Travel PLATFORM
Product DESIGN
With Expedia
GOAL
To provide a great experience with the new loyalty program launch that encourages cross-brand shopping and platform loyalty.
MY ROLE
Team Lead Product Designer
TOOLS
For design, prototyping and workshops
I am currently a senior product designer @ Expedia. Working in a core design-delivery team, delivering the experience for its new loyalty programme.
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In 2023, we unified our reward program across our brands and brought One Key to the world - it’s a big deal for our travellers and our partners, and it’s a game-changer for us. We bring the design and content to life by creating a seamless experience for travellers and partners. From a business perspective, we would like to see more cross-brand purchases and loyal users. We have also introduced AI-powered advertising products for our partners.
Our team has defined the One Key customer and partner journey across relevant brands and products. Every touchpoint was considered. We collaborated closely with the Traveler Engagement (Data) team, Partner (TravelAds) team, Credit card team (launching a OneKey credit card with Wells Fargo, too!), and teams across Product and Technology.
Understand the traveller
Facilitate workshops to identify user problems and brainstorm potential solutions.
User journey created:
Applying affinity map groupings/ themes into our traveller-centric themes, which centred around user needs, pain points, and opportunities
'How-might-we' statements and potential solutions/ ideas brain storming:
Solution Grooming
Communicate with the wider team to decide on the best solution and timeline and also to define our first MVP.
Our goals for the product are to make it trusting, rewarding and empowering.
Trustworthy
No guesswork/ hidden fees/ dodgy points systems in our rewards programme.
Rewarding
Remind the user that using the product/ programme always pays back.
Empowering
Empowering the users to enjoy their trips even more and come back to us for their next trip.
Customer Facing Solutions
After numerous rounds of design review, research and 'Test and Learn' cycles (Some examples here), we now have detailed design treatments and approved copies of One Key messages.
This means integration into seven lines of business (Lodging, Flights, Car, Tickets, Packages Cruises plus all the supporting experiences that cut right across Expedia Group, including Hotels.com, Expedia ) and Vrbo, covering all devices (app, mobile web and web). The design lives almost everywhere in the shopping experience. Adding a brand new rewards hub, pillar page and gift points experience.
We also worked closely with the design system team to introduce new components.
Educating
Dynamic onboarding designs to educate users about the programme and encourage them to reach the next tier. Provide multiple touchpoints to learn about the new program.
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Cushion the experience when points are converted to rewards cash (that applies to all platforms and all lines of business) to avoid confusion and negativity towards a loyalty scheme change.
Providing trust and sense of reward
Ensure the users that the points earned are transparent on the price.
Celebrate small wins to motivate and keep users attached to the house of brands and loyalty program.
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Partner Facing Solutions
I always design with the users in mind, but the users are not the only audience of the business. Expedia works with travel providers to provide the optimal travel and tailored experience for all travellers. If the travellers win, we win, and the partners win.
AI-powered advertising products
We worked closely with the team providing Ads solutions for partners, including an AI-powered automated bidding tool that helps partners reach peak campaign performance based on their market goals and budget, and make it easy to optimise based on data and traveller insights in the TravelAds portal.
Ad Solutions, Standout Listing
and Optimised Searching
But how does it reach our travellers? In fact, we provide a wide range of ads and search solutions so that hotel partners can stand out when users search for their stays. Below is the design of our carousel ad formatting, the placement spotlights a minimum of three properties — and a maximum 10 properties — for brand/ lodging properties in the searched area.
I also led a design workshop in a series of workshops for partners. We focused on stand-out listings, as we provide partners (destination marketers) the option to fund bonus OneKeyCash options and other benefits for travellers. In return, we make it easier for the users to find those partners. It is then crucial to communicate those benefits to the users and help those listings stand out, and to enhance our VIP access programme so the users grow attachment to the programme and increase return purchase.
In the workshop, we did a competitive analysis exercise, looked in to recent relevant researches and worked on affinity mapping:
We recognise that communication needs to be minimal but efficient as there is already a lot of information in the search journey. We also need to be aware of users' goals on each page and respect them; otherwise, users can easily dismiss the "noise" we are imposing on them.
I created a clean and focused flow below:
Account Management/ Rewards Activity Page Optimisation
As part of the mission of providing a sense of reward, we noticed an opportunity to bundle trip booking elements. (e.g. if you have booked a hotel, maybe you would like to book a car, activities, etc.) We created a happy path below:
Offer placement and visual hierarchy exploration to help the user see their offers and rewards easily:
...And more
I have worked on many other aspects of the core experience. (Speak to me, and I'll share more!) Now launching in 6 countries, we have received a lot of positive feedback and have seen a big increase in cross-brand shopping, which is one of our core business goals. Generally, One Key members book twice as often, spend more, stay longer, and cancel less.
Huge increase
Cross brand shopping
2X more
Member booking
Less
Cancellations
I am now working on UX optimisation based on live data and research. Also an active mentor in Expedia and ADPList, to give back to the design community.