Jonathon Thomason Design, Strategy, & Research
"Cruise Manager"
I led the User Experience effort to outline the customer journey for “Booked Guests” (users with a cruise purchased) and to redesign their experience as they prepare to sail. This includes clerical tasks like checking passengers in, providing contextual information as they prepare to sail, and optimize e-commerce areas to upsell, cross-sell and reduce friction lower in the checkout funnel.Products for this include things such as drink packages, onboard wifi, snacks, water, etc.
Through research, we analyzed data via analytics and user behavior patterns to create a customer journey map. This informed email timing, promotions and what information is most important to surface. We also leveraged surveys to better understand the most common interests in both products, and relevant information before cruising. Topics like “What can we do?”, “What do we want to do?”, “What do I need to bring?”, “Are there any restrictions?”, etc, are very helpful. We also worked closely with our customer support team to grasp the complaints and calls they received most frequently.
Project Type
- Redesign
- E-Commerce
- User Experience
- Responsive Web
- Travel & Tourism
- Captive Customer
Example: Multi-state UI
Example: Wireframes
Example: Information Architecture
Process
The creative process used on the “Overview” page was strategically extended to other areas of the Booked Guest experience. Visually, the first goal was to assess existing components that had similar functionality. This led to modular components that tackled multiple use cases to accelerate production.
Time Management
Under a tight timeline, we took a phased approach to reskin the existing overview page that served as a portal into shops and checklist items. In parallel, we worked on the optimized experience to stay on track. A design system with a focus on reusable components was created to eliminate redundancies and establish continuity for both design and development.
User Testing
User testing was a giant help in affirming our research. We used both scripted and recorded prototype interview sessions. Likewise, we used observational tools like Mouseflow , and Optimizely for A/B testing after launch. Overall, we saw an influx in traffic to our stores, less customer support calls and higher conversion rates.
Team Management
Initial UX research was done internally, as well as development. Once an opportunity presented itself to commit to a full redesign, I led UX and visual design along with a third party vendor, providing creative direction and UX strategy. Once the final milestone was handed off, I worked with development teams to adapt designs, produce new designs based on edge cases, technological obstacles and shifting requirements from our SMEs, including myself.
Market Research
My first week working with Carnival, I conducted a competitive analysis. Given that the cruising industry has few direct competitors, the initial evaluation was straight forward. As expected, we, and our competitors evolved with the expectations of customers as cruising wants and needs evolved. An acute eye was also set on the market for all of the travel industry, not just cruising.
