Challenge 3: Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign

Introduction

Dunn’s River Falls is one of the top attractions in Ocho Rios, St. Ann Parish. These picturesque falls, encompassing 180 meters of gently terraced waterfalls, tumble over rocks and limestone ledges into the sea.

For a fun full-day outing, Dunn’s River Falls and Bob Marley’s Nine Mile tour. This tour stops by the village of Nine Mile, birthplace of Bob Marley, and then heads over to the Dunn’s River Falls for a guided hike up to the falls and a slide or swim in the natural pools.

1. User Type

Young couple — 20–40 y/o (2)

You and your partner decide to go to a special place next summer. You realize you have both saved enough for the tickets and are planning to save as much as possible for the next 6 months to do this trip. You want to be efficient and have everything you need organized to enjoy at 100% while there. Even if you’re young, you want to have special moments to celebrate being together.

2. Research

Our users will be visiting Dunn’s River Falls, St. Ann’s Parish, Jamaica

• Nearest airport / most convenient airport to destination: Norman Manley International Airport
• Currency and exchange from your own currency: 1 USD to JMD = 148.503 Jamaican Dollars
• Medical needs: vaccination, visa, etc: 2 hospitals- St. Ann’s Bay Hospital and MoBay Hope
• Wardrobe recommendations: water shoes are a must, as well as comfortable footwear. Comfortable, loose clothing is recommended since the weather is mostly warm and tropical
• Days needed to visit attraction: 7–10 days

3. Benchmarking

I chose Skyscanner, TripAdvisor, and Kayak to conduct the following Heuristic Evaluation: Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Kayak

Visibility of system status:

Skyscanner: Yes

Trip Advisor: Yes

Kayak: No

Match between system and the real world:

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: Yes

User control and freedom

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: Yes

Consistency and standards

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: No

Error prevention

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvsior: Yes

Kayak: Yes

Recognition rather than recall

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: Yes

Flexibility and efficiency of use

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: Yes

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: No

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Skyscanner: Yes

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: No

Help and documentation

Skyscanner: No

TripAdvisor: Yes

Kayak: No

Based on the Heuristic Evaluation, Skyscanner and Trip Advisor were running neck and neck. I decided to go with TripAdvisor instead of Skyscanner because from my perspective, the Skyscanner seems to be a more straightforward app, TripAdvisor is more user friendly than SkyscannerTripAdvisor.

4. Testing

For this phase, I asked 3 users to look at the home screen for 5 seconds and asked them the questions below:

• What did you see?
• What can this tool do for you?
• Where would you search for a flight?

I also asked them to do the following action items in Trip Advisor:

• Book a round trip flight from JFK Airport in New York to Norman Manley International Airport, Jamaica for 8 days
• Find a hotel for near Dunn’s River Falls (or commutable distance) for 8 days/ 7 nights
• Book an excursion package to visit Dunn’s River Falls

5. Insight

After the test sessions, here is a summary of the findings and results of the test from our users.

User 1 Results:

• User was able to accomplish all two of of three tasks on their own
• Liked that its showed the COVID-19 precautions based on the airline flight details from TripAdvisor
• Did note that during the seat selection, there was no indication of social distancing was implemented

Challenges:

• User had to return to the homepage to book the hotel and excursion to Dunn’s River Falls

User 2 Results:

• User was able to complete all three tasks on their own
• Similar to User 1, also liked the COVID-19 precautions based on the airline
• Liked the excursion feature in the app

Challenges:

• Assumed that the flight, hotel and excursion package booking would be seamless
• It was time consuming to book the flight/hotel and excursion package separately

User 3 Results:

• User was able to accomplish all two of of three tasks on their own
• Mention that results were a bit cluttered and took a while to figure out the results before making a selection

Challenges:

• Experienced the same issue as User 1

6. Redesign Wireframes

Based on the users’ feedback during the testing phase, the proposed changes would be to connect the excursion/ Create a trip feature to and link it to the where the user can book their flight and hotel stay. This can be accomplished by creating a unique alphanumeric code that uses dates that was created to find flights and/or hotel accommodations.

The happy path would be:

• The user can either select the more option and select a new option called created trips or access their saved trip in the “My Trip” option on the homepage.
• Since their data is saved, the user can either retrieve their Trip ID number. They can select “Go!” option which will direct the user to their flight options (and/or hotel accommodations).
• Once the option is selected, the user’s name, date of birth and address is populated (based on the user’s profile info stored in the trip details). The user from there can either select seat options or bypass.
• From there, they can enter their payment information and receive their reference ID to do early check in.

7. Final Takeaways

In later versions, this feature can be used as part of the existing “Create a trip” function. Currently, the feature is developed more like a note board/ vision board feature but it does not carry over into the actual search engine. Also, as an incentive to new users and existing users create a tiered points system- the more you use the option, the more discounts on future trips.

Feedback is always appreciated-feel free to leave a comment or a clap!