Expedia : Usability Testing

Role :

UI/UX Designer

Duration:

3 Months

Industry :

Travel Website

Usability Testing

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The following usability study was conducted solely for research purposes and is not intended to endorse or promote any product or service. The study is designed to evaluate the usability of a product, service, or system and to gather information on user behavior, attitudes, and preferences.

Executive Summary

Expedia, established in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington, is a prominent online travel company offering a wide array of travel services globally. Their services include flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities, with a commitment to making travel easy, accessible, and affordable. Their target demographic spans individuals of all ages interested in travel, with a focus on those aged 18 to 40, who were the primary participants in usability testing.

0%Users successfuly completed all of their tasks

0%Users found the package booking task challenging

0%Users failed to complete their tasks.

Targeting users primarily using the two criteria listed below:

User who also preferred to book an accomodation while travelling.
Users who desired to take part in fresh and enjoyable activities both online and offline.

Existing User Interface

Expedia's user interface was recently updated (in 2022) to offer a completely consistent experience across desktop web browsers, mobile web browsers, and their mobile app. However, a lot of inconsistencies were discovered while studying the Expedia website.

0.2MTotal Visits

0.16%Bounce Rate

0.83%Pages Per Visit

0m 42sAvg Visit Duration

0.2MTotal Visits

0.16%Bounce Rate

0.83%Pages Per Visit

0m 42sAvg Visit Duration

Goals of Study

The main goal was to conduct usability testing on Expedia.co.uk and analyse the user interface in order to spot problems that prevent users from completing website goals and, in light of the data and conclusions, to improve the user experience.

List of Objectives

To understand how easily the users can get familiar with the website

Identify usability issues that could affect the performance of expedia.

To understand how easy it is for the users to navigate through the website.

Research Questions

Can a user book a package trip quickly and easily, and to their satisfaction?

How easy it is to navigate through the website?

How effecient is the search wizard tool and filters throughout the website?

Is it information provided on the website useful enough to come up with a direction?

Can the user easily save items and plan a trip using the trip board feature?

Can the user easily compare prices between the hotels on the website?

Testing Plan & Recruitment

Number of Participants

Age

18-45 Yrs old

Gender

All Genders

Time for Each Interview

30-45 mins

Tools Used

Teams, OBS, Otter

Mode of Testing

Online & Offline

Way of Recruitment

Purposive Sampling

Primary Participants

Travellers

Testing Application

Expedia Website

Area of Focus

Task Based

Testing Method

CIF Approach

Location of Study

London

Materials and Tools Used

Screening Questions

What Gender do you identify as?

What age range do you belong to?

Do you work in the airline or hospitality travel industry?

How many airline trips (flights) have you booked online in the past year?

What are some travel websites you have visited?

Have you ever used Expedia to book your flight or accommodation?

Consent Form

A consent form was created that outlines the purpose, procedures, and potential risks and benefits of the research study and to inform the participants of what their involvement will entail and obtain their voluntary agreement to participate. It is an important component of ethical research practice and helps ensure that participants are fully informed and their rights are respected.

Participant Profiles

To ensure that the data is accurate and representative of our target group, a participant demographic table was produced. It was necessary to determine whether respondents in this study differed in their opinions about the subject matter to provide data on research participants

Session Outline & Procedure

5 mins

Setting up test devices

5 mins

Introduction of the session

30 mins

Performing Tasks

Post Test Questions

5 mins

Tasks

1.

You and your family have decided to travel to Norway for Christmas from London. You must reserve a travel package that includes a flight, accommodation, and a car pickup service.

2.

Your winter break is about to begin and you wish to go out with your friends on a group tour and you’ve saved a few items to your trip and would like to invite your friends to the trip

3.

You’re booking a trip for a coworker who will be traveling to Goa, India for business. You want to check available accommodation options and compare prices for a few of them for your colleague in advance.

Metrics

The following parameters were considered and noted during the test :

Effeciency, Effectiveness, Ease of Use, Completion Rate, Errors, Assists, Time on task.

Post test Questions

These questions were measured on a scale of 1 to 7 being 1 as strongly disagree and 7 as strongly agree.

Open-ended Questions

1. What would you suggest to improve the experience of the website.

2. At what part you struggled the most?

3. Is there anything in particular that you liked/disliked about the application?

Glimpse of Usability Testing

Task Analysis

Task 1 : Booking a Package Deal (Flight + Accomodation + Car Rental)

Task 1 : Book a Package Deal (Flight + Accomodations + Car Rental)

0%Task Success Rate

0minsAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.4Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0minsAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.4Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0minsAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.4Avg errors per participant

User Comments

"Is this the price for whole package or just the hotel?"

"How can i select a return flight?"

"How can I book a room?"

"This is very confusing"

"Its very time consuming"

Task 2 : Create a Trip with your friends

Task 2 : Create a Trip with your Friends

0%Task Success Rate

0m 6 sAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0m 6 sAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0m 6 sAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

User Comments

"Can find the save option?"

"Don't want to sign in just to save an item"

"I like the 'Things to Do' Feature"

Task 3 : Compare Prices betwewen hotels while booking a trip

Task 3 : Compare Prices between hotels while booking a trip

0%Task Success Rate

0mAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0mAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

0%Task Success Rate

0mAverage time on task

0.4Avg assist per participant

0.8Avg errors per participant

User Comments

“Isn’t fully refundable and free cancellation the same thing?"

“How can I include all the meals?”

“I can’t find a proper hotel, the available one is very small”

System Usability Scale

An SUS questionnaire was provided to the participants after the interview which consisted of ten statements, each rated on a five-point scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." These statements were designed to capture the user's overall impression of the system's usability, ease of use, and learnability.