TICKET MENSCH
Research & Design for OTA targeting the Orthox Jewish community
OVERVIEW
Ticket Mensch is an online travel agency (OTA) that specializes in providing travel services and attractions based on Orthodox Jewish customs. The Orthodox community does not have a ticket reselling platform for attractions and destinations that is sensitive to their cultural values and tech fluency. I collaborated alongside three other designers from Springboard for this Industry Design Project.
CONSTRAINTS
The stakeholders want a website that is mobile friendly since many members of the Orthodox community don't have computers. The attractions listed on the site must fit within Orthodox core values and the UI must be streamlined for Users with low tech fluency. We were given five weeks to research and build a workable prototype.
RESPONSIBILITIES
As a collaborating designer my responsibilities were User Interviews, building an Empathy Map, Usability Testing, HMWs, building the mobile version of the High Fidelity Prototype, and moderating/presenting meetings with stakeholders.
RESEARCH
The team conducted competitive analysis on similar sites, Get Your Guide and Viator, which we used as inspiration for a remix for our prototype. Secondary Research revealed some key findings that will be crucial for building an OTA: Orthodox Jews do not travel on Sabbath and many other religious holidays and must maintain a Kosher diet at all times. Traditional Orthodox avoid technology and often don't own a computer.
Finding Users for Primary Research initially proved to be somewhat difficult because the Orthodox community is pretty close-knit without a lot of outside contact but we were able to survey some potential users and validate our Secondary Research.
"Finding Kosher food is always an issue if you're not in an Orthodox community."
Data from the survey also enabled us to create an Empathy Map to keep our design focused on the User.
Framing our themes and insights into How Might We questions will set the team up for innovative solutions while keeping our target audience in the forefront.
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
With these HMWs in mind we constructed a Low Fidelity Prototype which we were able to test on users the stakeholders provided. This enabled us to test our assumptions and validate our research before the next iteration.
The team liked the way Get Your Guide has simple categories for the attractions. We included this aspect in our remix because it will streamline the process for users regardless of their tech fluency.
The details page includes a map of the attraction and a "What to expect" field which will make users feel comfortable with their purchases.
We included a guest checkout to boost conversion while reminding users they will save time by logging in.
USABILITY TEST FINDINGS
Five remote tests were conducted with users from the Orthodox Jewish community. We were testing to uncover any usability flaws that need fixing as well as attempting to gauge users' thoughts/feelings regarding the direct targeting of the website; were their values and pain points considered, etc.
Issue #1: One of the attraction categories we offered was “Good for Couples” which caused some confusion because the word “couples” in Orthodox culture implies married couples. Dating is a big part of Orthodox culture so this category option will be adjusted for the High Fidelity Prototype.
"Good for couples" changed to "Good for dating"
Issue #2: After selecting the dates for the attraction, participants were confused with the CTA “Check availability” because they felt the calendar shouldn’t have allowed them to select dates if they were not available. This issue can be resolved with more direct word choice for the CTA such “Book now” or “Reserve”.
"Check Availability" changed to "Reserve"
Issue #3: Participants expressed a desire for confirmation of whether attractions were Sabbath Observance-friendly and Kosher. This issue can be resolved with filters. Users should be able to filter out attractions that don’t have Kosher food options or that rely on the use of electronic devices during Sabbath, such as Hotels that have electronic key cards.
Filters were adjusted based on feedback
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
After implementing changes for the High Fidelity Prototype of the website, we built the mobile version as well.
TAKEAWAYS
Creating an OTA is a large undertaking. Competitive analysis was key to getting this project off the ground because it provided much needed inspiration for our remix in the low fidelity prototype as well leading the team to assumptions we could then test on users. Usability testing and user interviews are essential to ensuring the design always considers the target audience. The Orthodox Jewish community has a unique POV and getting that primary data is crucial for ensuring their pain points are considered throughout the design process.
NEXT STEPS
The scope of our five-week Industry Design Project ended with this iteration. Typically we would conduct more user tests and make adjustments for another iteration. Ticket Mensch will likely have their next team conduct testing from the work we've done and the design process will continue.