Stayzilla Revamp
Redesigned the compete the Web / M-site expererience to increase user adoption, have better engagement and bring more trust.
Role: Led the overall design & Participated in the user research, Interaction design, Visual design
Duration: 12 weeks
Background
Started in 2010, The company was an early Airbnb business type that provided an online platform in which homestays, ‘alternative stays’, as well as hotels could be listed. I joined the company in Sep 2016. Back then, Stayzilla was pivoting towards homestays from budget hotels as the travel segment was consolidating with MMT & Goibibo Merging + Players like Treebo & Oyo dominating the Budget hotels segment. The Team wanted to Redesign & Rebrand all online / offline initiatives to increase brand loyalty & book more homestays.
Business Problems
No Brand Awareness
Low Engagement on Home, Search, Property page
Conversion very poor for Homestay
Customer perception poor
Design Problems
Lack of Aesthetic Appeal
Poor User Experience leading to difficulty in usage
Design inconsistency, Not Modular
Lack of Design Processes
Old Designs
Homepage
Homepage
Search Results
Property details
Research
Our Marketing Team had gathered research data initially to find out who the users are and their preference. Based on the Insights we came to a conclusion that the users are budget travellers who are price-sensitive and prefer valuing offering with local experience and convenience.
Competitors
Airbnb, Rightstay (MMT), Homeaway, Oyo, Treebo
Qualitative Research
We interviewed 15 people to understand our Brand Awareness, Knowledge of Homestays, Travel behaviours etc. This helped us get a better understanding of our target audience, user needs and top challenges.
Target Audience
Age : 18-35 yrs age Millennials
Location : Metros and small cities of India
Gender : Male & Females
Education : HSC & above
Income : 10,000 & above
Professional : Working / Non-working
Tech Savvy : Has Smartphone & Uses Internet
Top Challenges
Stayzilla Brand Awareness is pretty low
Lack of Awareness of Good Homestays in India
No Deals / Discounts
Low Trust due to Bad Quality Images, No Reviews / Ratings
Host Confirmation Ratio is really poor
Refund Policy is Bad
Bad User Experience
Quantitative Research
We conducted an online survey and shared the questionnaire as a quantitative feedback to get a glimpse of travel patterns & behaviors & find commonality in answers which we can then relate to our current needs & problems. The response to the questions are mentioned below.
User Persona
I created a persona based on the user research and testimonials, which helped me communicate my findings with the team. The persona also ensured that users’ goals and frustrations were at the front of my mind as I progressed with the design.
Business Objective
To be one of the largest and most recognized homestay networks in India.
How: By Improving Customer Awareness, Build Trust and Engagement
Planning
Roadmap for next 2 quarters
Build Features that bring Trust, Engagement
Redesign Entire website and m-site
How ?
Create a Unified Design Language for stayzilla
Collaborate with Business, Product to build features
which are meaningful and impactful in helping company grow to the next level
Execution
Approach
2 week sprints & Daily Stand-ups to check progress
Extensive collaboration with Product, Design, Tech & QA.
Design Methodology
Have a Modular approach to Design.
Build Reusable Design elements for dev’s to build things faster
Incremental Redesign to reduce shock value for customers
Focus on High Impact and Low effort Features
Results after launch
In 4 months we managed to revamp the entire website, m-site with extensive collaboration with product, tech, business & QA.
New Designs
Homepage
Homepage
Search Results Page
Property Details Page
Checkout Page
