You can't start any UX task without research. Usability testing is always a great way to gather information about your end users, competitors and the everday do's and don'ts for a project. Don't worry I'm not going to make you sit here and watch a 31 minute video of me running a user test... I'll just show you my findings.
These are examples of an affinity diagram, customer journey map and a flow diagram. Essentially they breakdown the flow of a users actions and feelings when booking a flight.
From the research above, it can be noted that there is a major drop off (look at the red sad faces in the customer journey map) when companies try to make users select a seat, option of car hire, or insurance booking. These are all ways to try and increase spend of a user. Important to a business... but can cause major frustration and drop offs, which is useful to nobody. You can't make money if you upsell to your users so much that they get annoyed and drop off.
In order to fix this Issue and make the flow 3 steps shorter, I grouped them and made them optional. Not forcing users to skip 3-4 times and make them sit waiting for pages to load. Below is the wireframing of how this could work.
Yes I'm aware I write like a child. This process is all about a preparation, hence why it's hand written, Being faster and cheaper for all involved. These scribbles helped create the prototype below (tested by a user).
This benefits all parties. Still allowing the option to make more money for a business (see below) but making it stress free for customers and users.
