TX Vacation Website Redesign
Since COVID-19, the travel experience has changed. People want to make the most of their travel and waste no time on doing things that they won't fully enjoy. Enter TX Vacation, the company was founded in 2020 with the intent of showcasing hidden gems and the very best experiences that Texas has to offer.
My team and I redesigned TX Vacations website to help boost the sales of travel guides and to enhance the business partnership experience. Alongside the website redesign, we created new branding and completed a logo redesign.
Role
In a small team of 3, I was the Researcher. My core responsibilities included user interviews, affinity mapping, persona creation, nailing down user and business needs and brainstorming solutions that meet both our users needs and business needs. I was also in charge of delivering all final designs.
Methods Used
Competitive & Comparative Analysis, User Interviews, Affinity Map, User Persona, User Flow, Problem Statement, Sketching & Design Studio, Prototyping & Iterating, Usability Testing
Tools
Paper Sketching, Figma, Zoom, Trello, Google Form
Timeline
3 Week Sprint (November 2021 - December 2021)
Challenge
TX Vacations current website lacked any information on the company, its creators and why TX Vacation is a stand out brand. The current website also did not have a way to get in contact with the business, this was the case for both businesses and users. Both TX Vacation and its users desired something more expansive and personal so users could start to build trust with the brand and see the passion and effort that goes into the creation of their brand and platform.
Outcome
To grow TX Vacation’s online business, my team and I redesigned a website that now reflects the goals, core values and needs of both the users and the business. We worked diligently to give users an online experience that is captivating and delightful, making it easy for users to explore travel guides, learn about the brand and inspire them to get out of their comfort zone and travel.
TX Vacation is still working to implement these designs but once they do, I will be looking out for these things:
An increase in sales - after all, my team and I redesigned the e-commerce flow to increase the average order size.
Improved brand perception through strong branding and identifying our audience.
Retain users and improve engagement through improved usability and new features.
Drive up conversion rates by reducing cart abandonment.
The Solution
A fresh design - satisfying our users needs and business needs
My team and I were tasked with redesigning a website that allowed users to explore travel guides and get to know TX Vacation. So, my team and I designed a fresh and fun new website that lets users easily navigate between getting to know the business, exploring travel guides and quickly understanding what each travel guide has in store for them.
Here’s what the website redesign included:
Homepage and Navigation
My team and I created a robust homepage that lets users easily navigate between getting to know the company and exploring travel guides. We learned early on that users enjoy looking at photos rather than reading tons of information so we included images to help guide users through the homepage.
Product Detail Pages
While TX Vacations existing website had information on what travel guides included, it didn't give a full picture into what each travel guide fully offers. So, my team and I included detailed travel guide descriptions front and center that allows users to quickly access the information they need to make a purchase quickly.
About Us
My team and I knew that we needed to build trust from users and decided to start this from the moment the user enters the website. We created an opportunity within the design for users to take a moment to get to know TX Vacation, its creators and its core values. We also used imagery to make the page as engaging and welcoming as possible.
Work With Us
The big ticket item of the redesign was creating a space on the website for businesses to quickly get in contact with TX Vacation. TX Vacations existing website had no way of contacting them or any information that they were open to new partnerships. My team and I designed a page that lets businesses know that TX Vacation is open to new business partnerships, lets businesses quickly contact them as well as let businesses see the partnerships and impact TX Vacation has had in the past.
My team and I were able to create a website that encompassed TX Vacations core values and goals while also keeping our users at the forefront of our mind, but how exactly did we get there?
Read more about our research process below!
The Current Platform
Let's take a closer look at TX Vacation
To begin our research process, we first needed to take a close look at the current website to gauge what the website was doing well and what could be improved upon. While the existing website was simple and easy to navigate, it certainly needed some TLC.
From our analysis, it was clear that our primary areas of focus should be:
Improving CTA prominence
More detailed product descriptions
Memorable branding
Letting users know the brand is open to partnerships
Including more info on brand and creators
User Surveys
What do our users want?
We surveyed 13 users in order to understand what they wanted from a travel website, how they plan their trips and what pain points they've encountered along the way.
After synthesizing the trend in the feedback we learned users were saying:
Early explorations and design concepts
What my team and I previously learned about our target user revealed some big insights into how our design concepts can satisfy their needs while also addressing the big issues on the existing website. My team and I created paper sketches with these concepts in mind:
Our Key Takeaways
Allow the user to explore
Help the user get to know the brand and establish trust
Personable and playful written tone and visuals
Branding
Color, color and more color
Now that we have an overall structure of our website the question now was - what will it look like?
To begin the branding process, I started by creating a mood board for inspiration and to set the direction that I wanted to take TX Vacations branding. We were inspired by the geography of Texas and the colors of the sunset.
Here is the final color palette my team and I landed on:
User Feedback and Improvements
Iterating and Revising!
To learn how users felt about our designs, my team and I went through one round of testing, testing 9 users in total. Based on the feedback we received, we made revisions to address problem areas.
Here are the major areas of feedback we received from users:
Checkout process feels familiar and easy to complete
Users wanted feedback when they add an item to their cart
Users were unsure what the difference was between the “Contact Us” page and the “Work With Us” page
Users enjoy when the checkout process is as simplified as possible - they didn’t want to see a ton of information at once
Next Steps and Reflection
Taking Flight!
Next Steps
If I had more time to work on these designs, I would love to:
Create designs for the desktop experience
Create more in depth product descriptions
Add a “Coming Soon” page
Reflection
This project was fun, challenging, nerve racking and rewarding all at the same time. Here are some lessons I learned along the way:
Get Scrappy
When my team and I started our research process, we had an extremely difficult time finding users who were able to take our survey. As the lead researcher on this project, I rolled up my sleeves and reached out to neighbors, friends, connections on LinkedIn, Facebook groups and more. While this process added additional stress to the research process, our discoveries were well worth the effort.
Being Intentional
While working on this project, I learned how important designing with intentionality is and how to be more intentional with the times that I am working. Taking a step back and sleeping on decisions can take you farther than you think.
Being a Team Player
This project reaffirmed my love for working with a team. We were a team that was excited and passionate about the success of this project. I learned so much from my two team mates throughout the 3 weeks that I was able to work with them. Special thanks to my teammates Lesley and Troy, who made this an amazing learning experience and a ton of fun.