USER FEEDBACK TRENDS Aviation Q1 2016
INTRODUCTION The aviation industry is changing; the days of visiting a travel agent to browse through brochures or booking a trip over the phone are gone. Advances in and adoption of smartphones and tablets mean that online users have the freedom to search for (and even book) flights how, when and where they want. With websites that revolve around this search and booking process, designing and optimizing with the user in mind is vital for the aviation and travel industry. Your users expect a seamless experience at every step of their journey, and in 2016, it starts online. We analyzed over 24000 user feedback items from some of the biggest airlines in Central Europe to shed some light on what s happening in the industry. We did this through a combination of word mining, metadata and keyword analysis, as well as user sentiment evaluation. Usabilla has a 5- point rating scale that we refer to as satisfaction score in this report. So how are online users interacting with airlines in 2016? We looked at the top problem areas, general satisfaction and how users moods are affected by things like device type and browser.
1. FEEDBACK BREAKDOWN Aviation Q1 2016 From 24,045 feedback items collected, we found that a huge 60% majority was negative, with the average satisfaction being 2.4 out of 5. Of course, you can assume that people are more likely to complain than give praise, but this also means that they re willing to highlight problems that need to be fixed. FEEDBACK BREAKDOWN 24,045 Items 30% 10% While this negative majority might suggest that airlines are getting things wrong, it presents a huge opportunity to address and fix the issues that are causing the negative response. By collecting this kind of qualitative feedback, you can immediately identify bugs, errors or simply things that don t work the way your users expect them to. Positive Neutral Negative 60% 2.4 Average Satisfaction Score
2.1. SPECIFIC AND GENERIC FEEDBACK Aviation Q1 2016 With Usabilla, users have the option to give specific or generic feedback i.e. they can highlight one particular element or give an overall opinion on the entire site/page. From the total feedback analyzed, we saw that over 82% was given as specific feedback. Specific feedback 19,755 Items 10% Generic feedback 4,278 Items 8% 33% 28% Users of airline websites are willing (and actually more inclined) to pinpoint specific issues they are experiencing; they can immediately show the context of their problem without having to waste time and effort. Giving your users the option to leave specific feedback quickly and easily will result in more focused, qualitative data, which in turn, will result in bugs and errors being identified and fixed faster. Positive Neutral Negative 57% Positive Neutral Negative 64%
2.2. SPECIFIC AND GENERIC FEEDBACK Aviation Q1 2016 CX pros should collect detailed customer feedback to gain insights into problems with elements of the digital experience. How to Measure Digital Customer Experience, Forrester Research, Inc., March 2016 As mentioned in the Forrester report, How to Measure Digital Customer Experience (March 2016), KLM makes use of the specific feedback and screenshot functionality on their site to collect detailed information from their users. Image Source: How to Measure Digital Customer Experience, Forrester Research, Inc., March 2016.
3. KEYWORD ANALYSIS Aviation Q1 2016 time number times site flight check page book booking website flights impossible seat change online information find work returneasy option good select seats make date back email boarding service clear unable error price pay details user difficult add flying dates message ticket card pass print trip friendly button travel app mobile choose phone airport fly enter baggage booked click reservation prices frustrating web hours link account airline system
4. TOP 4 PROBLEM AREAS Aviation Q1 2016 We identified the most common user problems with airline websites, meaning these are the top 4 things you should focus on when conducting tests and making improvements. The most common issues were around search and navigation, and with booking and payment also in the top 3, it suggests that UX and booking flow optimization are key issues for airlines. Optimizing search and navigation (i.e. the first step of the booking flow/conversion funnel) should be top priority for travel and aviation sites; if your users can t find the journey they re looking for, they re certainly not going to book it. If you re not investing in UX, you re missing out on customers, sales and ultimately, revenue. Top 4 Problem Areas 1 Search / Navigation 37% 2 Manage My Booking 25% 3 Booking / Payment 22% 4 Check In 14%
5. PROBLEM AREAS IN CONTEXT Aviation Q1 2016 Regardless of device type, search and navigation remains the top issue. This suggests that users are turning to their smartphones and tablets more and more to search for flights i.e. starting the booking process on mobile. Desktop Mobile Phone Tablet Search 32% Search 34% Search 57% Optimizing the search functionality of your mobile site means that users are more likely to progress through the booking flow, even if it happens over multiple visits across multiple devices. The more easily they can find what they re looking for, the more likely they ll be to book it. Manage my Booking 30% Check In 31% Booking/ Payment 19% Booking/ Payment 25% Manage my Booking 26% Manage my Booking 18% Check In 13% Booking Payment 9% Check In 6%
6. USER SATISFACTION BY DEVICE TYPE Aviation Q1 2016 Overall, the majority of feedback items we analyzed were given via desktop and the majority were negative. Mobile feedback items, however, came out on top with the highest percentage of positive feedback and an average satisfaction score of 2.8 out of 5. People are increasingly using their phones to plan travel, but when they do it's happening in smaller moments across more sessions on their phones. - Source: Think with Google Desktop 14,241 Items 2.1 Satisfaction Score Mobile Phone 5,089 Items 2.8 Satisfaction Score Tablet 4,702 Items 2.6 Satisfaction Score Airlines are taking their mobile user experience seriously. They re recognizing that users will often favor visiting a site, and even booking travel from their smartphones. Email marketing initiatives also aim to engage customers on mobile. However, with the majority of feedback on mobile being negative, there s still some work to be done. 26% Positive Neutral Negative 9% 65% 43% Positive Neutral Negative 47% 10% 37% Positive Neutral Negative 53% 10%
7. USER SATISFACTION BY BROWSER Aviation Q1 2016 With Apple products reigning supreme, it s no surprise that the main browser used is Safari. It s followed closely by Chrome with both browsers having relatively high satisfaction scores. Browser % Feedback Average Satisfaction Score Safari 31 2.5 Just as users will use multiple devices, it s also likely that they won t be bound to one browser. Make sure you have rigorous cross-browser testing for all changes, updates and design choices. Chrome 29 2.4 Internet Explorer 14 2.0 Firefox 10 2.1
8. USER SATISFACTION BY OPERATING SYSTEM Aviation Q1 2016 The mobile operating systems, ios and Android, scored highest in the satisfaction ranks with 2.7 each. Almost a third of feedback came from ios, meaning that users are visiting airline sites using iphones and ipads, and what s more, they re willing to give feedback via them. Operating System % Feedback Average Satisfaction Score IOS 28 2.7 WIN7 25 2.1 Again, this further highlights the need for mobile and cross-device optimization. Browsing via smartphone is no longer an alternative option, it s now the first choice for many users. If you already have a feedback solution in place, make sure it s fully responsive and gives your customers the option to give their opinion anytime, anywhere because chances are, they will. MacOSX 12 1.9 Android 11 2.7 Win8.1 6 2.3 Win10 6 2.3
SUMMARY AND KEY FINDINGS From our analysis, we found that airline website users expect a smooth browsing and booking experience across multiple devices, meaning you have to optimize every step of their journey with this in mind. A user may well search via mobile, book via desktop and check in via tablet. Airlines need to pay attention to this shift in user behavior and make sure they invest in the cross-device user experience. We also found that users are willing to (and may actually prefer to) give specific feedback over generic, meaning they will actively highlight and pinpoint problems for you. If something isn t working the way your users expect, let them tell you.
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