UX/UI DESIGN
ACCESSIBILITY DESIGN
WEB
a new digital
home for a
legacy brand
MY ROLE
Sr. UX/UI Designer
UX DIRECTOR
Billy Lymm
CLIENT
Outrigger
AGENCY
Swift
OVERVIEW
Outrigger has been an industry-leading hospitality brand for over 70 years. Despite their award-winning services, their website served as a disconnect for their customers. It was outdated, riddled with accessibility issues, and failed to convey Outrigger as a premium brand. To address this issue, Outrigger's leadership tasked our team to redesign their site.
CHALLENGE
The existing site was challenging to navigate, cluttered, wasn't mobile-optimized, and not accessible to customers with disabilities. Shoppers found the site confusing and typically called the support staff to complete booking their reservations. Addressing these issues meant the redesign needed to provide a streamlined, accessible, best-in-class, and responsive experience. To ensure our redesign efforts would be successful, our team defined the following goals -
1
Drive higher conversion rates
3
Build better brand awareness
2
Decrease overall bounce rate
4
Attain WCAG site compliancy
MEET THE PRIMARY AUDIENCE
liz rosevelt
Age
36-44yrs
Earns $130-165k
Married w/ 1 kid
MOTIVATIONS
She's a busy professional but always plans 2 big vacations per year. She's interested in finding unique experiences that her family can share.
CORE NEEDS
She wants vacations that provide fun activities, leisure, and immersive cultural experiences. Creating memories matters the most to her.
PAIN POINTS
It's difficult to find vacation packages that offer activities that her whole family can enjoy and she doesn't want to spend too much time having to plan a trip.
APPROACH
We began the project with a discovery phase that focused on researching the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), hospitality website best practices, and conducting a competitor analysis. The research yielded an abundance of insights that formed the strategy and timeline for the redesign.
RESEARCH METHODS
Competitor
Analysis
WCAG
Standards
Persona
Development
Information
Architecture
User
Journey
Prototype
Testing
RESEARCH RESOURCES
To understand guidelines and best practices, I researched articles such as Designing for Web Accessibility, Hotel Website UX Research, and Travel Accommodation UX.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
To better understand the market, we analyzed 3 competitors: Aqua Aston, Castle Resorts, and Marriott. Insights gained from this research helped identify industry trends and hospitality site best practices, which highlighted areas of opportunity for our redesign efforts.
SITE MAP
WIREFRAMES
TESTER
USABILITY TESTING
After creating prototypes from the initial designs, we ran usability testing. The remote test included 10 participants who reviewed the prototypes and were tasked to book a reservation. Testers found booking a reservation easy, but some struggled with the global menu hierarchy. Leveraging testing insights, we updated the menu to ease any friction points.
RESULTS
After testing was complete, we began the development phase. Working closely with the dev team, we delivered an online experience that showcases Outrigger as a premium brand, is mobile optimized, and features a streamlined booking flow. The redesign also is compliant with WCAG standards, which means disabled customers now have equal access to Outrigger's vacation services via the new site.
18%
INCREASE IN CONVERSION
32%
DECREASE IN BOUNCE RATE
WCAG
LEVEL AA SITE COMPLIANCY
award
MAGELLAN - GOLD HOSPITALITY WEBSITE
award
HSMAI ADRIAN - GOLD WEBSITE CATEGORY
award
TRAVELMOLE - BEST RESORT WEBSITE
OPTIMIZED BOOKING
A majority of Outrigger's booking reservations come from mobile devices. Leveraging that data, we redesigned the booking functionality to be mobile-friendly by designing a simple set of steps that lead shoppers through a streamlined process.
BOOKING DEMO
UI COMPONENTS
DESIGN COMPS