on the site should also be more aligned with the company’s overall branding, campaign vibe and general messaging.
From a practical perspective, users need to be guided through the navigation more.
Potential holiday makers should be able to easily navigate the system, an intuitive way to plan and build a trip and a practical way to take the next steps once they have selected locations they would like to visit.
Another key finding was around accessibility, an issue that is extremely important and often overlooked. Both online, and also explaining clearly what areas of the desination are accessible, ensuring visitors are able to build a holiday that is in line with their requirements.
Next Steps
The review phase was just step 1! Utilising the data collected, the next aspect of this project is rectifying the issues that were identified.
By streamlining the user experience, removing barriers, guiding users and allowing people to navigate the site more easily, we’re confident that our client will see better results from their website. We’re currently brainstorming creative solutions to tackle the roadblocks that the testing highlighted.
With detailed evidence on the users’ experience, we’re able to ideate, wireframe, prototype, test and develop solutions that are based on actual data and not assumptions about the way in which people are interacting with the site.
Solutions that are directly aligned with the users’ needs and our client’s goals for their website.