Resort Details
Whilst working at www.packyourbags.com I redesigned the ‘Resort Details’ page.
This project took several weeks, starting off with usability testing with Silverback. Our testing uncovered a number of important issues that needed to be addressed, so here’s a brief look at some of those problems and the new ideas that fuelled that creative process.
The starting point
"It’s just so grey"
The starting point was an old design which was functional rather than inspirational. Important information like airport departure times was hidden away (1), whilst details on the accommodation and the resort were in an old .NET control (2). Finally, the ‘Book’ button (3) was nothing more than a form submit button – it was just all so grey.
“Their holiday starts on this website”
I believe that to improve conversions on this page we needed visitors to feel that their holiday began on the site. By creating a fun and exciting page and so subconsciously inviting users to start their holiday with us, we could improve the number of availability requests and therefore bookings.
On the right is the page prior to the redesign; note the grey area ’selling’ the holiday (4), the range of different fonts and button styles, together with the lack of an call to action to book this holiday (which was much further down the page).
The new design
“Bright and fresh, like a sunny beach!”
The new design is built around bright vivid colours, enticing imagery, and compelling calls to action. There is a clear hierarchy so that the online booking is the top priority.
At the same time we have a number of actions that we count as a conversion (online booking, phone booking, email request etc.) and it is important that these all stand out.
The grey has gone and has been replaced with fun icons and text and a little humour. I especially enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek reference to the weather!
Final thoughts
More enquires and more basket requests
Within just a few days of launching the design we were able to track more holiday enquires and basket requests. The next project is to improve the booking process and bring it in line with this new fresh design.
.NET functionality by WebSource.
Design, CSS, jQuery and HTML by me.