An open market must satisfy both sellers and buyers. The flight ticket booking and payment system was not meeting the needs of both sides.
I led the entire redesign effort, from initial planning to the development of comprehensive design guidelines.
My Role
1. Analyze issues from the perspectives of users and partner companies. 2. Restructure page development architecture and redesign UX flow. 3. Design all necessary elements leading up to the launch. 4. Oversee the overall design for the new service launch.
Type
Native Application (IOS and Android) Mobile Web
Team (32)
Project Manager, AOS / IOS Engineers Publishers, QA Team
Date
August 2022 - December 2022 5 months
Challenge
Gmarket is an online marketplace that partners with various travel agencies to offer a range of travel products, including affordable airline tickets. However, the international flight reservation and payment process has presented ongoing usability issues for both users and partner companies. To deliver a more convenient user experience for both customers, it is essential to identify pain points on each side and improve product design to meet their needs.
Preview : The Product
Challenge
The barrier to entry for sellers is too high.
The barrier to entry for sellers is too high.
Gmarket is an open market.
An open market is an online platform that facilitates connections between multiple sellers and buyers. By making mutually beneficial relationships with our partners and attracting a diverse range of merchants, we strengthen our position as an open market.
Our partners had to develop many pages to enter the market.
However, until now, our partner companies have been solely responsible for developing the entire process from reservation to completing the issuance, which has resulted in significant time and resources.
The process is too complex and has too many steps.
The process is too complex and has too many steps.
Analyzing the pain points that occur during the user journey
The reservation process is outdated, resulting in various usability issues. I analyzed the problems occurring throughout the user journey, mapping them out step by step.
The first pain point was that users had to go through unnecessary and lengthy steps to complete their goals. The second one was that there were too many requirements such as uploading too many documents and proof for reservation.
Payment process is complex and time-consuming.
I want to quickly confirm my reservation due to my schedules, but the required procedures are too complex. Do I have to complete all of these?
Reservation requires excessive information.
My passport is currently at home, and there are too many documents to upload. Is there any way I can make a reservation without these?
Selected options are unclear to verify.
It's challenging to get a clear overview of the services I've chosen. I need a design that is easy to read and understand.
Absence of Revenue Model
As is common in open markets, our typical revenue model involves commission fees from partner companies. However, there is a need to establish a new revenue model to expand our business and align with the trends in the reservation service industry.
Goal setting
1. Streamlining Partner Resource Management
Find the most suitable way for our sellers to easily allocate resources in our market.
2. Designing a UX for quick and effortless ticket booking.
Identifying issues in the current UX/UI design and making a strategy to show information in a well-organized way.
3. Introducing new revenue models through the launch of ancillary services.
Introducing a new revenue model through the launch of ancillary services and designing a user-satisfying experience through continuous usability testing.
Design Process 1:
Let's reduce the development scope for sellers!
Eliminate unnecessary pages keep only essential steps for the flow.
Based on the integrated elements, iterating and testing the design.
Using the essential content from the previous stage, iteratively testing the UX flow. Scenari B was chosen based on diverse insights from the project team members.
Project Manager
Rather than having users continuously scroll through information on a single page, moving them to separate pages for each step could reduce confusion and streamline the tasks at hand.
Engineers
Storing data at each domain change point with a three-page structure simplifies API integration.
Redirecting to the payment page in the affiliate area after completing ancillary service booking could reduce authentication and approval-related development tasks.
Since ancillary services fall under the travel agency's domain and reservation information input is within our domain, separating pages might be more efficient than integrating operations on a single page.
Based on the selected scenario, organize the structure of each page.
The UX flow was divided into three steps, and each page was designed with a structure suitable for performing its key functions.
In conclusion, there are now three distinct steps: reservation, ancillary services, and payment. This structure enables users to concentrate on each page, facilitating a faster completion of their goals. Also, by simplifying the entire process from six to three steps and having our side take charge of the development of the first step, we have successfully reduced partner company resources by more than 50%.
Design Process 2:
Create a booking and payment flow that is simple, intuitive, and offers choices!
Improved the user flow by separating into two options: 'Immediate Payment' and 'Reservation Only', giving users the flexibility to choose the path that suits them best. As a result, the booking and payment process has become faster and more streamlined without the need for excessive documentation.
Design Process 3 :
Let's launch a new, effective revenue model!
What is the ancillary services?
Ancillary services refer to the additional services that are available to passengers during a flight. On Gmarket's onboard services, there are pre-selection of seats, flight meal, additional baggage.
The airline ticket market is competitive, with airlines exploring additional revenue streams by offering extra services. Jin Air, a Korean travel agency, now transports pets, while T'way has introduced T-care services. Not only to earn more transaction fees but also to enhance competitiveness in the service industry, Gmarket should consider developing products that generate revenue through ancillary services on its open market platform.
Additional revenue structure
*Average value of partner airlines
Defining the ancillary service items as the following three.
All service information belongs to a single passenger.
Designing a page that allows passengers to conveniently shop for ancillary services. Passengers will be able to choose from three types of services for each flight schedule. Additionally, all ancillary services will be grouped and displayed for each passenger.
Impact
The conversion rates were enhanced by more than 10%.
The overall conversion rate has increased by over 10% since the launch. Moreover, users who opted for direct payment showed a peak conversion rate of 80%. This implies that users who choose to pay directly and complete the reservation can do so seamlessly through our enhanced user experience.
Successful partnerships have been established with more than 20 travel agencies.
Through an attractive product structure, successful partnerships have been established with numerous travel agencies. There is a plan to further expand the various partner agencies in the future.
Reflection
Product designers in the open market should consider not only the general consumers but also the experience of many buyers in our service. Through this project, I have the opportunity to think about the service experience that can satisfy both types. The airline ticket project is currently planned to launch in May 2023, and even after that, we will design a more convenient travel experience through periodic usability checks.
