Expedia Group
Providing all hotel parters a path to success
A new, more elastic advertising tool for our partners, one that would cater to both small, independent properties and large hotel chains. Our goal was to design to, communicate with, and support these diverse businesses in one product.
The problem
Expedia Group offered hotel partners two separate advertising products — a cost-per-click (CPC) tool and a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) tool — each with its own flow, language, and audience.
Some used both but didn't understand the difference between them. Very few understood when or why to choose one over the other.
You're on your own
Expedia's two advertising tools, TravelAds and Accelerator, existed in two separate platforms.
Many partners only used one, unaware the other existed. You could only tell both were Expedia if you squinted.
To add to that complexity, both products suffered from a lack of clear guidance when it came to creating, monitoring, and evaluating either product. Everything was manual.
This is what the TravelAds creation page looked like before the redesign.
And this is what the Accelerator reporting experience looked like.
Often, a partner who was new to our advertising tools needed guidance from their marketing manager to set it up and needed further support to know how it was performing.
Bridging two audiences
Accelerator users are typically independent property owners with few or no employees. They are looking for a leg up in their market without a dedicated marketing budget. They want to set it and forget it.
TravelAds users are more sophisticated with complex needs. They are concerned with market trends, the minutae of their ad campaigns, and using the dashboard to strategize with their teams. They tended to be more hands-on, everyday users of TravelAds.
Quotes from Accelerator users
"We do everything ourselves. Having no landlord, partners, or employees is the key to our happiness."
"It's been slow and I decided to do a 5% Accelerator. This winter the results were immediate, but now I am slipping back down the list and feel like I am being had."
"My first reaction to TravelAds is those guys doing it are new hotels who have dumped a ton of money into them. So I am thinking it is going to be the Rolls Royce I can't afford."
Quotes from TravelAds quotes
"I would love to know the time of day that bookings are coming in. That would explode my ability to strategize my spending."
"I need to see when the budget is refreshing. Without that I have no confidence in managing my budget."
"The reason why I go into TravelAds portal once a week is to show the hotel team our current return on ad spend for the month as well as whether we're competitive compared to the market leaders."
The goal
To design a single, unified advertising tool that merged both models into one coherent product. It should act as a guide for partners through the setup process, providing personalised recommendations and performance metrics that were both motivating and actionable.
Competitive analysis
We liked how personalized Meta ads felt, but might be too basic for our more complex partners.
Booking.com and Google Ads felt too transactional and sophisticated for our independent property owners. We had to thread that needle.
Simplify the content
TravelAds language was too technical and overly reliant on internal jargon. Accelerator content was simple, but provided no insight into what the user was actually creating. Simplify the terminology, add some informational content, make their lives easier.
User research validated these claims.
Make the decision easy
The creation process was key. The user should see (in real time) the impact of turning one dial on the overall impact of their advertisement, making the benefit crystal clear.
After the user creates the product, make the impact metrics intuitive. Simple graphs with basic headers that clearly show the direct impact of their advertisement product.
Make the user happy that they trusted us and make it an easy decision for them to do it again.
Map the experience
Given our new content approach and combining the distinct goals of each user type, we simplified the partner's mental model to a basic flow.
The solution
A single, unified advertising tool that merged both models into one coherent product with extreme empathy and understanding of two very different audiences.
Start with their options
We wanted our users to know immediately what their options were and how each one works. If they were unsure, we could recommend one for them.
Proactively answer their questions
I provided in-line content to clarify what each metric or field meant. Users could now gain additional context around their expected performance.
Show the impact
After selecting their dates, user can edit the numbers (base bid, commission to Expedia, targeted audience) and get real-time performance predictions.
Playback
We knew that post creation was where users could either become repeat customers or one-offs. It was vital to make it clear how each ad was impacting their bottom line and what their performance would have looked like without the ad.
The impact
A brand new advertising tool that puts the user's needs at the forefront of the experience and is adaptable to their circumstance, rather than trying to force our concpetion of their needs on them.
100%
Partner approval in testing
Going in, there were 6 crucial pain points that were impacting our conversion. Partners in testing stated that the new design fixed each one and made the process easier and more enjoyable.
5 steps
Down from an average of 8
We reduced decision fatigue by simplifying two separate, burdensome flows into one, simple step-by-step process, while including real-time metrics to give the partner confidence.
25+
Stakeholders to align
Both TravelAds and Accelerator each had their own group of stakeholders. We had to align all of them on the new vision, convincing them that both products would continue to be successful under the new, unified product.
Why it matters
The advertising product design is a prime example of taking competing priorities across different divisions and making them cohere into a simple end experience. Customers don't see internal company divisions. They only see what you provide them.
I also learned that the divisions in our customer base ("sophisticated" vs "less sophisticated") was mostly self imposed. By defaulting to a complex user interface for TravelAds, we succumbed to a self-fulfilling prophecy. If users thought the product was too complex for them, then saw the complex UI, it reinforced their beliefs and they would bounce. Simplify the experience, change the perception.
What I learned
The visibility boosters redesign was a balancing act of two competing priorities: a simple creation process and the gravity of making a complex and impactful financial decision. As an experience, I wanted it to be as easy as possible. As a human, I wanted to empathize with the financial considerations as stake. I believe this is why my summary module was the most important (and most popular) feature in the new flow.
As any content designer can attest, it reinforced my belief that content design is a dish best served early. Balancing the competing priorities, disclosing information at a digestible pace, and understanding the weight of each piece of content has widespread implications for the entire experience. You can't build unless the team has that guiding perspective.
