BENCHMARK STUDY ON ONLINE BOOKING BEHAVIOUR

Mobile & Tablet Usability of Holiday Websites

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Agenda for today

1. Introductions

2. The changing behaviour of online travel shoppers

3. Benchmark Study: Online Booking Behaviour – Mobile & Tablet Usability of Holiday Websites

- Study Details & Design

- Study Results

4. Q&A

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Our Speaker

Jenna Cosquieri UX & Usability Expert – Customer Success Manager, UserZoom Limited

UX Researcher with over seven years of industry experience, including quantitative  and qualitative analysis.

Jenna delivers training on UserZoom tools and actively supports clients optimising their utilisation of UserZoom.

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About UserZoom

All-in-one Research Software to test, measure & improve UX & CX over websites, mobile webs & apps

•  Offers the greatest variety in the market of remote user research & testing solutions!

•  UX Consultants since ’01, SaaS since ’09!

•  In Sunnyvale (CA) London & Manchester (UK), Munich (DE), and Barcelona (Spain)!

•  90% renewal rate, 50% revenue growth rate in the last 3 years!

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Highlighted Customers

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The changing behaviour of online travel shoppers

Changing Buying Behaviour of Online Travel Shoppers

68% of users search and compare before booking their trip.

42% use their tablet or mobile to search for information on holidays or trips compared to 33% in 2012

“Holidaymakers are increasingly comparing before booking a trip.”

Source: Study by Google and Millward Brown Digital, November 2013

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Multi-Device Experience

Changing Buying Behaviour of Online Travel Shoppers

Receiving a Multi-Device User Experience is increasingly relevant as a key factor when booking a trip.

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Mobile & Tablet Usability of Holiday Websites Benchmark Study on Online Booking Behaviour

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Mobile Usability Testing – How does it work?

How did we conduct the study?

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About the Mobile Usability Study

•  Task-based online remote test

•  360 users, frequent online leisure travel shoppers

•  3 countries: UK, Germany, Spain

•  9 brands (3 per country)

Results

•  Per task, per device, and per country including

user comments

•  NPS per brand

Mobile & Tablet Usability of Holiday Websites

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•  Participants were given the name of the city, of the area, travel dates

•  Validated by: Question o What´s the name of the hotel? o How much is the parking space?

How did we conduct the study? - Tasks

Task 1

Look for a 4-star hotel for a

weekend city break

Task 2

Search for a 7-day

Mediterranean cruise

•  Participants were given the name of the shipping company, the route, travel dates

•  Validated by: Question o What´s the name of the ship? o What´s the name of the YC1 Deluxe

Suite?

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Brands Tested*

How did we conduct the study?

*360 users in total, habitual online travel shoppers

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How did we conduct the study? – Results Task 1

Look for a 4-star hotel for a

weekend city break

Search for a 7-day

Mediterranean cruise

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Look for a 4-star hotel – Effectiveness (Success)

Search for a 7-day

Mediterranean cruise

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Look for a 4-star hotel – Effectiveness (Success)

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Look for a 4-star hotel – Effectiveness (Success)

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Why were users unable to complete the task of finding a hotel on their tablet or

mobile?

Look for a 4-star hotel – Mobile vs. Tablet

•  Browsing difficulties – could not find the information •  Lack of filters, e.g. filter by area •  Search function – not desired/expected results •  Price calculation – final price not visible •  Not mobile optimised

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What did you think about the pictures of the hotel?*

What do users want to see before booking a hotel?

*Question asked in study

Appealing pictures influence a user´s decision to book a hotel or not. They are important when choosing one hotel over another:

1.  Pictures are either not appealing or do not contain sufficient information.

2.  Photos often don´t reflect the atmosphere of the hotel.

3.  They are too general and don´t reflect the real size of a room.

4.  Missing pictures of all room types as well as of bathrooms and exterior views.

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What did you think about the information and description of the hotel and its services*

What do users want to know before booking a hotel?

*Question asked in study

Users value information such as services near the hotel, transport from the airport, activities to do in the city, videos, and maps.

1.  Users need more detailed information related to the hotel services.

2.  People want to know how much the hotel charges for additional services such as parking and

Internet access.

3.  Booking sites should show the total price for the booking for the days selected in addition to the price per night.

4.  Providers should indicate the total price from the start.

5.  Websites should provide information regarding interesting sights in the area and public transport.

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How did we conduct the study? – Results Task 2

Look for a 4-star hotel for a

weekend city break

Search for a 7-day

Mediterranean cruise

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Search for a cruise – Success in achieving the task

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Search for a cruise – Example (Ebookers)

Tablet Mobile

•  Hotels and Flights visible on the main menu •  Cruises hidden within another icon

•  No option for cruises at all in the menu on mobile

•  Users forced to search

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Search for a cruise – Example (Virgin Holidays / Travel Supermarket) Virgin Holidays (Mobile) Travel Supermarket (Mobile)

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Search for a cruise – Success in achieving the task

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Search for a cruise – Success in achieving the task

Success

Non-Success

Success

Non-Success

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Why were users unable to complete the task of looking for a cruise on their tablet or

mobile?

Search for a cruise – Mobile vs. Tablet

•  Navigation problems – hidden menus •  Lack of information – e.g. about route •  Search function – not desired results

•  Not mobile optimised •  Information is not always visible/accessible – hidden menus

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Main issue encountered when searching for cruises on a website:

1.  Access to cruises is on a hidden menu and not on main menu

e.g. next to hotels and flights

2.  Cruise icon hard to identify on menu tab

How accessible is the information users are looking for?

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Would users book a trip on their mobile device?*

The moment of Truth: Booking Online on a Mobile Device

*Questions asked depending on task and device: Would you book a hotel/cruise on your mobile/tablet?

•  More than half of the 360 participants say they would book a hotel or cruise straight away, if the website offers the trip they are looking for. •  Only some prefer to complete the booking on their PC.

•  Compared to tablet users, more mobile shoppers prefer to complete the booking on their desktop instead of booking on their mobile.

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Why do mobile users decide not to book a trip?*

Online Booking Barriers on Mobile Devices

*Questions asked depending on task and device: Why wouldn´t you book a hotel/cruise on your mobile/tablet?

•  Inconvenient to browse, write, and search for information.

•  Security issues: users perceive mobile devices to be less secure than a computer.

3 main reasons which apply to both devices in all 3 countries:

•  Not able to save or print the booking directly.

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On which mobile device would users book a trip?*

Online Booking Barriers depending on Mobile Device

*Questions asked depending on task and device: Would you book a hotel/cruise on your mobile/tablet?

•  Users would rather book a cruise on their mobile device than a hotel.

•  This mobile booking behaviour may be related to the fact that a cruise is perceived as a closed package whereas a hotel reservation requires a more active search.

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NPS (Net Promoter Score) per brand*

Which brand is rated best by mobile users?

*NPS is a metric for measuring user satisfaction. It is calculated as the difference between brand promoters and brand detractors.

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NPS (Net Promoter Score) per brand*

Which brand is rated best by tablet users?

*NPS is a metric for measuring user satisfaction. It is calculated as the difference between brand promoters and brand detractors.

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