Understanding post-COVID behaviour for better customer engagement

Virgin Australia's booking experience wasn't effectively communicating the added value of paid seat selection, resulting in missed opportunities for upselling on fares and custom seating options. With customer behaviours and expectations evolving in a post-COVID world, Virgin sought a deeper understanding of how pricing, discounts, and baggage options influence purchasing decisions.

To tackle the challenge, we began with customer research to understand behaviours, and pain points within Virgin Australia's booking experience. This included a landscape review and heuristic analysis, setting a solid foundation for redesigning key elements of the flow.

Based on our findings, we developed new design concepts that clearly communicated the value of custom seat selection and upsell options. Through moderated usability testing and A/B comparisons, we validated these designs, gathering insights to refine the experience further. This iterative approach ensured our solutions resonated with Virgin’s customers, driving both engagement and revenue growth opportuntities.

Discovery – Conducted extensive research to uncover key customer motivations and pain points.
Ideation – Generated and refined design concepts to address identified needs and opportunities.
Testing – Utilised A/B testing to compare the current and new designs.
Analysis – Analysed behavioural patterns and user feedback to extract actionable insights.
Iteration – Used key findings to refine the solution and optimise for maximum impact.

Assess customer understanding of booking fees throughout the journey.
Measure engagement with displayed discounts.
Test readability and clarity of the fare comparison table.
Evaluate content clarity at each step.
Understand the influence of discounts on purchasing decisions.
Gauge perceptions of paid seating value.
Validate design assumptions and identify pain points.
Observe user behaviour to refine designsPost COVID brand sentiment