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CONTENTS

Introduction

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Overview

Highlights

Highlights

Context

Context

Challenges

Challenges

Research / Methods

Research / Methods

Designs

Designs

Designs

Takeaways

Takeaways

Cleartrip

Cleartrip

UX audit and Design Recommendations to improve user engagement and align with industry trends for India's leading travel booking platform.

Consumer-focused payment app for the UK market, offering features like peer-to-peer payments, bill-splitting, and in-app rewards. 

UX audit and Design Recommendations to improve user engagement and align with industry trends for India's leading travel booking platform.

Project Overview

Cleartrip, one of India’s largest travel booking platforms, underwent a two-month UX revamp project led by me. The project was in collaboration with Clay Design Studio who were undertaking strategy and branding.

This project aimed to address usability challenges, align the platform with emerging industry trends, and bridge gaps in user engagement and feature parity with competitors. The deliverables included an in-depth UX audit, low-fidelity wireframes, and strategic recommendations. The project focused on transparency, engagement, and consistent multi-platform experiences, emphasizing innovative user-centric features.

Role

Role

UX Designer — Research, Wire-framing, Prototyping, Interaction Design.

Timeline and Status

Timeline and Status

2 months, Significant proposed changes went live on June 2022

Domain

Domain

Travel and Booking

Travel and Booking

Location

Location

India

India

Team

Team

Skand (UX Lead)

Skand (UX Lead)

Vimarsh (UX Design)

Vimarsh (UX Design)

Clay Studio (Strategy)

Clay Studio (Strategy)

Highlights

Highlights

Homepage

Flight listing page

Seat selection, add ons and more

Context

Context

Lagging Behind

Cleartrip, once a prominent player in the travel industry, had begun to lag behind competitors due to outdated UX, limited features, and inconsistent user experiences. Following Flipkart's acquisition, a comprehensive UX overhaul was initiated to revitalize the platform.

To accelerate the design process, the team leveraged existing user insights from Cleartrip's internal reports, eliminating the need for extensive primary research.

The project laid the groundwork for the in-house team to continue driving product enhancements across both desktop and mobile platforms.

Cleartrip, once a prominent player in the travel industry, had begun to lag behind competitors due to outdated UX, limited features, and inconsistent user experiences. Following Flipkart's acquisition, a comprehensive UX overhaul was initiated to revitalize the platform.

To accelerate the design process, the team leveraged existing user insights from Cleartrip's internal reports, eliminating the need for extensive primary research.

The project laid the groundwork for the in-house team to continue driving product enhancements across both desktop and mobile platforms.

Challenges

Challenges

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Cleartrip needed a comprehensive UX overhaul to stay competitive post-acquisition by Flipkart. The platform suffered from inconsistent user experiences, a lack of transparency in key processes, and missing modern features like flexible bookings and loyalty rewards. Our goal was to audit the product, identify gaps, and deliver strategic UX solutions to enhance usability, trust, and engagement across both web and app platforms.

The UK market was still adjusting to digital and QR-based payments, with consumers unfamiliar with open banking as a tool for seamless transactions. Atoa Pay aimed to bring digital payments to a wider audience by leveraging open banking technology for direct, instant transfers. The app’s purpose was to increase the Atoa ecosystem’s appeal by providing customers with a straightforward way to pay at Atoa-supported businesses, while competing with established options like Revolut. Additionally, Atoa Pay sought to address security and trust issues, helping users feel comfortable with a new payment platform in a market accustomed to traditional card and cash payments.

CHALLENGES AND GOALS

Enhance Transparency

Clearly communicate policies, timelines, and costs upfront to boost user trust.

Introduce New Features

Business team had come up with new features like flexible bookings and transparent cancellation policies that no-one in the industry was doing.

Improve Engagement

Simplify navigation, add visual appeal, and create features to encourage repeat usage.

Modernize UI Practices

Incorporate best practices from leading products for a familiar, seamless experience.

Optimize Booking Process

Reduce the steps and time taken for booking, improve usability, and unify app and web experiences.

Consistency

App and web flows were disjointed, leading to user confusion and inefficiencies.

Research / Methods

Research / Methods

Limitations to Primary Research - Using an Internal Report

Given the nature of the project primary research was not feasible due to limited time and resources. Instead, we leveraged Cleartrip’s internal report to extract user demographics and business insights.

Secondary Research: Competitive Analysis

Studied interfaces and UX patterns from leading travel and booking platforms.

Studied interfaces and UX patterns from leading travel and booking platforms.

Yatra

• Quick, minimal-step booking flows for efficiency.
• Mobile-responsive, though app can feel cluttered.
• Personalized recommendations improve engagement.
• Seamless loyalty integration in the checkout.
• Filter UX is robust but inconsistent.

MakeMyTrip

• Multi-layered filters enhance search precision.
• Engaging widgets like fare alerts and calendars.
• Color-coded sections improve navigation.
• Review-focused UI aids decisions but can overwhelm.
• Smooth onboarding, ideal for new users.

Expedia

• Consistent experience across platforms.
• Minimalist layout prioritizes essentials.
• Interactive maps simplify destination discovery.
• Strong bundling UX but transitions need improvement.
• Localized content adapts to user geography.

Booking.com

• Exhaustive filtering for specific needs.
• Dynamic price and availability updates.
• Transparent checkout with minimal upselling.
• Detailed reviews segmented for clarity.
• Inclusive design for accessibility.

EaseMyTrip

• Clean, fast interface with no-frills design.
• Mobile-first UX with intuitive gestures.
• Notifications enhance booking clarity.
• Distraction-free core functionality.
• Simplified navigation for ease of use.

Airbnb

• Immersive visuals create aspirational appeal.
• Simple, transparent booking flows.
• Community-driven features like reviews.
• Discovery-focused “Explore” section.
• Wishlist creation boosts engagement.

Goibibo

• Streamlined search and navigation.
• Mobile app excels in user engagement.
• AI-driven recommendations for relevance.
• Transparent, simple cancellation process.
• Integrated chat support for real-time help.

User Journey Mapping

  • Mapped emotions and opportunities across booking and post-booking journeys.

  • Addressed pain points while enhancing positive moments with value-added features.

  • Addressed all the touch -points and integrations that could be used.

User Personas

We identified four key personas through our research:
1. Leisure Traveler: Primarily seeking affordable and seamless travel experiences for vacations.
2. Business Traveler: Focused on efficiency, flexibility, and time-saving options.
3. Corporate Traveler: Requires streamlined booking and expense management for large organizations.
4. Bleisure Traveler: A new hybrid persona blending business with leisure travel, reflecting emerging trends in the industry.

These personas provided a foundation for redesigning user journeys and aligning Cleartrip’s offerings with modern traveler

We identified four key personas through our research:
1. Leisure Traveler: Primarily seeking affordable and seamless travel experiences for vacations.
2. Business Traveler: Focused on efficiency, flexibility, and time-saving options.
3. Corporate Traveler: Requires streamlined booking and expense management for large organizations.
4. Bleisure Traveler: A new hybrid persona blending business with leisure travel, reflecting emerging trends in the industry.

These personas provided a foundation for redesigning user journeys and aligning Cleartrip’s offerings with modern traveler

Designs

Enhance Transparency

Clearly communicate policies, timelines, and costs upfront to boost user trust.

Making Fare selection more informative

Improve Engagement

Simplify navigation, add visual appeal, and create features to encourage repeat usage.

Improving promo code application and reducing drop offs simultaneously

Embedded a smarter industry standard promo code interface showing available offers.

Modernize UI Practices

Incorporate best practices from leading products for a familiar, seamless experience.

Filtering

Embedded a smarter industry standard promo code interface showing available offers.

Filtering

Embedded a smarter industry standard promo code interface showing available offers.

Optimizing the Homepage

Enhanced navigation and streamlined the presentation of deals and offers. Optimized the homepage layout to better cater to the primary target audience. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Optimize Booking Process

Reduce the steps and time taken for booking, improve usability, and unify app and web experiences.

Takeaways

Takeaways

Competitor Insights:

Gained a nuanced understanding of UX patterns across travel platforms, identifying best practices and opportunities for differentiation.

Alignment with Stakeholders:

Learned the importance of tailoring presentations to non-design stakeholders, simplifying complex UX concepts to highlight business impact effectively.

Adapting to Constraints:

Developed strategies for maximizing impact without conducting primary research by leveraging existing documentation and secondary research insights.

Design for Scalability:

Focused on scalable solutions to accommodate ClearTrip’s growing customer base, ensuring a seamless experience for diverse user personas.

Innovative Persona Exploration:

Introduced and explored the “Bleisure” traveler persona, recognizing emerging trends and creating unique opportunities to cater to evolving user needs.