Mister Aladin | Apps Revamp
Mister Aladin’s travel-booking experience had fallen behind users’ expectations and comparable products. I contributed to a four-month first-phase redesign of the homepage and hotel journey, using research, iterative design, and a shared design-system foundation to improve clarity and confidence.
The problem
Booking travel is a high-stakes decision. It involves significant financial cost, time commitment, and emotional expectations around the trip itself. Users need clarity, reassurance, and confidence before committing to a purchase.
The last time Mister Aladin did a website redesign was in 2019, but unfortunately, it was not optimal. Users were often overwhelmed by dense information, unclear hierarchy, and a lack of guidance during critical decision points. This led to hesitation, delayed decisions, or drop-offs before payment.
But at the end of 2021, as product designers, we always benchmark against our competitors' websites and applications. We felt a significant gap and difference in design, features, and user journeys between our products and competitors.
Why this mattered
Travel booking combines financial commitment, time constraints, and uncertainty about the trip itself. Dense information and unclear hierarchy can make comparison and commitment harder. Conversion impact was a business concern, but the source material does not provide behavioral analytics confirming the scale of drop-off.
Scope and timeline
The first phase ran for four months and focused on the homepage and hotel product journey. This bounded scope allowed the team to improve a connected booking experience before extending the new direction to other travel products.
What informed the direction
The team combined interviews and surveys, affinity mapping, and competitor benchmarking. This produced two different evidence layers: internal perspectives helped expose business and operational concerns, while target-user sessions were needed to evaluate whether the proposed journey was understandable.
Survey and Interview
We're asking direct questions to our respondents through face-to-face interviews and survey forms.
Affinity Diagram
We're sorting and organizing the data we've gathered according to their respective contexts.
Competitor Benchmarking
We're conducting a more detailed competitor benchmarking analysis using SWOT analysis.
Early discovery
We gathered early input from 12 internal participants across different divisions. Their feedback helped identify perceived gaps in the existing application and website, but it was treated as stakeholder evidence rather than a replacement for customer research.
So, what did they have to say when they accessed our competitors' websites and applications?
PS: I am sorry for not showing result, idea, and design in this research regarding confidential company data.
The design argument
How might we help travelers move from exploration to hotel booking with less uncertainty, while creating a reusable foundation for future travel products?
Decision 1 — Reduce information density through hierarchy
The redesign surfaced the details needed at each decision point instead of presenting every option with equal emphasis.
Decision 2 — Guide the journey progressively
Homepage exploration and hotel booking were treated as one connected flow, using clearer next actions to help users move forward without losing context.
Decision 3 — Build reassurance into critical choices
Price, hotel information, and booking details were structured to support comparison and review before commitment.
Decision 4 — Create a foundation beyond the first phase
Atomic components and design tokens established shared patterns for Product Design and Engineering. The intended benefit was consistency across future products; actual adoption and delivery efficiency still require measurement.
The redesign focused on reducing decision anxiety by simplifying information hierarchy, surfacing the most relevant details at the right time, and guiding users step-by-step through the booking flow. Each screen was intentionally designed to build clarity and confidence before users moved forward.
In this first phase, the homepage design to hotel products has been developed. However, for other products to follow soon, this feels more efficient especially since we have made the design system the main foundation of our design to be more consistent across all features and products. The new design system that adapts to our new design using the atomic design methodology and design tokens to collaborate with our engineering team.
And, what did our users have to say after we conducted usability testing (UT)?
Usability testing showed improved clarity, smoother task completion, and increased user confidence throughout the booking process. The new experience positioned Mister Aladin as a more trustworthy and user-friendly travel platform.
We conducted usability testing on 12 participants, including internal team members and focused users
We used deep Interview and usability test with 30-120 min/each participants/session to join the research
our users noticed a fresh and modern look and feel, making it easy and comfortable to explore.
found the displayed features highly useful for carrying out transactions.
of our users can now easily carry out transactions with a better journey.
Furthermore, the collaboration among teams or "tribes" also played a crucial role in the success of this project. Through brainstorming sessions to determine the timeline, division into multiple phases, and providing feedback to each other, team collaboration became a key aspect.
Key Takeaway & Learning
This project has been truly enjoyable and challenging. I've gained extensive knowledge about the research required before and after the design phase by supporting my fellow researchers. Throughout this journey, I've explored various captivating visual elements while always prioritizing the needs of users and relevant stakeholders.
Collaboration with team members, such as Product Managers and Engineers, has been invaluable. They provided regular feedback and engaged in discussions, ensuring the successful development of the design.
I'm optimistic that this project will have a positive impact and be well-received by many, especially our target users, the team, and the company.
