CASE STUDY

Launching Rental Cars on Tripadvisor

Overview

I joined the Flights and Cruises team at Tripadvisor in 2019 as a Principal Product Designer, I was asked to lead the research, strategy, and design of a new 0-1 Rental Cars search and review product.

The team had already tested product viability with an embedded iFrame solution from RentalCars.com that allowed users to search for and book rental cars on Tripadvisor. While the team was able to “skin” the iFrame to make it look and feel native to Tripadvisor, the team had no control of the experience beyond that.

So I set out to help change that.

User problem

How might we help users find the right rental car at the best price?

Business problem

How might we expand Tripadvisor's transportation offering by creating a differentiated rental car search and review product?

My process

01. Understand rental car user

I surveyed 500 rental car consumers via Qualtrics to understand purchase and research behavior in Tripadvisor’s largest markets. Findings from this study helped me develop personas, gain alignment with business stakeholders, and ensure that we were building the right features to meet user needs.

02. Identify UX opportunities

I evaluated 27 rental car websites to identify UX opportunities and ways to differentiate Tripadvisor’s Rental Car product. Findings influenced the design of new features that rental car shoppers are used to, but were new to Tripadvisor (i.e. Pay Now v.s. Pay Later). In addition, a gap in user generated content used on competitors’ search experiences was identified.

03. API discovery

To feed the search results, Tripadvisor leveraged an API from competitor RentalCars.com. I worked with my engineering team to 1) understand what information about a rental car we could display to the user and 2) identify any technical limitations for the design.

04. Test MVP solution

I conducted user testing on the search product designs via UserTesting.com to identify and address pain points before launch.

The MVP solution

In July 2019, a responsive search experience for Rental Cars was soft-launched exclusively in the United States. While rental car searches were strong post-launch, the click-through-rate (CTR) for “View Deal” had room for improvement.

Enhancements

To improve CTR on search result pages, we tested and launched iterative improvements to help users filter and compare results.

  • To help users compare pick-up and drop-off locations, we embedded review content within search results.

  • We added a visual filter at the top of search result pages that helped users compare results by size, luggage capacity, and price.

  • To support users picking up or dropping off at an airport location, we added information about terminal shuttle availability.

  • To support users searching for rental cars at non-airport locations, we displayed results on a map to help users gauge a rental car location’s proximity to points of interest.

Results

Following enhancements, CTR improved and the search and review product was rolled out in 40 points of sale and 21 languages, contributing to $1.6MM+ in revenue and profitability in year one.