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Overview
City Cycles is a bike rental company located in Las Vegas, it has recently experienced a decline in online reservations through their website. Their relatively new online reservation service has not been meeting expectations, the conversion rates have been extremly low.
I was hired by City Cycles to redesign their site as well as their online bike reservation process. My first task was to evaluate the current user experience to identify the pain points and the reasons behind the low conversion rates in online reservations.
Next, I aimed to improve the website's user experience and redesign the reservation flow to make booking a bike on the City Cycles website easy and streamlined and improve conversion rates.
First, I was tasked with testing the current user experience with the goal of discovering why online reservations were under preforming.
Second, to improve their website's user experience and redesign the reservation user flow to make booking a bike the City Cycles website easy and streamlined.
My Role
Lead Designer
Problem Statement
How can we encourage more City Cycles customers to book through the City Cycles website?
City Cycles aims to increase the number of customers making bicycle reservations via their existing website. Currently, customers prefer to book by phone or in person, which is inconvenient and inefficient for City Cycles staff who have to handle these interactions but also for customers.
Analyzing the data I gathered, it became evident that City Cycles experienced a significant decline in online bike reservations. User interviews revealed that customers found the website difficult to navigate.
Analyzing the data I gathered, it became evident that City Cycles experienced a significant decline in online bike reservations. User interviews revealed that customers found the website difficult to navigate.
Problem Solution
I focused on designing and prototyping the following solutions to simplify the reservation process and address customer pain points:
• Adding a bright colored "Reserve Bike" button prominently featured in two locations on the homepage, directing renters straight to the reservation page.
•Providing the ability to view all available bike models, each with a description and image of bike, before making a selection.
• Allowing customers to choose a bike and reserve it for a specific date and time.
• Implementing an order/payment process that can be completed in as few steps as possible.
• Including an order information summary throughout the process and an order confirmation number page once the reservation is complete.
• Ensuring the order confirmation summary contains all the information renters need, such as bike information and payment summary as well as an emailed copy of reservation details and confirmation number at completion.
Design Thinking Process
Emphathize Phase
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User Interviews
I conducted moderated user interviews to gather qualitative data and gain a deeper understanding of the users' needs and pain points
The goal of the interviews:
• learn what motivates the user
• how often they rent bikes
• their experience using the current website
After the interviews:
• analyzed the data
• create user personas to help emphathize with users
• understand user pain points
• Empathy Map
I wanted to form a deeper understanding of our users' goals, needs, experiences, and behaviors. I created a user persona based on the insights gained from conducting user interviews, surveys and analyzing the data obtained.
Says
• "I need a reliable way to get to work without dealing with traffic."
• "Finding parking downtown is sucha hassle and expensive.
• "I want to reduce my carbon footprint."
Thinks
• Concerned about the time wasted in traffic jams.
• Thinks about the environmental impact of her transportation choices.
Does
• Researches bike rental options near her apartment and office.
• Uses a bike rental shop to check bike type, availability and reserve bikes.
• Tries to book a reservation online, finds she can't complete the reservation on the site.
Feels
• frustrated and annoyed that she couldn't complete the bike rental online and had to email a staff member to finish the booking.
• She likely won't use the City Cycles website again for booking a bike.
• User Persona
Sarah Johnson
Age
30
Education
B.A Engineering
Status
Married
Occupation
Marketing Manager
Location
Las Vegas
Personality
Calm
Thinker
Creative
Bio
Sarah Johnson is a 30-year-old marketing manager living in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Her downtown apartment is conveniently located but makes owning a car impractical due to high parking costs and heavy traffic. Sarah is health-conscious and environmentally aware, aiming to incorporate physical activity into her daily routine while reducing her carbon footprint.
Goals
• Commute efficiently and avoid traffic congestion.
• Incorporate physical activity into her daily routine.
• Reduce her carbon footprint.
• Explore the city easily and at her own pace.
• Find convenient bike rental options near tourist attractions.
• Ensure the transportation method is eco-friendly.
FRUSTRATIONS
• Unfamiliarity with the city's geography and traffic rules.
• Difficulty in finding and unlocking rental bikes.
• Inconsistent rental prices and hidden fees.
• Bikes not being available when needed.
• Complicated rental and return processes.
Define Phase
• Data Visualization
I compiled my research into a presentation to sum up my findings.
I included qualitative and quantitative data with graphs from Google Analytics, user personas and empathy map, a word cloud and a competitive analysis.
This presentation is helpful to the client and stakeholder to explain visually the discoveries from the research.
• Quantitative Research
Google Analytics Data
The quantitative data was collected to see the number of users that were visiting the City Cycles website and the percentage of repeat visitors and new users.
Analysis of pie chart showed:
• 75% of users are new
• 25% are repeat users
• bounce rate 40.97%
Pie graph shows there is a problem with usability if users are not coming back to the website shown by repeat users.
The bounce rate at 40% is also showing us users are not staying on page to complete the bike rental process.
Competitive Analysis
City Cycles is a bike rental shop in Las Vegas which is a densely populated urban area and a huge tourist attraction. To understand its competitive position and identify strategies for differentiation and success, I analyzed key competitors in the industry. This analysis will focus on several established bike rental services, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
User Journey Mapping
• Old City Cycles User Journey
• New City Cycles User Journey
User Flow
User flow is meticulously designed to provide a seamless and intuitive experience for users from start to finish. Beginning with the homepage, users can easily navigate to essential actions such as reserving and paying for a bike rental and finding pertinent site information. The payment process is streamlined to ensure quick and secure payment and reservation completion, enabling users to access the reservation and make changes to the current reservations.
• The Process of Reserving A Bike
Key Insight Derived
• City Cycles had a significant bounce rate, a high rate of new users but a low rate of returning users.
• Users felt annoyed, frustrated and a large number gave up during the original reservation process.
• Users wanted an easy step by step process to select a bike, reserve and pay for it all on City Cycles site, without the need to contact them or go in person.
Ideate Phase
I wanted to generate ideas that would help users make reservations quickly while also providing revenue generating feature options for City Cycles.
Card Sorting, Idea Matrix, and Now, How, Wow Ideation
I completed a card sorting exercise to organize content categories and assist in redesigning the homepage. I focused on pages and sections where the reservation process would be most prominent to users.
My goal was to generate ideas that would help users make same-day, multi-day, or recurring reservations online, view bike options, and be guided through the reservation process to completion, thereby increasing online rentals.
Using the Now, How, Wow method, I narrowed down ideas for the homepage and reservation process.
Design Phase
Low-Fidelity Designs
High-Fidelity Designs
High-Fidelity Prototype
I created the prototype, linking the pages and elements to facilitate the user journey and test the user flow. The goal of the prototype was to function like the final product, enabling more accurate feedback during user testing.
View Figma PrototypeFinal Results
Key Takeaways
• User-Centered Design: Prioritizing the user's needs and pain points led to a more intuitive and seamless reservation process, significantly improving the overall user experience.
• Consistency with Existing Design System: Maintaining the established design system ensured brand consistency and user familiarity, enhancing the overall user interface.
• Iterative Prototyping and Testing: Developing and testing interactive prototypes allowed for early detection and resolution of usability issues, leading to a more polished final product.
• Effective Ideation Techniques: Utilizing methods like Card Sort and Now, How, Wow prioritization helped organize content effectively and generate dinnovative solutions tailored to user goals.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Analyzing qualitative data from user interviews and surveys provided valuable insights, guiding design decisions and ensuring they were grounded in actual user behavior and feedback.
• Enhanced User Engagement: Implementing clear, prominent call-to-action buttons and simplifying the reservation flow led to increased user engagement and higher online booking rates.
• Revenue-Generating Features: Integrating features that not only improved the user experience but also contributed to revenue generation demonstrated the value of balancing user needs with business goals
