Ryanair
A responsive website for booking your next dream vacation
Background
Ryanair as well as other airlines in the world are facing hard times because of the covid-19 pandemic. Since then Ryanair has been undertaking all the measures needed to keep afloat their business while keeping its customers safe.
The Challenge
Because the travel demand has been highly impacted due to the COVID 19, there is an opportunity for Ryanair to attract new customers with a visually enhanced and responsive web design.
The Goal
Redesign a responsive website (desktop, tablet, and cellphone) that covers their main functionality: search and booking process.
Responsibilities
User research, UX design, UI design, prototyping, and testing.
Software
Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator
Timeline
2 weeks (40 hrs/week)
My Design Process
- Secondary Research
- Competitor Analysis
- Interviews
- Usability evaluation
- Persona
- User Flow
- Sketches
- Wireframes
- UI design wireframes
- Usability testing
- Prototyping
Research
To define the goals of the research I asked myself these questions:
- What are the issues that people face when booking a trip online?
- How to make the process of booking a flight online a more enjoyable experience?
- How can Ryanair motivate users to book through their website?
- Are promotions and key features visible to the users on their website?
Research Methodologies
To undercover the motivations, expectations, and frustrations when
users book a flight online and identify the target user, I undertook secondary
research, analyze the direct and indirect competitors, conducted interviews,
and run a usability test of Ryanair’s current website.
Competitive Analysis
Ryanair’s direct competitors include Finnair, EasyJet, and Vueling. All these airlines are no-frills and offer low-cost airfares for flights around Europe.
Booking accommodations
Vueling and Ryanair offer hotel and car rental bookings at competitive prices, while Finnair offers hotel and car rental bookings through third parties.
Check-in bag free
One of the advantages that Finnair has over Ryanair and other competitors is that it allows one checked bag free
of charge.
Loyalty program
EasyJet is well focused on customer satisfaction and provides a good customer loyalty program. Although, it appeals the most to a younger demographic.
Flexibility on changing dates and cancelations
Due to COVID19, Vueling is providing a lot of flexibility in date changes and cancelations. They display this information very prominently on their homepage.
Secondary Research Findings
The market Online travel agencies such as Booking.com, Expedia, Orbitz, and others compete indirectly with these airlines for flight and accommodation bookings. Their main feature is the price comparison that they offer, which appeals to users that are looking for the most competitive lowest price.
COVID19 Airlines have been forced to take several actions such as laying off their employees, reducing their capacity, offering free flight date change, etc.
Technology In the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, Airlines are using other technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality to provide new experiences to people that cannot travel because of the travel restrictions and are in quarantine.
Environmental and Social sustainability European leaders are coming together at the end of 2021 to join an EU Pact for sustainable aviation, covering environmental and social sustainability.
Interview Findings
I Interview 3 participants that book flights online 2 to 3 times a year. They love traveling.
Goals
- To get the best price on airline tickets
- Users want the booking process to be fast and in short steps
- Some users would like to have a checked bag included in the fare
- No more than 2 layovers and short duration of the layovers
- The process of the booking takes too long
- To have to sign up or have an account to make a booking
- To pay extras for bags or seats.
- Not being available to check out at any time
- Free cancelations
- Short lengths of layovers
- Package deals that include a car rental and/or hotels
- Vacation packages deals
- Reward’s program
- Promotional deals or credit card premium deals
- Recommendations on popular destinations and activities to do
Usability Evaluation
To identify usability issues on Ryanair’s website, I ran a usability test with 3 participants the were used to booking trips online.
Usability goals
- Evaluate the behavior and reactions of the users when completing the tasks.
- Identify pain points, opportunities, and successes.
- Analyze the ease of the user flow throughout the design.
Usability evaluation findings
Homepage
Participants thought the Ryanair’s homepage was too cluttered and felt overwhelmed looking at it.
Search tool
Participants found the search by location confusing. They didn’t notice when the cities appear next to the country section when they selected the country.
Results page
Participants found the results confusing and didn’t know where to look at. The fare options appeared after they selected the price and showed add ons not total prices.
The booking process
“Ryanair’s booking process is too long, it takes 5 screens to be able to checkout.”
Key Takeaways
- Users defined Ryanair’s booking process as too long and that involves too many pages before they can check out.
- Users described Ryanair’s homepage as cluttered and overwhelming.
- Users got stuck on the search tool as they couldn’t visualize the cities that were prompted after they selected the country.
- The results page with the price pf the plane tickets wasn’t clear for the users.
Define
Based on my research I could identify the needs and frustrations of the users. This let me create a persona that represents the target user of Ryanair.
Persona
User flow
Through the user flow I could identify that the booking process made the user to make many decisions, and navigate through many pages before letting her to check out.
What comes next?
Knowing my target user, their needs and pain points as well as Ryanair’s website issues, I started to think about the opportunities that came up with the research to improve Ryanair’s user experience and start thinking of the solutions.
Ideation
How might we questions
- How might we ensure that customers feel motivated and confident to make a booking?
- How might we help people to find their plane tickets easily?
- How might we make the booking process more efficient?
Sketches
Wireframes
Following the “How might we questions”, I started to think about the important features that I had to focus on. For instance, I tried to convey an attractive yet functional homepage, improve the search tool functionality, present the results in a clear way without hidden surprises, and make the booking process more efficient.
Design
How might we ensure that customers feel motivated and confident to make a booking?
To appeal the user, I tried to convey an inviting, modern look and feel and at the same time provide an easy and straightforward navigation.
Search tool
Previously when entering the name of the city in the search tool, a dropdown menu would come up and the user had to choose the country and after the city. Now, for easy navigation, when entering the name of the city, the search tool will auto-populate and show the different locations that match the name entered. Also, I placed the dates input on the search bar visible to the user.
Homepage
For an inspiring look, I let the blue color be predominant and kept the yellow for the CTA’s. I let the images to speak for themselves and kept the use of color as minimal as possible. I used round corners for a friendly visibility and subtle shadows to create hierarchy. I used white space to guide the the user through the content.
Promotional info
Users are motivated by promotions and flexibility on date changes because of the COVID 19. So, I compiled the promotional information in cards for the user to see them right away, but in an orderly manner without being too pushy.
How might we help people to find their plane tickets easily?
Fare options
- On the page results of the desktop version ( first image), I am showing the fare options such as Value, Regular, Plus, and Flexi Plus with their total prices. This way I am giving straightforward information to the users without making them look for these options and having to do their own math.
- On the page results of the mobile version (third image), the fare options are available when tapping the tab that says from price X. This way we prevent from cluttering the information and confusing the user.
Low fare calendar
- I added a low fare calendar feature to the bar where the alternative dates and prices are displayed (second image). This calendar shows all the dates and prices available per month giving the user the alternative to change its dates if it’s more affordable for them.
- On the mobile version, I condensed the bar and only showed the low fare calendar and filters option since the user can use the calendar to see alternatives dates as well.
How might we make the booking process more efficient?
Users found the flight booking process too long. So, I though it would be more practical and convenient to display the booking options in one page where the user can scroll down and select their trip options as it fits them.
My trip planner feature
- I added to this feature a checkout button that would become active once the user has selected their bags option.
- For the mobile version, I added a fix button of the trip planner feature plus the total price at the bottom of the screen where the user can click on it and see in detail their expenses.
Usability Testing and Iteration
I ran a usability test to identify any flaws in the redesigned website.
Findings
- Participants were satisfied with the process of booking a travel experience and felt confident to book on the website.
- They liked that they were able to book a flight in a few steps.
Opportunities
The Results page could provide more information about the total price of the itinerary chosen.
Iteration
A summary of the itinerary was included on the Results page that displays the total cost of the chosen options to enhance the transparency of the information, and make it more readily accessible for the user.
Before
After
Reflections
Sacrificing aesthetics or usability to accomplish business goals isn’t effective when it comes to the point that the user doesn’t feel motivated to use the product, or interact with it. It’s important to find a balance between the business goals and users’ goals. When designing a product you should have the user in mind throughout the entire design process.