The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usability of the Tripadvisor app in terms of the amount of cognitive load on the target user, find out the major problems and suggest meaningful changes that could help improve the experience.
About the app
Tripadvisor is a travel guidance and booking platform. Travellers use it to compare low prices on hotels, flights and cruises, book popular tours and attractions, as well as reserve tables at restaurants.
Methods of Evaluation
Self Analysis
In order to understand the app better, we created its information architecture, which lists down all the major functions in the app and maps out its structure.
Hierarchical Task Analysis
& SHERPA
We conducted Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) for 4 selected tasks, breaking each into smaller steps and identifying potential user errors using SHERPA (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach).We conducted Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) for 4 selected tasks, breaking each into smaller steps and identifying potential user errors using SHERPA (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach).
Tasks and Parameters
We curated a list of tasks with the aim of simulating the natural flow a user would go through to plan and make reservations/bookings for a trip.
Pre-task instructions
You are going on a family vacation to Lonavala from September 1st to 4th and have decided to use Tripadvisor to help plan this trip. Your tasks are:
Task B
User Testing
Along with our self analysis, we also conducted user testing in order to find out any usability problems. Users were instructed to perform the same tasks we had evaluated the app on.
We chose the age range of 35-55 years as they are the major user group for TripAdvisor.
Think Aloud
We used the Think Aloud protocol, encouraging users to verbalize their thoughts, frustrations, and feelings while also observing unspoken experiences. Key observations included:
Users accidentally added items to the previous date due to the confusing placement of the “Add” button.
Users did not realise that they could select multiple item cards at once when adding to an itinerary.
Relevant filters not easily accessible due to poor categorisation and ordering.
Poor feedback on selection: Users tried to tap and select objects multiple times.
Users found it difficult to locate “edit itinerary” button due to lack of prominence.
SUS
Each user was asked to fill the SUS (System Usability Scale) test immediately after completing the tasks. The score received tells us about the usability experience of the app. A score above 68 is considered average.
Only one user out of ten was revealed to have found the usability of the app above the acceptable average.
The average score for the app (47.8) is also significantly less than the recommended score (68).
This prompted further research into the exact factors that hindered the user experience.
Efficiency & Effectiveness
Using the time taken by users to complete the given tasks, we calculated the average efficiency ( 1/ time taken) of the app. The effectiveness was then calculated as an average of the no. of tasks completed/total tasks.
High effectiveness but low efficiency means that although all tasks (once found) are easy to complete, they are not easily discoverable and need time to locate.
Heuristic Evaluation
A usability assessment method used to identify and assess usability problems in an interface. Experts analyse the app based on a set list of established usability principles or heuristics, and each heuristic is given a rating. According to the ratings given we extracted the following insights:
A few interactional errors identified that hinder timely task completion
Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
Users cannot easily see which filters are currently active, making it difficult to keep track of their selections.
Recognition Rather than Recall
While adding items to an itinerary, user is not informed if an item has already been added or not.
User Control
The app does not support personalisation for individual users, other than dark and light themes.
Competitor Analysis
We analysed Tripadvisor’s leading competitors, Expedia and Viator. Our analysis focused on their ergonomics of these apps, studying how particular features of the apps affect their efficiency and ease of use.
Strengths
+
When it comes to creating Itineraries, Tripadvisor provides the most useful functions. But it is not easy to do and could be made more intuitive.
+
When compared with its competitors, Tripadvisor has the most extensive and user friendly reviewing.
Weaknesses
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Both its competitors have better navigation within the item card page. By providing navigation bars or hyperlinks, they shorten the process of information retrieval.
-
Viator and Expedia have greater clarity of information by the use of icons, making category division easier to process.
Eye Tracking
We used Real Eye’s eye tracking technology to analyse user attention on the Tripadvisor app. These heatmaps show the key areas of user focus which we used to guide our design decisions.
Consolidating
On combining insights from all the above methods of evaluation we obtained four major areas to focus on:
