Smooth Sailing with
V's Vacation Station
V's Vacation Station is a travel agency specializing in crafting affordable and memorable cruise vacations. With a focus on providing exceptional customer service and personalized attention, the agency aims to offer high-quality amenities and activities to make every cruise experience unforgettable.
As the Website Development & Branding Designer at V's Vacation Station,
I played a pivotal role in enhancing the agency's online presence.
My responsibilities included developing a visually appealing website and creating a unique brand identity to align with the agency's mission and resonate with its target audience.
The project encompassed two main components:
The creation of a compelling brand identity
The design of a user-friendly website
These elements came together to elevate the overall user experience and align with the agency's commitment to making travel accessible and enjoyable for all.
This case study will focus on the UX design process, I might do another case study for the branding in the future.
METHODOLOGY
The agile methodology was integral to my approach, fostering a collaborative and iterative design process.
Regular sprints allowed for continuous feedback, enabling me to adapt and refine the design in response to evolving requirements and user insights.
RESEARCH
Identifying our Target Audience
V's Vacation Station is dedicated to curating exceptional cruise experiences for individuals seeking a break from the routine. Catering to a diverse audience, we are focused on delivering travel packages that prioritize individual preferences and budget considerations for our users.
Our target user base is people who like to go on cruises. Cruising primarily attracts adults ranging in age from their 30s through to their 80s, and families, so it is imperative that our website is accessible and easy-to-use for a variety of age demographics.
USER INTERVIEWS
Interviewees
6
Questions
9
With the parameters above, my user interviews unveiled a desire for simplicity and cleanliness in the travel booking process.
Users expressed a need for:
An uncluttered interface
Clear visual hierarchy
Intuitive navigation
By crafting detailed user personas based on these interview findings, I ensured our design decisions resonated with the target audience. Understanding the unique preferences and needs of potential travelers guided the creation of an interface that catered specifically to their expectations, enhancing overall user satisfaction.
COMPETITIVE AUDIT
I completed a competitive audit that revealed prevalent issues in our competitors such as:
Dated aesthetics
Unintuitive navigation
Poor mobile responsiveness
These insights served as a foundation for my design strategy, emphasizing the need for a modern, user-friendly interface.
IDEATE AND WIREFRAME
Embracing a user-centric approach, the design principles prioritized simplicity and cleanliness to create an intuitive and stress-free user experience. Clean layouts, clear navigation, and strategically placed call-to-action elements were central to guiding users seamlessly through the website.
I made various versions of each webpage and both desktop and mobile versions to get a general idea of where elements would be placed.
PROTOTYPE
The wireframes were then used to make a basic prototype.
ITERATE
Incorporating User Feedback
Iterative design was a cornerstone of our approach. For instance, initial user feedback emphasized the need for clearer navigation. In response, we iteratively refined menu structures and page layouts, resulting in an improved and more intuitive browsing experience.
Collaborating closely with Eric Vieweg, the agency's founder, ensured alignment between design decisions and the agency's vision. Stakeholder feedback was instrumental in shaping the overall aesthetics and functionality of the website, guaranteeing it reflected the brand identity and met business objectives.
White text on blue background
Main tagline in largest font, maintaining visual hierarchy
Bold central button
Below, we can see that I ensured the website was responsive by making elements resize, hide, and stack in various different ways depending on the size of the device screen .
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Ensuring Accessibility
Squarespace presented challenges, particularly with limitations in customization. To overcome these constraints, I leveraged custom CSS and HTML to implement unique design elements.
Feedback and realizations from users highlighted readability issues with white text on certain backgrounds. In response, we adjusted background colors to enhance accessibility, ensuring a visually appealing design while maintaining readability and user-friendly navigation.
Before
After
Our colour palette consisted of three striking colours, evoking the themes of vacation that we wanted to project whilst maintaining high contrast for texts and backgrounds.
I promoted accessibility by adhering to WCAG guidelines with bold contrast between texts and backgrounds; I also maintained clear visual hierarchy, clear text input boxes and large buttons.
RESULTS AND IMPACT
Metrics such as user engagement, time spent on the site, and conversion rates were closely monitored. Post-launch analytics revealed a significant increase in user engagement and positive interactions with the booking features.
Continuous monitoring allowed for prompt responses to user feedback. Post-launch evaluations led to further refinements, including additional features based on user requests and enhancements to the booking process.
Increased traffic and testimonials from users which show the website is being frequented by potential customers for the agency.