Focus Group and Prototype Testing: Online Restaurant Reservations
The Situation
A major online restaurant reservation platform wanted to explore cross-selling options within its’ member base. Their business model is based on a signup fee plus income from referral fees per seating. They needed to increase the reservation success rate.
The Solution
Improving the customer experience by offering alternative options when the restaurant of their choice is not available would lead to a higher number of seatings. Two rounds of participatory focus group sessions were held with top members of the service in 2 cities to understand pain points, behaviors and preferences. Then, participatory design sessions were held with client to arrive at 2 design alternatives. Design alternatives were evaluated using an un-moderated approach, with 150 existing members and 150 prospective members.
The Outcome
New design increases success by 12% and revenue by nearly 600K in first 30 days since its launch. Additional phases currently in design.
