Project Scope: College Hostel Room Booking App
Problem: Students find it hard to get rooms around their universities, the rooms around are always expensive due to the add up costs of searching for the rooms. This app aims at reducing that search time and saving on money as everything from room tours to payments can happen just inside one app.
2 months + 1 week for Project Review
Objective
Develop a user-friendly and efficient mobile application for college students to easily order and book hostel rooms, while also providing features that enhance their experience.
1. User Registration and Profile
- Allow students to create accounts or log in using their college credentials.
- Enable users to manage their profiles, including personal information and booking history.
2. Room Listings
- Display a comprehensive list of available hostel rooms with detailed descriptions, images, and room amenities.
- Include filters and sorting options to help students find rooms that match their preferences.
3. Virtual Tours
- Provide virtual tours of hostel rooms, allowing users to explore the rooms before making a booking decision.
4. Availability Calendar
- Show real-time availability of rooms through an interactive calendar.
- Enable users to select their desired check-in and check-out dates.
5. Room Amenities
- Showcase a list of amenities available in each room (e.g., Wi-Fi, study desk, attached bathroom).
- Allow users to view and compare amenities across different rooms.
6. Booking Process
- Streamline the booking process with a simple and intuitive interface.
- Provide clear information about booking charges, payment options, and cancellation policies.
7. Online Payments
- Integrate a secure online payment gateway for users to make room reservations using various payment methods.
8. Booking Confirmation and Notifications
- Send booking confirmation emails and push notifications to users.
- Provide reminders and updates related to their booking.
9. User Reviews and Ratings
- Allow users to leave reviews and ratings for rooms they have booked.
- Display an average rating for each room to help other students make informed decisions.
10. Support and Help Center
- Include a support section with FAQs and contact details for assistance.
- Provide a chatbot or live chat feature for instant help.
11. User Analytics
- Collect and analyze user behavior to gain insights and improve the app's functionality over time.
12. Language and Accessibility
- Ensure the app supports multiple languages and adheres to accessibility standards for a wider user base.
Name: Anna
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Background
Anna is a sophomore majoring in economics at a local community college. She comes from a middle-class family and is funding her education with part-time jobs and financial aid.
Goal
Anna's main goal is to find an affordable hostel room near campus that won't strain her tight budget. She is looking for a place that provides basic amenities, a quiet environment for studying, and a reasonable rent to alleviate her financial stress.
Challenges
Anna is concerned about finding a balance between cost and quality. She wants to avoid additional expenses while ensuring a safe and comfortable living space that won't compromise her academic performance.
Name: Tom
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Background
Tom is a senior studying computer science at a prestigious university. He's determined to complete his degree without accumulating significant debt. He's known for his frugal habits and resourcefulness in managing his finances.
Goal
Tom's primary objective is to locate a budget-friendly hostel room that aligns with his minimalist lifestyle. He's looking for a room that's close to campus, allowing him to save on transportation costs, and he's willing to compromise on luxuries for a lower price.
Challenges
Tom is cautious about hidden fees and extra charges. He's also concerned about the transparency of room listings and payment processes, as he wants to ensure he's making the most economical choice.
Name: Carlos
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Background
Carlos is a freshman enrolled in a liberal arts program at a university far from his hometown. He's managing his tuition with scholarships and support from his family, who are keen on his financial well-being.
Goal
Carlos aims to secure a reasonably priced hostel room near his college campus to avoid any financial burden on his family. He's looking for a safe and welcoming environment where he can focus on his studies without straining his financial resources.
Challenges
Carlos is unfamiliar with the local area and needs assistance in finding reliable and affordable accommodation. He's concerned about making informed decisions and ensuring he's not being taken advantage of as a newcomer.
These user personas reflect different aspects of students who are seeking affordable and convenient hostel rooms near their respective campuses. As we design the app, we'll keep these personas in mind to ensure that the app's features and user experience cater to their unique needs and challenges.
User Insight
Many students expressed frustration with hidden fees and additional costs when booking hostel rooms. They emphasized the importance of clear and transparent pricing information upfront.
App Implementation
Ensure that the app prominently displays the total cost, including any taxes or fees, during the room selection process. Provide a breakdown of charges and details about what's included in the price.
User Insight
Students have varying financial situations and preferred payment methods. Some users prefer to pay upfront, while others prefer installment plans or monthly payments.
App Implementation
Offer multiple payment options, including one-time payments, installment plans, and automatic monthly deductions. Provide a secure and reliable payment gateway that supports a variety of payment methods.
User Insight:
Students consider room amenities a crucial factor in their decision-making process. Basic amenities like Wi-Fi, study desks, and kitchen facilities were highly valued.
App Implementation
Include a detailed list of room amenities in each listing, along with high-quality images. Allow users to filter and search for rooms based on specific amenities they prioritize.
User Insight:
Users are cautious about cancellation and refund policies, especially when unexpected circumstances arise. Clarity on cancellation terms and refund procedures is essential.
App Implementation
Clearly outline the cancellation policy for each room listing, including deadlines and refund percentages. Provide a user-friendly interface for canceling bookings and requesting refunds.
User Insight
Students found virtual tours highly valuable in assessing the suitability of a room. They appreciated being able to virtually explore the room layout and facilities.
App Implementation
Integrate high-quality 360-degree virtual tours for each room. Allow users to easily access and navigate virtual tours within the app, enhancing their decision-making process.
User Insight
Users appreciated quick and responsive customer support when they encountered issues or had questions during the booking process.
App Implementation
Provide a dedicated support section within the app, offering a live chat feature or a chatbot for immediate assistance. Include a clear contact method for reaching out to customer support.
User Insight
Students trusted user reviews and ratings when making room booking decisions. They valued feedback from fellow students who had previously stayed in the same rooms.
App Implementation:
Implement a user review and rating system for each room. Encourage users to leave honest reviews and provide an average rating based on user feedback.
User Insight
Users preferred an app with a straightforward and intuitive interface. Complicated navigation and cluttered screens were frustrating.
App Implementation
Design a clean and intuitive user interface with clear navigation. Minimize clutter and ensure that users can easily find and access essential features.
Offers a tiered pricing structure based on room size and amenities.
Provides budget-friendly options for financially constrained students.
Competitor 1 and Competitor 3 have prioritized virtual tours, indicating its importance in enhancing user experience.
Offering a variety of payment methods (beyond credit cards) can address user pain points and cater to different user preferences.
Competitor 1 and Competitor 2 demonstrate responsive customer support, highlighting the need for efficient assistance.
Clear and transparent pricing, along with highlighting discounts, is an important factor that all competitors recognize.
Addressing user confusion around cancellation policies can improve overall user satisfaction.
Competitor 2's use of user analytics for personalized recommendations suggests an opportunity to enhance user engagement and retention.
In developing our app, we can capitalize on these insights to emphasize features like virtual tours, diverse payment options, responsive customer support, and transparent pricing. Additionally, refining the cancellation process and leveraging user analytics for personalized recommendations could provide a competitive edge in the market.
The homepage should be the landing page for the app. It should prominently display the app's logo and tagline, as well as a search bar where students can enter their desired location, dates, and other criteria. The homepage should also include a carousel of featured rooms and hostels.
The search function should be powerful and easy to use. It should allow students to filter results by location, price, amenities, and other criteria. The search results should be displayed in a clear and concise manner, with each listing including a photo, a title, a price, and a short description.
The listings page should be where students can find detailed information about specific rooms and hostels. Each listing should include the following information:
The booking process should be simple and straightforward. Students should be able to book a room or hostel with just a few clicks. The booking process should include the following steps:
Profile
The profile page should be where students can manage their account information, such as their name, email address, and password. The profile page should also include a list of the rooms and hostels that the student has booked, as well as a list of the student's reviews.
The community page should be where students can connect with each other and share information about their experiences with rooms and hostels. The community page could include features such as a forum, a chat room, and a roommate matching service.
Certainly! Based on the provided research information and the features of the hostel room booking app, I'll create a user flow for a typical user looking to book a hostel room near their college campus. This user flow will guide the user through the process of searching for a room, selecting a room, and making a booking.
Customer journey maps
A customer-journey map is an infographic visualization of the process that a persona segment goes through in order to accomplish a goal. Journey maps are useful in communicating the general narratives and themes uncovered by longitudinal research done to understand how a customer works toward a goal over time.
Stage | Customer Goals | Touchpoints | Pain Points | Opportunities for Improvement |
Awareness | Learn about the app and decide if it is a good fit for their needs. | See an ad, read a review, or hear about it from a friend. | Not enough information available, unclear how the product or service works. | Make it easier to find information about the product or service, and explain how it works in a clear and concise way. |
Consideration | Compare the app to others and decide if it is the best option for them. | Read reviews, compare prices, and look at features. | Not enough information available to make a decision, difficult to compare products or services. | Provide more information about the product or service, and make it easier to compare different options. |
Conversion | Make a purchase or sign up for the app. | Add the product or service to their cart, enter their payment information, and click "submit." | Complex checkout process, errors during checkout. | Make the checkout process simpler and easier to use, and fix any errors that may occur. |
Loyalty | Continue using the app and recommend it to others. | Leave a positive review, use the product or service again, or tell their friends about it. | Not enough incentive to continue using the product or service, poor customer service. | Offer rewards for loyalty, provide excellent customer service, and make it easy to contact customer support. |
Advocacy | Promote the app to others and help to grow the business. | Write a blog post, give a presentation, or simply talk about their positive experiences with the product or service. | Not enough opportunities to advocate for the product or service. | Create opportunities for customers to advocate for the product or service, such as by offering referral bonuses or giving them a platform to share their stories. |
I conducted research to establish the impact that reviews have on the influence of one booking a hostel/ a room. This research was triggered when i got to the design of the screen for bookings where the problem question was;
“Is it better to put ratings on the booking screen or on the payment screen?”
My argument was that having the reviews on the booking screen could lead to drop off rates where users end up reading reviews instead of making a booking. This in my opinion meant that it was better to put the reviews on the check out/payment screen as the user has already made up their mind and careless about the opinions of the recent or past users.
However, this also meant that the users would not feel the urge to trust the app/website to book again using it.
With this I managed to analyze already established data about a similar topic but in the case of hotel bookings.
The following links are for the documents that were used;
white paper cover (trustyou.com)
However, this does not mean that placing reviews before the booking will always lead to drop off rates. It depends on how the reviews are presented and integrated with the booking process. For example, some apps use filters, sorts, badges, or highlights to help users find the best reviews for their needs. Some apps also use incentives, reminders, or social proof to encourage users to book after reading the reviews.
Ultimately, the goal of reviews is to provide users with relevant and reliable information that can help them make a better choice. If the reviews are well-designed and aligned with the user’s goals, they can increase the conversion rates and customer satisfaction.