Optimization of Room Type Inventory for an Online Travel Platform
The agent's hotel booking platform had a cumbersome room type inventory navigation problem due to a large number of choices, which was an issue for new hires and experienced call center agents, and impacted response times to caller questions, especially for new agents. The goal was to improve user engagement and simplify the room type selection.
Challenge
Company: Getaroom.com
Project Duration: 2 Weeks
Role: User Research, UX/UI Design
UX Design Methodology: Wireframes, Comparative Usability Testing, and High-Fidelity Prototypes
Design Tools: Sketch, Movavi Screen Recorder,a nd Storybook
Date: April, 2019
Design Exploration
While exploring solutions, I came up with two design concepts: A) Collapsed Room Types and B) Quick Room Finder. The Quick Room Finder featured a fuzzy search box on the hotel property page. It allowed agents to filter room types by name, description, and amenities. Business input tended to collapse rooms. The sales management team supported leaving the top five rooms unchanged and using the existing sort and collapse approach for the remaining options.
To determine effectiveness, I conducted a comparative usability test with six call center agents. This included both new and experienced sales agents. Clickable prototypes for each concept were presented in Sketch and Storybook, providing quick and valuable design insights.
Key Findings From User Testing
While there was no clear winner, most respondents preferred Concept B (Quick Room Finder) for its user-friendly interface.
Two senior agents, including a top performer, preferred Concept A (Collapsed Room Types) for its simplicity, which is especially beneficial for experienced agents.
Participants were open to adopting the search option, with senior agents emphasizing its benefits for new agents.
Some suggested adding "cancellation policy" details to collapsed room types.
Concerns about visual anxiety led to a suggestion to increase the spacing between rooms.
In addition, there was interest in grouping room types by category for Concept A and arranging rooms starting with the highest rates.
Solution
The results of the research highlight the complexity of user preferences and the dynamic nature of user interactions. Concept B received the highest overall preference (Quick Finder), but senior agents tended to prefer Concept A due to their familiarity with the interface. They suggested combining features from both concepts for potential benefits. New agents responded positively to the Quick Room Finder, emphasizing its role in facilitating learning and user familiarity. A balanced approach that takes into account the needs of different user groups seems crucial to effectively address the challenge of navigating the room type inventory.
