Intro
What is VRBO?
For this project I added a feature to an existing online tool in order to better the experience for the users.
My family love to travel, and a tool we use every time is VRBO.
VRBO is a tool that helps users find and book rentals for their trips. I want for people who love exploring as much as we do to have less time stressing about their trip, and more time enjoying it.
What was my role?
My Role:
Interviews and research
Analyze
End-to-end design
User testing
Final project deliverables
Tools and Resources:
Sketchbook and paper
Zoom and Maze
Figma
Group critiques
Mentor sessions
What is VRBO?
For this project I added a feature to an existing online tool in order to better the experience for the users.
My family love to travel, and a tool we use every time is VRBO.
VRBO is a tool that helps users find and book rentals for their trips. I want for people who love exploring as much as we do to have less time stressing about their trip, and more time enjoying it.
Intro
What was my role?
My Role:
Interviews and research
Analyze
End-to-end design
User testing
Final project deliverables
Tools and Resources:
Sketchbook and paper
Zoom and Maze
Figma
Group critiques
Mentor sessions
My Role:
Interviews and research
Analyze
End-to-end design
User testing
Final project deliverables
My Role:
Interviews and research
Analyze
End-to-end design
User testing
Final project deliverables
Tools and Resources:
Sketchbook and paper
Zoom and Maze
Figma
Group critiques
Mentor sessions
Research
Competitor Analysis:
I viewed three competitors: AirBNB, Trip Advisor, and Expedia:
Strengths:
Ability to search for events and activities
Gave users suggestions based off of where they had previously stayed
Could put rental and activities into schedule
Weaknesses:
Competition didn't have any obvious weaknesses
VRBO is behind competition because you can't search events and activities
VRBO is behind competition because you can't create a schedule
Research
Interviews:
I decided the best way to make a decision would be to talk to real people and get their feedback.
I found out that my users traveled anywhere from once a year to four times a year.
My users varied from parents of toddlers, to older couples, to people traveling with friends.
However, something they all had in common was experiencing frustrations of not being able to save all of their travel information into one place, such as events and activities. I also ended up discovering recurring struggles when it came to figuring out transportation when getting from one place to another when on a trip. Another difficulty was figuring out ideas for what to do when on the trip. Despite having a variety of different problems I realized that the schedule feature would be able to help with all of these main problems.
Interviews:
I decided the best way to make a decision would be to talk to real people and get their feedback.
I found out that my users traveled anywhere from once a year to four times a year.
My users varied from parents of toddlers, to older couples, to people traveling with friends.
However, something they all had in common was experiencing frustrations of not being able to save all of their travel information into one place, such as events and activities. I also ended up discovering recurring struggles when it came to figuring out transportation when getting from one place to another when on a trip. Another difficulty was figuring out ideas for what to do when on the trip. Despite having a variety of different problems I realized that the schedule feature would be able to help with all of these main problems.
Define
There were two types of travelers:
Design
Next I designed the layouts:
Now that I knew what to focus on I sketched out the layouts of screens and the flows on paper, doing my best to stick to VRBO's style.
Once I was satisfied I moved the sketches into Figma and made the main flows useable. I conducted unmoderated user testing to see if the flows made sense, and if there was any other pieces if feedback my users would give me. The feedback was mostly for small tweaks.
Once I received the feedback I moved from low-fidelity to high fidelity, keeping the feedback in mind.
Testing
I tested my make a schedule flow:
I conducted moderated user testing over Zoom video calls.
The schedule flow is made up of different stages:
The first part is finding and renting a rental.
The second is to choose preferences for activities and events, then save events and activities based off of recommendations.
The next is to view and the draft of the schedule, by adding more, or deleting, or changing times.
Next is to search for save transportation for getting from one place to another.
Then the user will be taken to the final schedule, where all of their travel information is one place (they can save to Google Calendar or print).
I made some changes:
There are three changes in these pictures:
The first big change I made was to the buttons on the event and activities cards, the event button said 'pay', the activity said 'view information'. Users were confused to why the buttons had different text. So, I made it so both of the buttons said 'view information'. For the events there was an option to pay on the information screen (as seen in images below).
The next change was to the save buttons on the activities and events cards. I originally had a heart as the icon, users felt as if it didn't convey the purpose of getting added to a schedule very well. I changed the heart to an add icon to better convey its purpose.
The biggest change was the location and design off the 'add your own activity' card. Before it blended in too well with the other activities, and users couldn't find it. So, I made it stand put more by changing the style, and giving it its own section, with a description of what it does.
I made three big changes:
I conducted moderated user testing over Zoom video calls.
The schedule flow is made up of different stages:
The first part is finding and renting a rental.
The second is to choose preferences for activities and events, then save events and activities based off of recommendations.
The next is to view and the draft of the schedule, by adding more, or deleting, or changing times.
Next is to search for save transportation for getting from one place to another.
Then the user will be taken to the final schedule, where all of their travel information is one place (they can save to Google Calendar or print).
I tested my make a schedule flow:
Testing
Users stated that they would like to be able to view information about the different events activities, to see where it is, how much it costs, how long it takes, and what they need to bring. I added a screen that provided this information.
Users wanted to be able to view information on rental cars when figuring out transportation for trip. I added this option.
Final Product
Here is the the Make a Schedule feature:
Here is the the Make a Schedule feature:
Conclusion
I kept making wrong assumptions:
I enjoyed this project more than I thought I would. I had originally thought that adding a feature to an already existing app wouldn't be as interesting, or exercise my creativity as much as creating my own product. However, I was proven wrong. I definitely had to use my creativity to determine how to improve upon products that have existed for a while.
The next assumption I made was that I wouldn't be able to improve a product that had been around a while, had been through so many iterations, had millions who used the app, and had a whole team working on it. Once I chose what topic to focus on, travel tools, it ended up not being as daunting as I had originally thought. When conducting interviews I was able to come up with ideas for how to improve VRBO.
The biggest takeaway with this product was that I kept making assumptions, that kept being proven wrong.
I kept making wrong assumptions:
Conclusion
Now that I knew what to focus on I sketched out the layouts of screens and the flows on paper, doing my best to stick to VRBO's style.
Once I was satisfied I moved the sketches into Figma and made the main flows useable. I conducted unmoderated user testing to see if the flows made sense, and if there was any other pieces if feedback my users would give me. The feedback was mostly for small tweaks.
Once I received the feedback I moved from low-fidelity to high fidelity, keeping the feedback in mind.
Next I designed the layouts:
Design
Testing
I conducted moderated user testing over Zoom video calls.
The schedule flow is made up of different stages:
The first part is finding and renting a rental.
The second is to choose preferences for activities and events, then save events and activities based off of recommendations .
The next is to view and the draft of the schedule, by adding more, or deleting, or changing times.
Next is to search for save transportation for getting from one place to another.
Then the user will be taken to the final schedule, where all of their travel information is one place (they can save to Google Calendar or print).
I tested my make a schedule flow:
I made three big changes:
There are three changes in these pictures:
The first big change I made was to the buttons on the event and activities cards, the event button said 'pay', the activity said 'view information'. Users were confused to why the buttons had different text. So, I made it so both of the buttons said 'view information'. For the events there was an option to pay on the information screen (as seen in images below).
The next change was to the save buttons on the activities and events cards. I originally had a heart as the icon, users felt as if it didn't convey the purpose of getting added to a schedule very well. I changed the heart to an add icon to better convey its purpose.
The biggest change was the location and design off the 'add your own activity' card. Before it blended in too well with the other activities, and users couldn't find it. So, I made it stand put more by changing the style, and giving it its own section, with a description of what it does.
Users wanted to be able to view information on rental cars when figuring out transportation for trip. I added this option.
Users wanted to be able to view information on rental cars when figuring out transportation for trip. I added this option.
Here is the the Make a Schedule feature:
Final Product
Conclusion
I kept making wrong assumptions:
I enjoyed this project more than I thought I would. I had originally thought that adding a feature to an already existing app wouldn't be as interesting, or exercise my creativity as much as creating my own product. However, I was proven wrong. I definitely had to use my creativity to determine how to improve upon products that have existed for a while.
The next assumption I made was that I wouldn't be able to improve a product that had been around a while, had been through so many iterations, had millions who used the app, and had a whole team working on it. Once I chose what topic to focus on, travel tools, it ended up not being as daunting as I had originally thought. When conducting interviews I was able to come up with ideas for how to improve VRBO.
The biggest takeaway with this product was that I kept making assumptions, that kept being proven wrong.
Define