introduction
Northern Xscape Rentals is a jet ski and snowmobile rental company with currently 3 locations in the province of Ontario: Haliburton, Huntsville and Buckhorn.
Along their path of growth, NX Rentals started attracting a lot of attention from riders looking for extreme sports adventures. While some of them may have prior experience with these activities, many are first-timers who are eager to try something new and exciting.
PROJECT
Northern Escape Rentals approached me with a unique challenge: to design a user-friendly app (UX/UI) that would improve the booking experience for their clients. The goal was to migrate the booking system from their outdated website to a new app that would contain all the necessary information for users to make informed decisions about their rental.
As part of the engagement, I also designed a new brand identity for Northern Escape Rentals, as they had previously used several different identities over the years.
PROBLEM
When Northern Escape Rentals first started in Haliburton, their simple website was able to handle the demand. However, as the company grew and expanded to three locations, the website began to experience several problems:
Glitches: The website's glitches were negatively impacting the user experience, causing frustration and confusion for customers. Some potential problems resulting from this issue could include a decrease in bookings, a decrease in customer satisfaction and loyalty, and negative reviews or feedback.
Inconsistent user journeys on mobile devices: As more and more customers accessed the website on their mobile devices, it became apparent that the user journeys were not consistent across different devices. This led to difficulty in navigating the website and completing bookings, potentially resulting in lost sales and unhappy customers.
Overwhelmed booking system: The booking system on the website was not able to handle the increasing demand and would often become overwhelmed, causing customers to be unable to book the rentals they desired.
To sum up, the consequences were: a significant decrease in bookings, customer satisfaction, and loyalty.
Solution
To address the issues with Northern Escape Rentals' website, a comprehensive redesign of the user experience was required. This involved a multi-stage process that began with research, including a competitive analysis of other rental companies in the market. From there, a set of personas were created to represent Northern Escape Rentals' target audience, allowing for a more focused approach to designing the user journeys.
In the framework stage, the user journeys were mapped out, with a particular focus on consistency for mobile devices. This stage allowed for the creation of a streamlined booking process that was optimized for mobile devices.
Finally, in the design stage, a low-fidelity prototype was created, followed by a high-fidelity version that closely resembled the final app. This allowed for testing and refinement of the user experience, resulting in a final product that was optimized for ease of use, consistency, and engagement.
Competitive analysis
To gain insights into the competition and provide a basis for analysis, a point system ranging from 1 to 10 was developed for each company. This system provided an objective value for each competitor based on several factors, including their website's user experience, mobile-friendliness, digital influence, and brand strength.
One of the closest competitors, Simco Adventures, received a low score of 13 out of 40. They are struggling as a brand and have a weak digital influence, which is reflected in their low score. While they operate in Ontario, they lack the strategy to expand their business digitally, making them a potential target for Northern Escape Rentals.
Another competitor, YoYo Boat, offers a similar service to Get My Boat and scored well in the point system. However, they tried to take over the users from Get My Boat and are not as big as they could be.
Get My Boat leads the competitive chart with a score of 38 out of 40. They excel in all areas, including website user experience, mobile-friendliness, digital influence, and brand strength. Competing directly with them would be difficult due to their strong brand and customer base.
Below you can see the chart for a more detailed report of the Competitive Analysis.
personas
Although I did not have the opportunity to conduct user interviews or surveys, I wanted to ensure that the persona modeling process was user-centered. To do this, I created Proto Personas based on the typical clients that Northern Escape Rentals targets with their services. This involved gathering insights on their Environment, Professional Life, Career Journey, and Psychology to develop a comprehensive understanding of their needs and behaviors. By focusing on the user, despite the constraints of the project, we were able to maintain as much as possible high level UX standards.
USER FLOW
To ensure that the user experience of the Northern Escape Rentals app was seamless and intuitive, three main flows were identified:
Booking a snowmobile or jet ski experience
Booking a jet ski or snowmobile experience flow involved a clear and simple process that allowed users to select which experience they wanted (considering the seasonal aspect of jet skiing and snowmobiling), the type and number of vehicles they wanted to rent, and the date and time of rental. This process was designed to be as quick and easy as possible, with minimal user input required and a special attention for families that want to book their vehicles all at once.
Editing user profile
The editing user profile flow allowed users to update their personal information, including their name, email address, phone number, password and card details for future bookings. This flow was designed to be intuitive and based on previous mental models that users carry from other types of applications.
managing bookings through the history section
Finally, the managing bookings through the history section flow allowed users to view their booking history, including past and upcoming reservations. This flow was designed to be simple and easy to use, with clear information about the rental, including the number of vehicles, the date and time of rental, and the type of vehicle that was booked.
user testing
To create a clear visual representation of the main flows, a low-fidelity prototype was developed for the Northern Escape Rentals app. This prototype allowed for quick and easy changes to be made to the app's design based on user testing and feedback. Additionally, it was used to test the ability of users to perform the main tasks linked to each major flow, allowing for refinement of the user experience.
High-Fidelity Prototype
In order to bring the design of the Northern Escape Rentals app to life, a high-fidelity prototype was created. This prototype offers an interactive experience that allows users to test the app's features and functionalities. We invite you to explore the prototype and get a feel for how the app functions in real-world scenarios. Click the link below to launch the prototype and experience the Northern Escape Rentals app for yourself.
