Industry
Travel
Scope
Business Planning & Modelling
Digital Transformation Strategy
Data Structuring
User Experience Design
Communication Guide
Internal System Design
Product Activation
Pioneers of innovative ideas and tours, Veena World is a travel brand that takes travel journeys beyond destinations, by inculcating a sense of community and impeccable hospitality. Veena World first partnered with us in 2013 to create a brand identity that reflects its all-encompassing ethos of ‘travel for one and all’, anywhere around the world. In 2017 we collaborated again for the evolution of their brand, to help them stay relevant and grow with the times; and change the user perception.
With changing consumer habits Veena World wanted to mark its territory in its segment. Together, we charted a stronger direction by building a progressive and humane customer journey, in line with the Veena world’s offline flow. The new website facilitated seamless and responsive interactions. It showcases the brand story while promoting products, with an optimised Search Engine in place.
Understanding stakeholders, users and products
We conducted user interviews and observations followed by preliminary brand work. The goal was to comprehend the circumstances and traveller scenarios, both throughout the booking process and during the actual on-journey experience. We also became acquainted with Veena World's current services, offline booking procedure, and online website. To match the needs and expectations of the brand and its customers, design objectives were established.
User Journey explained
After aligning business priorities, we mapped customer experiences with the user at heart. The strategy centred on fusing user behaviour and cultural knowledge. Divided into True Travellers and Seekers, the site’s framework engaged its users experientially and unexpectedly, much like offline experiences. The ultimate goal was to speed up consumer dialogue and minimise offline involvement while keeping the user informed in context with total clarity and transparency.
Design System
To help shape Veena World's digital language, we kicked off by taking a multiple-aesthetic approach. Users would be led to the content, without needless diversion or oversimplification of the interface.
A neutral colour scheme with complementary white and grey tones was employed to achieve a clean look and natural feel. Veena World’s signature yellow colour helped highlight details, combined with cinematic visual imagery and bold typography.
Digital Brand Experience
The home page inspired people to go out; travel, express and enjoy. The scalability, dynamism and flexible matrix of the site allowed the client to publish relevant data. Design cards, showing attractive destination pictures, served as a captivating vocabulary while contextual navigation enabled discovery. With simplicity at the core of the user experience, the site came alive with rich content and delightful micro-interactions.
Search Strategy
Vacation plans start with many parameters: location, time, budget or type of travel. Streamlining content about innumerable destinations, the site used the computational concept of 'Explore or Exploit' to focus on helping users find what they’re looking for. By implementing utility to product listings, users could search by type of travel as well as traditional methods like destination and time.
Product Experience
The key task was to present the product throughout the user journey, from browsing to booking, exactly in line with the offline journey. Placing easy decision criteria initially helped in choosing between the shortlisted products by combining major chunks of data as in the overview section. A progressive disclosure segregated the information into sections that answered questions and also built deeper perceptions with real-time photos and experiences. This added credibility and enabled swifter decision-making.
Booking Process
Since Group-tours, one of the key travel products, are extremely date-dependent; we ensured that the packages shown on the homepage were fetched on the basis of departure dates, and subsequently progressed towards decision-based criteria for the user to compare and choose.
A seamless three-step booking process enhanced the user experience, allowing them to make an informed decision, and then book a tour anywhere in the world.
My Account
We designed a personal dashboard to ensure that pre-travel anxiety doesn’t kill the joy of a well-deserved vacation for travellers. ‘My account’ specifically enhanced the pre-departure and on-tour experience with prompt updates and notifications about the upcoming trip. Every critical aspect of the tour was communicated to the booked travellers through this channel to avoid any confusion or chaos. It allowed ease of accessibility and offered much-needed reassurance, before as well as on the tour.
Digital-first Approach to Branding
Bold brand guidelines and standards helped communicate the best representation of the brand across channels. Together, it would steer all future UI design for the company, across multiple touch points, driving a digital transformation.