I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the client.
““When I used it I cried, it will make such a difference to our business” - Travel Agent”
15-50% reduction in agent system on-boarding time (Depending on user computing literacy.
Prototype testing shows a potential 2-15 minute reduction in customer itinerary creation (Current implemented changes show 2-5 minute improvement)
Reported as being aesthetically pleasing, easier to use, intuitive and flexible
The travel mid-office is a custom-built mid-office management system built on top of the Salesforce platform. This enterprise product (SaaS) is specifically designed for travel agents giving them the ability to efficiently service both B2C and B2B customers.
The initial phase of development was focused on covering minimal user requirements to meet the needs of users who were on an existing system. Addressing these needs along with glaring inefficiencies in workflow and capabilities saw a mostly ad-hoc approach to design by the product team. This approach was adopted so users could be migrated off their old inefficient systems ASAP.
When I moved onto the product I went through a discovery process which provided insight into the overall business objectives, the intended audience, user workflows and processes, product use cases (Stories), other systems users are familiar with, issues users face using the system, pain points and opportunities in dealing with with B2C and B2B customers as well as the current and old systems.
After more research, synthesis and time on the travel mid-office system I began designing the system from the perspective of a green user who has never seen a mid-office travel system before. I took this approach as many of the existing design choices and workflows were archaic, based on other systems which were neither efficient or effective; adopted due to familiarity and habit by the agents.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
I initially freely designed following one rule which predicated the entire design processes “What would this look like if this was easy for the user?”
This one question helped me separate macro processes from the micro processes which helped me determine what should be local functionality from global functionality. Understanding this helped filter and streamline process, feature or functionality value, sequencing and positioning in the workflow as well as redundancies which needed to be removed, or inefficiencies which required a new approach to make for a better user experience.
After streamlining process, feature or functionality and making sure they work together at a macro level I would pass the design through a usability, accessibility and behavioral criteria including testing then through the following lenses;
Affordance
Flexibility
Engagement
Visceral (Focused on delight and fun).
New login screen which cycles through various travel locations both informing and delighting the user with new discoveries.
KEY DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS
PRODUCTIVITY
New user work-flows, user interface and advanced automation to save time and effort while providing enjoyable free-flowing user experience.
INSIGHTS
Provide market, industry and customer insights to maximize opportunities and increase sales. These insights are achievable through identifying opportunities and trends in the agencies customer database as well as the broader network customer data.
PROFITABILITY
The changes in the travel mid-office are designed to lead to quicker response times, more consistent customer management and more insightful data to improve customer acquisition and conversion leading to increased profitability for agents.
NEW FEATURES
Automated calculation and fees
Supplier integrations to speed up itinerary creation
Advanced group creation & better record management
Itineraries, invoices, receipts, destination guides, EDM’s
Streamline insurance quotes
New first in-class network wide booking and analytics features
New user-centered design
DESIGN DELIVERABLES
Platform (Saas) UX design and prototype
Travel itinerary design (Digital cross platform and print)
Travel invoice design (Digital cross platform and print)
Travel destination guide design (Digital cross platform and print)
Travel identity design see more…
OUTCOMES
User on-boarding indicates a reduction in on-boarding between 15-50% depending on computing literacy.
Streamlined processes, usability improvements and changes to workflow have only been partially implemented at this stage but have already resulted a 2-5 minute time saving depending on the interaction type.