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Increasing site conversion and boosting revenue per user

A successful modernisation project, resulting in a significant improvement in key performance metrics, including a +8.2% increase in overall site conversion rates and a boost in revenue per user. The project demonstrated the value of research-driven, user-centric design, leading to a future-proof website.

Business Transformation 2024

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Situation:

Warner Hotels, a leading hospitality brand, was facing challenges with its outdated, slow, and unreliable website due to the use of old technologies. To stay competitive and enhance the customer experience, the company recognised the need to modernise its technology stack and future-proof its online presence. An external agency had initiated the project, delivering an initial design, layout, and partial user journeys. However, significant gaps remained, requiring further development to meet WLH's evolving business needs. The project was to be delivered in three stages, with the first phase focusing on redesigning the website to improve search functionality and discoverability.

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Task

As a Senior UX Designer, I was tasked with addressing the gaps in the existing project and ensuring the successful completion of all three phases. My role involved reworking the initial design to better align with business objectives, scoping and developing the remaining phases, and delivering a user-friendly, future-proof website that would enhance WLH’s online presence and customer experience.

Actions

01
Initial Assessment and Strategy
  • Conducted a thorough review of the existing work, identifying that the partial user journeys and layouts were insufficient and misaligned with business goals.
  • Performed a competitor analysis to benchmark best practices and identify features that could be integrated into the WLH website.
02
Mapping the Full User Journey
  • Expanded and refined the Information Architecture (IA) to cover all possible user interactions, ensuring a comprehensive user experience.
  • Reworked critical wireframes, focusing on usability and conversion optimisation, to address the gaps in the original design.
03
Rapid Prototyping and User Testing
  • Developed interactive prototypes of key sections of the website and conducted user testing to gather immediate feedback.
  • Iterated on the designs based on user feedback, refining the wireframes and prototypes to resolve usability issues.
04
Developer Handover
  • Provided detailed documentation of the refined designs, user journeys, IA, and prototypes to the development team, ensuring a clear understanding of the design intent
  • Maintained ongoing collaboration with developers, conducting continuous user testing to make real-time adjustments during the development phase.
05
Final User Testing and Launch
  • Conducted extensive pre-release testing, including a broad survey sent to 36,000 existing guests, achieving a 16% completion rate.
  • Analysed survey results and testing data to identify areas for improvement, with unresolved issues added to the backlog for post-launch follow-up.
06
Launch and Post-Launch Analysis
  • Successfully launched the new WLH website with minimal disruption to traffic, resulting in a smooth transition to the new platform.
  • Monitored post-launch performance, noting an +8.2% increase in the overall site conversion rate and a boost in revenue per user. However, some key areas, such as the search functionality, showed a decrease in effectiveness, indicating the need for further optimisation.
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Sample of some components created and documented in figma for developer hand off

Result:

The WLH website redesign was a successful modernisation effort, resulting in a significant improvement in key performance metrics, including a +8.2% increase in overall site conversion rates. The project demonstrated the value of research-driven, user-centric design, leading to a future-proof website. Although some challenges, such as a shift in user behaviour and decreased search functionality effectiveness, were identified post-launch, these have been prioritised for ongoing optimisation to ensure continuous improvement of the platform.