P R O P O S A L T O I N C R E A S E C U S T O M E R B A S E A N D S I T E U S A B I L I T Y

I N T R E P I D T R A V E L

A P R I L S T E E D L I Z N O R T O N

G O R D O N C O H E N

C L I E N T:

Intrepid’s current clientele is “gap” year or younger travelers in their mid twenties. However through market research Intrepid has identified there is a huge market for an older demographic. They will be creating a new offering of “comfort” trips designed to appeal to this demographic and seek to upgrade their digital experience for this new product offering. Intrepid has getting feedback from from travel agents and potential customers that is difficult to search for trips on their site. One of the biggest problems is that customers want to be able to choose destinations based on their vacation time availability.

!SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER:

• Improving browsing and searching of trips • Messaging this new product offering • Considering a Kayak Explore http://www.kayak.com/explore/ type of experience.

T H E P R O B L E M

C L I E N T P R O B L E M A N A LY S I S

C L I E N T P R O B L E M A N A LY S I S

P R I O R I T I Z I N G T H E C O M F O R T O P T I O N

P R O J E C T P R O P O S A L

Our client, Intrepid Travel, is looking to expand their reach into an older demographic that their site currently does not serve.

We plan to address this problem by:

• refining the search/research functions of the site to make it easier to use in general, and highlighting a feature/module/theme that speaks to the target demographic

• adding the ability to save and share trip info, both before and after travel, and • optimize for iPad as the main experience. iPhone experience will support the iPad. !

Based on industry research and trends, the primary user goals our solutions will support are:

• an easier experience for all users to book trips and find inspiration • increase customer comfort with booking through mobile/tablet

The main groups of people who will benefit from this solution will be all users of the site (by extension the target demographic of travelers 45 years and older), and Intrepid as a business, who will benefit from the increased customer base.

The primary business goals our solutions will addresses are:

• to increase brand desirability by encouraging simple sharing of trip data and experiences

• to increase Intrepid’s customer base by reaching out and capturing the 45+ demographic that is currently not being served

C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S

U S E R R E S E A R C H

S U R V E Y Q U E S T I O N N A I R E

P L E A S E S E E I N T R E P I D T R AV E L U X D E L I V E R A B L E S F O L D E R F O R C O M P L E T E R E S U LT S

Our initial thoughts were that we would need to re-design the trips themselves to suit an older demographic. We wanted to ask questions about what the target users look for in trips, activities they enjoy doing, and how physically fit they felt they were. After the initial survey went out, we realized we weren’t including any questions about the experience of booking vacations on mobile platforms and decided to add questions about the level of comfort the user has using these devices to book a trip.

S U R V E Y C O N C L U S I O N S

• Target audience was reached, 48% total respondents 56+, 15% in the 45-55 range.

• Target demographic is more active and independent than previously thought. Our idea of comfort travel may need to be re-evaluated. Users seem to enjoy being adventurous, but also enjoy having amenities to return to.

• However, they still need to feel like they’re “on vacation,” and have a good amount of time just relaxing.

• Survey respondents are least comfortable booking travel on iPad/tablet, and we need to find out why.

• A large majority of survey respondents prefer to travel with others rather than alone.

P E R S O N A S

F O C U S

• Engage target demographic by refining search options and providing a customizable, trip builder-like experience

• Increase visibility of comfort option

S K E T C H I N G & I D E AT I O N

R E F I N E M E N T & C O M P L E T I O N O F T H E P R O T O T Y P E

U S E R T E S T I N G

“Seems pretty user friendly, easy to use.” !

“I like the fact that it gives me different options, and chances to explore and build my own trip, nice change from the usual pick a

bunch of options and go. “ !

“I like that it encourages you to choose your own adventure.” !

“The add-on feature was confusing and easy to miss since it was at the top of the trip details page, once you scroll down to read

the rest of the details, you wouldn’t see it anymore.” !

“The browse results do not have information on what user had selected making it difficult for the user to compare the results

without constantly hitting the back button.”

C O N C L U S I O N S & R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S

• Although most users will spend significant time browsing on mobile devices, most are still not comfortable using these devices to book travel, even in a native app. Therefore, it is recommended that mobile search and browse aspects are prioritized as the most important user experience.

• User testing confirms that having share and bookmark options are very important to the target demographic. Implementation of this module is recommended.

• Users really enjoyed the experience of the Trip Builder as a novel way to figure out what they want in a vacation. Implementation of this module is recommended.

• Users wanted not only the ability to bookmark trips, but also a way to keep updated on their bookmarks if certain trips go on sale, flight details change, etc. Further user testing of this idea is recommended.

• Users wanted an option to add personal notes to the past and future trips in their profile (favorite bartender’s name, places to visit next time, etc.) Further user testing of this idea is recommended.

C L I C K A B L E P R O T O T Y P E

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