Aventus Destination Management
A centralized solution for all vacation needs.
Overview
Aventus is a platform that allows users to book accommodations, plan events during their stay, and find nearby activities.
Search results can be based on specific occasions like anniversaries, honeymoons, birthdays, or getaways with friends.
This aims to reduce the amount of searching done to plan tailored trips.
Background
Accommodation rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo offer a variety of flexible stays for travelers.
Vacation Homes
Properties with multiple rooms and home-like amenities, ideal for families or groups.
Apartments
Self-contained units with essential facilities for solo travelers or small groups.
Rooms in Homes
Shared spaces within a host’s residence, offering affordable and local experiences.
Understanding the Problem
The Problem
Accommodation rental platforms lack filters and insights, limiting users’ ability to tailor searches and find the perfect stay.
Users often spend more time than needed relying on searches to find trustworthy platforms for booking local events, which can lead to bad locations or missed opportunities to explore nearby activities.
Platforms offer to search for experiences but don't show nearby accommodations or vice versa.
The Goal
Aventus empowers travelers to plan personalized trips by offering occasion-based stays, local event recommendations, and curated nearby experiences.
By focusing on user engagement, personalized recommendations, and seamless booking, Aventus aims to create memorable travel experiences that drive loyalty and revenue growth.
Increase User Engagement
Encourage exploration of events and nearby attractions through occasion-based searches and personalized recommendations.
Boost Booking Conversions
Drive more bookings by offering stays and experiences tailored to specific occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, and business trips.
Enhance Personalization
Create a tailored experience that keeps users coming back by leveraging data to recommend stays, events, and activities.
Research & Insights
Research
80% of users struggle with lack of search controls and information to find preferred stays.
5.1/10
Avg. research experience score
Fragmented research leaves users clicking endlessly and unsure of their decisions.
9/10
Avg. booking experience score
Checkout scores are high, but opportunities exist in research and stay stages.
80%
Users want activities + stay
Activities enhance accommodations by adding convenience and enjoyable ways to explore.
100%
Activities influenced stay
Activities play a decisive role, with all users saying they influence their choice of stay.
Competitor Analysis
I looked at 3 major companies that currently do accommodation rentals
Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia
Airbnb
Overall Airbnb is scored 9 as a direct competitor when it comes to competitiveness.
Booking.com
Ranked around 6 as an indirect competitor, as they are primarily focused around hotels.
Expedia
Has a fairly well designed experience with a strong loyalty program.
Personas
Just Married Justin & Jasmine
Long-term relationship/Married with no kids
Age:
25-35
Employment:
Full-time
Marital Status:
Long-term relationship/Married with no kids
Challenges:
- Planning and booking a vacation that meets their budget
- Finding activities that are convenient to the accommodation
Wants & needs:
- Culturally rich: Best value for experiences
- Leisure: convenient to activities
- Romantic: Aesthetically pleasing accommodation, something special
Tools:
Booking.com, Airbnb, Tripadvisor
Design Process
Sketches & Wireframes
Wireframe sketches clarified UI components and their arrangement.
Two rounds of sketching and wireframing helped refine layouts and establish a clear direction for designing components.
The Goal
I designed features to help users seamlessly discover and plan trips around unique occasions and local experiences.
By integrating intuitive search tools and curated content, I created a more personalized and engaging travel planning experience.
A carousel for occasions on the landing page allows users to quickly explore and start their search.
By focusing on occasions, the carousel simplifies the user journey, helping them identify the most relevant options right from the start.
A persistent filter sidebar keeps occasion and event type options easily accessible.
Designed to stay visible throughout the search process, the filter sidebar helps users focus on finding the most relevant results.
Listings display events during the stay and recommend nearby experiences for a more enriching trip.
Showing events and experiences helps users make informed booking decisions by providing context and added value to their stay.
Feedback & Iterations
Usability testing showed that searching by occasion wasn't the main focus of the platform.
While users found the design intuitive and navigation smooth, they emphasized the need to make occasion search more front and center, like integrating it into the search bar and featuring it more on the homepage.
Replacing “How Many” with “Occasions” in the search bar made occasions a main search item.
This change simplified the search process and ensured users could easily find relevant options with occasions in mind. Adding the search bar to every page provided flexibility, allowing users to adjust their plans without starting over.
Updating the homepage made it easier for users to explore occasions.
By moving the Occasions carousel above the Hot Listings and enlarging the images, this key feature became more prominent, enhancing the browsing experience and helping users find options tailored to their needs.
Turning Constraints into Opportunities
Challenges & Constraints
Designing solo required creative problem-solving, meticulous decision-making, and efficient management of every aspect of the project.
Working solo sharpened my ability to validate ideas, prioritize impactful changes, and manage the entire design process with focus and efficiency.
1
Without a team to provide feedback, I had to rely on usability testing and research to ensure my designs were effective and user-focused.
2
Working with outsourced usability testers required me to set clear objectives and ensure their feedback was actionable and aligned with the project goals.
3
Handling all aspects of the design process meant balancing research, design, prototyping, and testing while maintaining quality.
Key Takeaways
Analyzing interactions revealed opportunities to enhance navigation and align features with user priorities.
Reviewing user interactions provided a deeper understanding of how to simplify the experience and make key features more accessible.
Users value quick access to search and filters when planning their stay.
Clear and intuitive navigation keeps users focused and reduces drop-off.
Placing key features prominently encourages engagement and faster decision-making.