Slide Show to Analyze and Communicate User Research Findings

User Research Results

by Alisha Kimberley, User [email protected]

Stakeholders:James Murphy (PM), Sam Eisenschenk (Head Engineer)

Last updated 6/29/2014

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FindingsKnow what your users know.

User Research Results 6/29/2014 2

Executive SummaryOur goal throughout this research was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Marriott.com’s user experience and uncover opportunities for improvement. The small scale Nano Usability Study lead our journey with the knowledge that users’ initial search results were too broad. But, we had not yet determined how we could best narrow those results to help our users. We had our hypotheses as to what our users wanted from the re-design; however, we needed confirmation before we invested time and money in the wrong directions. With the data from the User Surveys in hand, we are now able to confidently design for both Marriott’s business goals and its users.

User Experience Themes to Build Upon:

• Guests want to be comfortable when they book with Marriott.com.• They want a trustworthy site that offers them money savings and convenience.• Amenities, cost, and location are prominent drivers when users choose between hotels.


What brought us here?

Plain and simple: Our Users

We want our guests to receive the search results they expect, in a format that is easy to discern, with the points that are important to them prominently featured. Marriott’s digital designs should match our customer’s needs. Remember, we saw in the Nano Usability Study that each of the three users had different wants and needs. They struggled with different things and sought out different features from our hotels. They wanted disparate things from our website.

And, we have to design for them all!


The Business Goals Driving the Research

When we set out on this research project, Marriott identified five goals for its digital properties. 1. Increase digital hotel bookings.2. Increase luxury and Lifestyle Collection reservations.3. Gain Marriott Rewards loyalty program members.4. Decrease the number of people abandoning a reservation.5. Increase hotel/flight package bookings.

How did Findings go about achieving the goals of Marriott and its guests?


Research Goals1. Improve upon the hotel search function.

2. Allow for easier manipulation of the hotel search results.

3. Discover what information users readily want to know about the hotels they are researching.

4. Determine what visitors expect and want to be provided with as they move through the booking process.

5. Drive guests to the additional features (other than the basic booking) available on Marriott.com.

The three most critical thingsto measure are our website’s


To help our users

Function

Efficiency

Desirability

Most Important Digital Functions


• Give prices• Find hotel by location• Create reservation for a specific date range• Hold the reservation with a credit card• Offer the choice of different types of rooms• Find information on hotel amenities

But did we best accomplishthese tasks for our visitors?


User Research MethodsPreviously, the Nano Usability Study alerted us that our visitors could use additional help in choosing the right hotel. Their initial Search Results weren’t pin-pointed enough.

Now let’s take a look at the data the User Surveys uncovered to help in our design process.

Nano Usability Study User Surveys Actionable

Data


Interview HighlightsClick the box below to play the video.


With the results in hand, we began by entering the data into an Excel spreadsheet for easy sorting. This allowed us to visually pair the answers of each interviewee to those of the other participants. We were looking for patterns in the data.

Crunching the Data


We also used coding to analyze the data. First, we assigned each participant his own color Post-It®. Then we wrote each answer he gave on its own Post-It®. After that, we moved the Post-Its® around, putting them into categories. We were searching for patterns in the data. These patterns weren’t only based on the exact answers given, but on the emotional reactions the participants had as well.

Crunching the Data

Results of the Research


Some important themes were uncovered.

Guests want to search by:• Cost• Amenities• Location

In addition, guests want:• Cheap rates• Deals• Packages

It’s important Marriott’s web tools are:• Simple• Easy to use• Comfortable, familiar, and trustworthy


Recommendations

The initial search function just asks for the dates of the guest’s stay and the city in which they want their hotel. Even the More Options button only adds # of rooms, # of guests and special rates to the search. Amenities and price are very important to our guests.

Add more search options to the initial search.


RecommendationsUsers are interested in saving money. They are also interested making the process of booking their vacation easy. They want to book all the components with one website.

Better feature our package programs & highlight why the Marriott’s Rewards Program is right

for them.


Recommendations

Tap into the proven success of the competition.

These websites were repeatedly mentioned the in interviews for their ease of use. User found satisfaction in their popularity and familiarity. Marriott guests want to feel comfortable on the website.


To Do List for Marriott.com

Add more search options to the initial search.

Better feature our package programs.

Highlight why the Marriott Rewards Program is right for each user.

Tap into the proven success of the competition.

Slide Show to Analyze and Communicate User Research Findings

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