Rapid research interventions in fast-paced environments

Context

In a fast-paced environment at Booking.com, the resort team was rapidly launching experiments aimed at diverse traveler groups—families with young children, couples, and large groups. The urgency to deploy new features often led to assumptions about user problems, with the team mirroring competitor booking processes without thorough validation.​

Challenge

The accelerated development cycle left little room for comprehensive user testing, particularly for complex scenarios involving varied traveler needs. This approach risked overlooking critical usability issues and unique user requirements.​

Approach

Recognizing the gap, I proposed a heuristic evaluation workshop to bring the user perspective directly into the development process. The goal was to foster empathy and highlight usability challenges through hands-on experience.​

I organized a two-hour workshop where cross-functional team members were divided into small groups. Each group was assigned a competitor's website and provided with specific user scenarios to evaluate:​

• A couple seeking a romantic getaway at an adults-only resort.

• A family with two young children looking for a kid-friendly resort with babysitting services.

• A large family planning a 70th birthday celebration requiring an accessible resort.​

Using a structured template, teams conducted heuristic evaluations, identifying friction points and usability issues from the perspective of these diverse users.​

Outcome

The workshop proved to be an eye-opener. Teams uncovered significant usability challenges not only in competitor websites but also reflected on similar issues within our own platform. This hands-on experience shifted the team's perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding diverse user needs.​

Post-workshop, I compiled the findings into detailed friction maps for each scenario. These insights were instrumental in informing the product decisions.​

Impact

By facilitating this collaborative session, it bridged the gap between rapid development and user-centered design. The initiative not only fostered empathy within the team but also set a higher standard for our customer experience, aligning with the principle of taking decisive action to improve user satisfaction.​

Specifically, the workshop led to tangible changes in our product:​

• Dynamic content personalization: The property detail pages were enhanced to display content more relevant to the user's search context. For instance, searches initiated by two adults would highlight resorts catering to adults, while searches including children would prominently feature kid-friendly amenities.​

• Enhanced accessibility information: Recognizing the importance of accessibility, we began collecting and displaying accessibility features as a dedicated section within the property details, aiding users in making informed decisions.