Are guests travel ready?
How a centralized source of information changed the way Canadians travelled.
Client:
WestJet
The Challenge
Provide guests with all the right information and give them confidence in their travel plans.
Background
COVID-19 transformed the travel industry in a matter of weeks. From travel bans to travel restrictions to vaccination requirements to mask mandates, the airline industry was constantly pivoting to keep up. In October 2021, it was determined that we needed a better way to help our guests navigate these ever-changing rules, giving them the confidence to book their next trip.
The Outcome
The Get Travel Ready Hub: A single source of travel information during COVID and beyond.
The Impact
A dramatic improvement in guest satisfaction and an increase in revenue due to more guest confidence in booking travel.
My Role
I was the Lead UX Writer and collaborated with all disciplines across this project. I worked closely with the Content Strategist, Designer and Researchers.
How it started
Throughout the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, the team at WestJet was unable to keep up with the ever-changing regulations and provide guests with all the information needed. This resulted in:
High guest frustration trying to find current travel requirements
Guests being denied boarding because they did not meet current requirements
Increased calls to the call center with confused guests
Over 50 pages on westjet.com that contained COVID-19 related content
We needed a Sherpa
It was determined early on that we could no longer dedicate the resources required to maintain travel requirements for each destination on our site. After thoroughly reviewing, comparing and testing multiple travel requirements services offered by third party vendors, we determined that Sherpa would best meet the needs of WestJet and our guests.
Sherpas' mission was to help travellers move freely around the world. Their innovative web application provided real-time information on travel requirements, COVID-19 testing requirements and quarantine measures. Their universal API connection provided up-to-date requirements for every WestJet destination.
Understanding our guests
Reimagining this amount of content in a constantly changing landscape was no small feat. We had a lot of guest feedback and a good understanding of what needed to change, but we turned to research to gain a deeper understanding of guest needs and confirm what we thought we knew.
Our team also set up on-page feedback tools and reviewed of Journey Analysis numbers to better understand what guests were looking for and the patterns in which they navigated page-to-page to find it.
One stop shop
After extensive research, it was determined that we would create the Get Travel Ready Hub on westjet.com.
This hub would be home to the following information:
The primary goal was to simplify the Information Architecture structure and reduce the number of pages with COVID-related information. This would not only make it easier for a guest to find what they were looking for, it would also make updating the content much easier and faster.
Not always smooth sailing
As with any large project that involves so many team members, we had some setbacks. Challenges such as technical constraints and authoring challenges slowed progress on the project and limited our ability to fulfill some earlier feature ideas. But these challenges led to more learning and collaboration. We also learned how to communicate effectively as a team, becoming more efficient the more we worked together.
It’s a-live!
The original Get Travel Ready Hub went live on February 28, 2022. It included the Sherpa widget and prioritized all of the information our guests were looking for. Post-launch, analytics, voice of guest and call center staff all confirmed that the new hub led to:
Increased:
NPS Score
Bookings and revenue
Guest satisfaction
Positive guest travel sentiment
Decreased:
Calls to the call centre for travel requirements information
Time and resources needed to keep our site up to date
It just keeps getting better
Since the launch of the Get Travel Ready hub, the core team meets every 3 weeks to look at page performance, guest feedback and how the ever-changing rules and requirements impact the content. As the restrictions and requirements ease, the core team continues to update the page, ensuring it reflects what Safety Above All means to our guests at any given time.
Data below is from March 2022 - January 2023
