Table of Content

General User Information

Personal Details

Name: Kyle

Age: 32

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Occupation: (Former) Inbound & Outbound Incentive Travel Project Manager for various travel agencies and Incentive Houses

<aside> 📌 Legend

⚠️ Didn't Work 💚 Worked Well 💡Idea 🤔 General Observation

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General flight booking behaviour

Flight frequency

• Domestically pretty regular (up to once per month)
• Internationally depended on the Incentive House (at times up to once every 2 months)
• Personally travels internationally 1 per year

At work / For professional reasons

• Organises Travel for large corporate groups of 80 - 100 people.
• Assesses information about flights on airline websites but relies on email to share flights to relevant booking agents and group consultants

<aside> ⚠️ Slower Internet in developing countries means lazy-load features are actually a detriment. The website should load in full so the user can interact with it in one go instead of waiting for each section on the page to load.

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For personal flights

• Personal flights are researched first on mobile via apps such as Skyscanner and Kayak
• Finds it easier to use a mobile, more comfortable and convenient
• Sets notifications & flight alerts for price drops and time variations
• Finds usability on mobile simpler - like a kiddies version of the website, smoother to handle
• Finds flights on airline website because it may be cheeper / more chances of being upgraded to a higher class
• Switches to desktop to make payment because it feels more secure than mobile → more prone to being hacked in Africa
• Multiple tabs on computer desktop - cross reference information

Last taken flight

• Cape Town to Berlin to visit his best friend
• Searched flights via Skyscanner trying to find the best option in terms of price, travel times and layover times
• Passport / Visa concerns were also taken into consideration in terms of layover
• Key Considerations:
  • Total Travel time including Layovers
  • Maximising time on holiday & coming back home in time to go back to work
• Information was shared via WhatsApp before purchase and then via Email once the ticket has been baught
• Push Notifications on KLM really worked well in informing the user
• Had an overall positive experience

General Comments

• Long layovers don't matter too much as long as they are somewhat bearable
• Prefers to fly at night when it comes to long haul flights
• Prefers to fly on Qatar, KLM and Emirates because they both have direct flights to Cape Town
• KLM has a very easy to use website
• Would never phone the airline - prefers to communicate via Chatbot, or WhatsApp or FB Messenger Bot
• Wish Chatbot - very intuitive regarding order tracking.
• Would rather download an app to deal with Customer service than phone the company as long as it doesn't take up too much space.

<aside> 🤔 Should desktop websites emulate the simplicity of mobile design? Are users getting used to mobile design being the norm and more comfortable with using it? Research needed

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<aside> 💡 Is there a way we can share the last viewed / shared flights between devices?

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<aside> 💚 Push Notifications on KLM worked really well in letting the user know what was happing with the flight

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<aside> 💚 KLM created a WhatsApp Group with family members of the User where they posted updates on the flight while the user was unable to contact them while in the air → gave the user peace of mind that his family wasn't worried because his phone stopped working once he arrived in Berlin

</aside>

<aside> 🤔 Apps need to take up very little space once downloaded.

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<aside> 🤔 User is very much against phoning a company to get in touch even during a crisis or an emergency.

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<aside> 💡 Is there a way we can inform the user on how a long layover at a certain time or airport can be spent? Inform users about day Visa's for example?

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Task 1: Book a flight on KLM

For the purposes of the test, we’ll assume the following:

• You live in Cape Town. You’re planning a getaway to Europe for Summer 2021
• You think Berlin in Germany could be the place for you
• You want to take part in the CSD festivities so around 25 June - 3 July is the best time for you
• Your first choice is to fly out Friday 25 June so you can be in Berlin for the weekend
• But you’re not too constrained by dates

What I want you to do

• Book a flight from Cape Town - Berlin
• Depart Friday 25 June 2021
• Return a little over a week later on 3 July 2021
• 8 nights / 2 people
• Please show me what you would do

Notes on Task 1

Task 1 executed by Kyle

<aside> ⚠️ Website froze at this point. Unable to complete tasks due to slow loading time.

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User Comments

Ideas

• The action of horizontal navigation (swiping) feels more natural if going through steps than scrolling down → relates to hand movements