Booking.com is the world’s largest online travel agency, enabling users to book flights, hotels, homes and other travel services around the world.

‍

After launching a Chinese language version of its website, Booking.com sought guidance on how to further localize its product experience to better connect with Chinese users and sustain its growth in this high-potential market. It commissioned MADJOR to help it identify opportunities for ‘made for China’ innovation.

MADJOR started by surveying key trends and emerging behaviors at play in the Chinese travel market, ensuring that Booking.com’s China development would mirror the needs of the new Chinese traveller. This analysis allowed us to map key needs and expectations regarding digital content and features at each stage of the traveller journey, thereby outlining potential springboards for future innovation by Booking.com.

We then proceeded to conduct an in-depth UX audit of booking platforms from local and global OTAs and hospitality groups. Each platform was assessed across 6 key use cases corresponding to most important domestic and international travel behaviors. Each scenario was analyzed from the perspective of different traveller groups, including China specific groups such as 3 generation families.

Based on this analysis, MADJOR submitted to Booking.com’s China management and global product team a comprehensive roadmap for product localization that both addressed existing usability issues and allowed Booking.com to strengthen its competitive advantage along high-potential use cases such as international travel. This roadmap covered aspects as varied as the upgrade of destination city information, the management of official invoices and the re-organization of property pages to emphasize information most valued by Chinese guests such as room size.

Our recommendations were integrated by the global product team into the upgrade plan for Booking.com China. They allowed Booking.com to leverage its global inventory and brand reputation in the right way to build sustainable local success.