Creating a brand-new way to compare shortlisted properties based on the most important criteria.
A new team was set up to focus on one of the most crucial areas of accommodation shopping - property comparison, with the aim to improve funnel progression and conversion. The project was initiated by a team without UX resources.
I stepped in and and worked with another designer to define the MVP and then took the lead on defining the MLP experience, future opportunities and engaged with existing teams and initiatives to define product ecosystem.
A brand new comparison experience allowing users to explicitly select properties and compare them side by side.
We created an MVP version of the comparison experience which consisted of a simple property selection method and a side by side view. Following multiple research studies and the first MVP test we then took an iterative approach working towards MLP designs.
The problem space was defined by product with no UX support, however included collaborative workshops and sound insights to support the project. Previous kano study shows high dissatisfaction with current comparison functionalities, and high value in having more. Previous comparison experiences resulted in travellers converting higher. Significant volumes of people requesting a way to compare properties side by side.
Stepping into this project I felt a bit cautious as the general idea was to take an e-commerce pattern and apply it to travel. However, we had plans to run a moderated research session to evaluate the initial MVP experience which was designed by a previous designer. Although we found some discoverability and usability issues with the initial prototype, some parts of the experience were expectionally valuable to our users. That made me feel much better about the project direction and excited about where we can take it for the MLP experience, being now the lead designer on it.
After research was complete I iterated on the MVP proposal based on user and internal feedback and then created specification for development team. I then shifted my focus towards the MLP experience focusing on key areas for iteration based on our user feedback and creating a more scalable solution. The focus areas were further prioritised based on opportunity and feasibility working with the product manager.
This exploration required me to partner with multiple teams across the business - co-creating some solutions, as well as, exploring and addressing multiple trade-offs. In addition, since it was a completely new feature, I was invited to share my exploration with leadership teams for feedback.
As mentioned before the MLP exploration and the overall project touched on many other parts of the product and organisation. So I took the lead and engaged with some core partner teams in defining the ecosystem, planning a week of workshops to define a better aligned ecosystem. In addition I spent some time with product to explore some future opportunities of this experiences both to inspire peers and stakeholders, but also to anticipate any future tech capabilities needed.
Successfully launched MVP experience resulting in a +0.42% increase in checkout progression and +50% uplift in conversion for people using the comparison view.
We've successfully built a new MVP comparison and launched first live tests. MLP explorations received a lot of positive feedback from leadership team and peers, there’s now a research and testing roadmap planned to evaluate it further. In addition the workshops I ran led to other teams investigation comparison experience adoption.