KAYAK NEW FLIGHTS

APRIL 2017

LINK TO COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
LINK TO MOBILE WIREFRAMES     LINK TO MOBILE DESIGNS
LINK TO DESKTOP WIREFRAMES     LINK TO DESKTOP DESIGNS

I was tasked with looking at the entirety of KAYAK's flights product and revamping it to bring it up to industry standards and overall improve the user experience of booking a flight using KAYAK - whether it was on a desktop or mobile device. I’m proud of this project not only because it improved KAYAK’s largest product, but it was an end-to-end revamp which included user interviews, research, competitive analysis, wireframes, high fidelity designs, and it being engineered and launched on the website and mobile applications today.

KAYAK's flights product is the largest product on desktop and mobile. It was clear that this particular product area was falling behind in the marketplace. While existing users were accustomed to the experience and seemed OK using the current product, new users were struggling to find basic information pertaining to flights. Also, KAYAK’s look, feel, and overall experience was outdated. This project was urgent because many new users weren’t converting and turning to competitor sites to book their flights instead.

RESEARCH

When tasked with redoing the flights product, I knew I needed to start with talking to users: people who book flights online. I began by interviewing users to see what products they commonly used, see what their struggles were and also what they enjoyed in a product. I had them walk me through what they would typically do to book a flight on whatever device they would use normally - also using any website or booking tool, showing me any research they did or prior needs they thought about, what websites they used to get information, etc.

If they didn't use KAYAK as their go-to option, I had them perform the same tasks as they would have using any other site to compare us to competitors afterwards. I then distilled this information and created an analysis (see image below) that outlined commonalities found in users' feedback. I outlined a number of potential site testing experiments that could be done on the product and paired up with product managers and other designers to come up with a better product for our users.

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH

In addition to user interviews and research, I executed a competitive analysis. I looked at other flight companies and booking sites to identify paradigms that potential KAYAK users may have grown used to or may find more intuitive. One clear finding was that KAYAK needed to give more visual separation between the flight options. It was also clear that we needed to be more transparent about the different flight options that were available as more and more airline companies are establishing different booking packages. Comparing prices was another area where Kayak has been lagging behind the competitors; it was important to improve that experience in order to remain relevant as one of the leaders in the space.

Find screenshots of some findings below:
View All Findings