CONTEXT

Timeline: Jan 2020 (1 week) | Team: Individual | Roles: UX Researcher, Test Proctor

 

OBJECTIVE

For my Needs Assessment and Usability Evaluation course, I conducted a quick usability test for the travel site Kayak. I am in no way affiliated with Kayak or Booking Holdings Inc.

 

PROBLEM

Kayak is an American online travel agency and metasearch engine whose mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. Users of this site can find plentiful options for flights, car rentals, lodging, and experiences that fit their budget and lifestyle. Kayak compares prices from the leading brands in travel, allowing users to find the best deals on the Web.

In this study, I wanted to understand how travelers use Kayak to book affordable flights that meet their needs and preferences. I chose to narrow my scope to focus on flights because I recognized major similarities with the process of booking a car rental, hotel, and experience. Findings from this test could reasonably apply to the other aspects of the website as well.

 

PROCESS

 

AUDIENCE DEFINITION

The target user for this website is someone who:

  • Enjoys travel or has a need to travel

  • Uses the internet to book travel

  • Is value conscious

  • Has planned a trip in the past or expects to plan a trip in the future

  • Is flexible in the travel brands they use for aviation.

 

TASK CREATION

Users of this site should reasonably expect to:

  • Find deals on airfare for given dates

  • Compare prices for travel across popular brands

  • Specify required travel amenities and details

  • Locate supplementary information about their travel (layover times, time zone changes, extra fees, etc.)

 

RECUITMENT

Participant: 25-year-old white Male from Phoenix, AZ (former colleague).

This participant is a frequent traveler who often flies across the American South and Southwest. He is not particularly loyal to any travel brands and is simply looking for cheap options with reasonable amenities. He has used online booking services to make travel plans in the past, but has not previously used Kayak.

 

USABILITY TEST

With my target tasks in mind, I developed three key tasks to measure the usability of Kayak’s flight feature.

Scenario: You are a Michigan basketball fan who wants to see your team play in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The Tournament begins March 8th and concludes March 14th.

Tasks:

  1. Using Kayak, find a flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis for under $300.

    1. For the flight you selected, what airline will you be flying with?

    2. Not including your final destination, how many stops would you expect this flight to make?

    3. Is a carry-on bag included with your deal?

  2. Using Kayak, find the cheapest United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis

    1. What is the price of the flight?

    2. Can you identify the names of the airports you will depart from and arrive at?

  3. Using Kayak, find a United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis that includes one layover

    1. What is the name of the airport you will layover at?

    2. How long will the layover last?

    3. Including layover time, how long will it take to reach your final destination airport?

 

RESULTS

THE TEST WAS COMPLETED VIRTUALLY AND LED TO SOME INTERESTING INSIGHTS.

  • While attempting to locate the cheapest flight to his destination in Task 1, the participant was misled by the search result load time. Kayak begins to show packages before it has completed its search of all available options. In this scenario, immediately after completing his search request, he spotted what he thought was the cheapest price only for a 50% cheaper option to appear seconds later. This may be an intentional framing technique used to entice buyers, but for this participant, it led to confusion.

  • During Task 2, the participant expressed hesitation while determining whether his selected flight package included a carry-on bag. The package did not in fact include a carry-on bag and when he attempted to add one, he noticed the package was removed from his view entirely. This occurred because the airline servicing his departure does not allow carry-on luggage. In essence, his addition of a carry-on was treated as a filter excluding packages involving that airline from his results. This was a major source of confusion for the participant and led him to refresh the page and begin anew.

  • In Task 3, the participant struggled to locate a filter to exclude flights without free Wi-Fi. It was not obvious to the user such an option existed within the “flight quality” dropdown, causing him to scroll up and down the filter bar multiple times. He ultimately found this option after 12-15 seconds of searching.

 

LESSONS LEARNED

This was my second usability test, so my planning and proctoring skills have improved. Still, there is always more to learn.

  • One user can highlight key issues - according to NNG, conducting a usability test with a single user can highlight approximately a third of a product’s usability issues. Although more participants would have provided a fuller examination, the one required participant for this project was enough to gather meaningful data.

  • Refining scope is a critical step - initially my research question and tasks involved all major aspect of Kayak’s site (hotels, car rentals, experiences, etc.), but I realized focusing the test to a targeted subset would lead to more impactful insights.

  • Usability test can be fun for everyone! - I enjoyed proctoring the test and my participant remarked how he likely will use Kayak in the future because of its various filtering and sorting options.

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