Traveloka Revamps Application Display, Try an Approach Through Storytelling

The latest version of the Traveloka application (version 3.0) has been officially launched for the past month. There are many big changes, both in terms of UI/UX and now highlighting elements of storytelling through various inspiring content that is presented.

Traveloka Senior Brand and Design Manager Taufiq Adhie Wibowo said, in this latest display, the company wants to bridge users with Traveloka products through inspiring stories about famous destinations.

Then Traveloka wants to create engagement who are stronger with users, feel comfortable to linger in the application, so that they don't just attract potential transactions. This is different from the previous version's approach, which focused more on products and promotions.

"It turns out story is an important component in traveling. We want to be present as travel companion in a manner end-to-end for users," he explained to DailySocial, Monday (28/5).

Taufiq is reluctant to reveal the impact resulting from the launch of his latest display, such as the length of the visit, traffic, etc. According to him, the launch has only been about a month, so the results cannot be disclosed directly.

This UI/UX overhaul, he continued, was only carried out in Indonesia. In the other five countries, the approach is based on the problems faced by each country, for example, prioritizing the payment system for Traveloka Thailand.

A wider variety of Traveloka products are provided to compete in Indonesia. Currently nearly 20 products are available. Abroad, Traveloka's most reliable product is the purchase of airline tickets and hotels.

It is said that this reshuffle process took approximately six months, starting from the middle of last year until the end of 2017.

Traveloka produces thematic content which is regularly updated by the team in-house. Not only in the form of writing, there are also photos that are equipped with 360-degree videos to make it look more evocative. This method is also used to promote destinations that are less well known, but have extraordinary natural potential.

In some content, the team provides recommendations for destinations that are tucked into product sales. For example, in promoting destinations in Korea, insert information about interesting attractions and tickets can be purchased through Traveloka.

OTA business challenges

Taufiq said that the larger the scale of the company's business, the tougher the competition in the market, especially for the Southeast Asian scale. For the OTA business, a person's decision to buy a travel ticket is now no longer linear, in fact it tends to be irregular.

Initially, the first order was starting with research, then making plans, and ordering tickets. After that one will gain experience and eventually share that experience with others.

"We no just to provide inspiration, but how the content we provide can be a bridge for making decisions [buying tickets]."

Traveloka UI/UX team is said to always prioritize the DEDI concept (Data Informed, Emphatic, Deliver, Iterate). The data information is obtained from the research results of the users which will later become the material for the hypothesis.

From there, the team can get a raw translation of what they can do before it's delivered to users. The process will continue to repeat until it finally meets a common ground.

"We believe that a good product is never finished. That's why end goals we are constant, continuously carried out. The challenges are getting tougher now, the [OTA] industry is getting bigger mature, so we have to provide the latest innovations," concluded Taufiq.