Thomas Cook Airlines
Primary User Research
Challenge
After building a new Search & Book experience, Thomas Cook Airlines were seeing a significant improvement in conversion. Further research was required in order to gain insights into real customers' end-to-end holiday experiences, with a view to identifying opportunities for new products, improved processes and experiences, and alleviating pain points.
Method
Two primary research methods were employed: Interviews and a Diary Study.
Interviews
A total of 26 interviews were undertaken. These took place remotely through Skype. The discussion guide was written around customers end to end holiday experiences with a particular focus on:
Research behaviour
Flight booking behaviour
Transfer, airport and flying experiences
Holiday and post holiday experiences
The recorded interviews were then transcribed, ready to for analysis.
Diary Study
12 participants were recruited for a diary study lasting up to 4 weeks. They were split into 3 groups, each at different points in the holiday journey; making a booking, already booked and travelling within the study period, and booking and travelling within the study period.
The study consisted of a kick off interview, to find out where they were in the journey, what they had done so far and what they planned to do next. This was followed by 4 weeks of diary entries. Entries were made in the form of WhatsApp messages; WhatsApp was the tool of choice as it is commonly used, secure and handles different forms of media. It also facilitates conversation, being a messaging app. As well as the ad hoc diary entries through WhatsApp, Google surveys were completed as a weekly benchmark.
At the end of the 4 week study period, we conducted follow up interviews with each participant, reflecting on their experiences and looking deeper into particular themes that may have arisen.
Analysis
The transcriptions from the interviews and diary study were then coded using the grounded theory analysis method. Due to the volume of data gathered, structuring future analysis was vital to maintain value. I began by mapping the themes and categories out physically and then shared a digital top level insights document. I needed to find a framework that made the data itself shareable, digital and less unwieldy. A solution was developed by adapting Indi Young’s mental model spreadsheet, and using the online spreadsheet/database hybrid tool Airtable. I created a collection of themed and categorised quotes, structured around the holiday journey that could quickly be grouped, filtered and shared digitally.
Impact
From the data held in the Airtable, customer experience maps were produced; one for each marketing demographic and another that mapped common themes and insights across the journey.
The outputs from the research are structured in 3 levels. The top level consisting of the customer experience maps, the second, Airtable quotes database, and the base level the interview videos and transcripts. This structure overcomes a common issue with the perceived value of research outputs such as customer experience maps by providing robust insights that can be followed from the top level down to the original interviews themselves.
