Transforming P1 Travel in Just 8 Days

In one of my first major tasks at P1 Travel, we faced an urgent and exciting challenge: the Rugby World Cup 2023 pre-sale. With Covid-19 regulations easing but uncertainty still lingering, we received the green light to proceed with the sale, but we had only 8 days to prepare.

Project Description

In one of my first major tasks at P1 Travel, we faced an urgent and exciting challenge: the Rugby World Cup 2023 pre-sale. With Covid-19 regulations easing but uncertainty still lingering, we received the green light to proceed with the sale, but we had only 8 days to prepare.

This project tested my ability to make data-driven design decisions in a fast-paced environment, with little time for deep user research. Through guerrilla testing, competitor analysis, Trustpilot reviews, and collaboration with the customer care team, we made strategic changes to the website to build trust and ensure a seamless user experience.

Background:

P1 Travel, based in Leiden, Netherlands, is a ticketing platform specializing in international sports events. The Covid-19 pandemic had severely impacted the business, and the announcement of the Rugby World Cup 2023 was a significant milestone. However, with only 8 days before the pre-sale, we needed to act quickly, focusing on building trust, clarifying policies, and ensuring smooth user interaction.

The Process

With an 8-day deadline, we structured our work as follows:

  • 2 Days for Research

  • 4 Days for Design and Development

  • 2 Days for Testing and Refining

Given the constraints, we couldn’t conduct in-depth user interviews. Instead, we utilized a combination of guerrilla usability testing, competitor analysis, and insights from the customer care team to gather data.

Instead:

  • Conducted guerrilla usability testing with people I know.

  • Reviewed low-scoring Trustpilot reviews for insights.

  • Analyzed competitors and travel platforms, with TUI serving as a strong example.

  • Spoke with the customer care team to identify the most frequently asked questions.

  • Checked Google search suggestions for “P1 Travel” (unfortunately, the results weren’t great).

  • Analyzed heat maps and Google Analytics:

    • Discovered a high bounce rate.

    • Noticed key areas like the seach bar was mostly ignored, despite its importance.

Research Methods

  • Guerrilla Usability Testing:

    • I conducted quick usability tests with people I know, many of whom struggled to navigate the website due to the absence of a language-switching option. They also found the checkout process disjointed, as the link structure changed mid-purchase, leading to distrust and abandonment. Although we couldn’t address these issues in the short term, they were validated in later user interviews and became part of long-term improvements.

  • Trustpilot Reviews:

    • A common concern in reviews was the delayed delivery of tickets (sent 1 week before the event to prevent black market reselling). This was poorly communicated, resulting in anxiety and mistrust among customers.

  • Competitor Analysis:

    • I analyzed competitor platforms, with TUI serving as a strong example of how to communicate trust and reassurance. While the insights from competitor research were valuable for long-term planning, they didn’t directly influence the short-term changes we needed to make for the pre-sale.

  • Customer Care Team Input:

    • I collaborated with the customer care team, who shared recurring customer questions—primarily about Covid-related cancellations, illness, and general concerns about ticket legitimacy. This input was vital in shaping our strategy for the pre-sale.

  • Google Analytics and Heatmaps:

    • An analysis of heatmaps and Google Analytics revealed a high bounce rate and an overlooked search bar. Additionally, Google searches for “P1 Travel” often included terms like “Is P1 Travel legit?” which highlighted the need to build trust.

Key Problems Identified:

  • Lack of trust in the ticket delivery process.

  • Concerns about cancellation and refund policies, especially in light of Covid-19 uncertainties.

  • Difficulty navigating the website due to language barriers and checkout inconsistencies.

What is squeezely? ( now it is spotler)

Squeezely is a platform that offers A/B testing, overlays, pop-ups, and email marketing tools, making it easy to gather user data. It empowers designers to experiment with different designs and run A/B tests without committing to permanent changes. For us, its ability to provide insights by country was crucial since our primary market was the UK, but we also needed to gauge how our designs performed in the Netherlands.

With our development team focused on other priorities, the design team and I took the lead on creating and implementing the designs. While it did require some HTML and CSS knowledge, after just a day of diving into it, I was really pleased with the results.

We designed everything in Figma and brought it to life on Squeezely. I also played around with different wording options, testing them out to see which ones boosted the click-through rates (CTR).

The whole process was quick and seamless—we designed, implemented, tested, and refined all in one go!

Solutions Implemented

  • Refund Assurance:

    • I added an embedded section explaining that customers would receive a full refund if the game was canceled or if they fell ill and couldn’t attend.

  • Exit-Intent Pop-Up:

    • We implemented a more user-friendly pop-up that reassured users about our refund policy when they attempted to exit the site, reducing bounce rates.

  • Trustpilot Showcase:

    • I placed a Trustpilot score section in the header, prominently displaying positive reviews and the number of satisfied customers. This was later enhanced with a testimonial section featuring photos of happy event-goers.

  • Official Partnerships Banner:

    • A banner was added to highlight our official partnerships with major sports events, boosting credibility.

The results

Despite the tight deadline, the results exceeded expectations:

  • Two days after the pre-sale began, we hit our target.

  • By the end of the following week, we had doubled our sales goal, proving the effectiveness of our design and communication strategies.

Balancing Marketing and UX

Initially, we faced stakeholder pressure to use multiple aggressive pop-ups to drive urgency. However, after receiving feedback and reflecting on user experience, I adjusted the settings to limit the number of pop-ups to three per session. This decision was a balance between business goals and improving the user experience.

Learning and Growing: Insights from my Challenges

This project taught me the importance of questioning decisions, especially when they impact the user experience. While I was initially hesitant to challenge the aggressive pop-up strategy, I learned that advocating for the user is critical, even in time-sensitive projects.

Additionally, I realized the importance of documentation. Due to the fast-paced nature of the project, I didn’t document every step, which left me without concrete evidence to showcase. Moving forward, I’ve committed to better documentation practices to ensure every stage of the design process is recorded.