Zeit Time Travel

Zeit offers time travel tourism for the first time. This project created an opportunity to explore the future of booking travel online.

Responsive Web Design

My Role: UX / UI Designer

 

CONTEXT

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TASK

Create a brand and set up an e-commerce responsive website to categorize and showcase their packages.

RESEARCH

Secondary Research and competitive analysis were the starting point in understanding the design challenge and current travel landscape. It is evident that users are increasingly booking their travel online, both on mobile and desktop. 

Interviewing a small selection of people further revealed their needs and desires. These included but were not restricted to;

Needs:

  • At least 50% of travel was motivated by family

  • Social media, blogs and articles help inspire and discover new places

  • Direct contact with source; locals at the ground

  • Itineraries built on recommendations

  • Looking for an authentic experience; Local insight and cultural sharing

  • Price & distance are a strong consideration when selecting a destination

Pain Points:

  • Information overload; too much choice

  • New destinations can be overwhelming to the hard working user who is looking for reprieve from day to day life

  • Feeling restricted by a package that is pre-made

  • Suspicious of the package price and being offered something that you would not have chosen individually

  • Having to redo the search when adjusting travel dates

  • Accommodation being misleading and misrepresented on booking site

DEFINE

Visualizing the data gathered a persona, empathy map and storyboard in the day of the life was created. This provided clear direction and a reference point to return to as I moved further through the process. 

DesignLab - Persona Development2.png
DesignLab - Empathy Map.png
 

The research highlighted a number of opportunities which was translated into a prioritized features list, categorized in must have, nice to have and not needed to achieve a viable first version. Once I had my set of features, a site map, task flow and user flow was developed focussed on the purchasing process.

flowchart.png

With a list of features and screens, pencil and paper sketches were roughed out before moving into sketch creating wireframes across desktop, tablet and mobile.

DESIGN

1. Desktop HD-A.png
Responsive Design_v2.png

Sitting within the travel industry, Zeit offers a groundbreaking service. The desire with the Visual design was to communicate trust, luxury and adventure.

Using the circle, a logo reflecting time and movement was created, inspiring a set branding guidelines.

BRAND

Zeit Logo.png
ZeitUI_v2.png

A high fidelity prototype focused on the task of booking a package, was created in inVision. User testing was conducted to identify and record usability successes and problems and overall reaction to the visual design. 

On completion an affinity map helped identify the key issues which were then rated according to severity and frequency.  Keys findings included; 

Success:

  • All participants believed the information was cleanly and clearly layout

  • All participants were inspired by the large imagery

  • Felt like a special trip

  • Categories allowed you to emerce yourself in the time and place

Pain Points: 

  • 65% of participants used the nav bar as they wanted to start at the top of the page. Not knowing where to start the search on the home page.

  • All participants were confused about the call to action language especially Book. Afraid it would take them straight to confirmation.

  • All participants found the selection of accommodation type and activities repetitive and confusing as to where they could select it.

  • All participants wanted flexibility in the booking process to go back and change details on a summary page.

Recommendations Include;

  • Clarify language on the call to action buttons

  • Simplify the flow of selecting accommodation and activities

  • Action at the top of page to start search rather than having to scroll down

  • Add arrows to the hero images to slide between featured packages

TEST

The user feedback highlighted the importance of testing early and a consideration would be to invest in this earlier on in the process with low fidelity wireframes for quick iterations and stronger usability. 

Overall the user feedback reflected the success of creating a brand that was bold, luxurious, and inspiring to book a adventure with the flexibility to make it their own.   

The next steps would include diving deeper in the research and expanding the the screens and mapping out the complete site.

Refine, test and reiterate.

 

CONCLUSION