Zostel
OVERVIEW
What is Zostel?
Zostel is India’s first and largest chain of hostels, catering to backpackers and budget travelers, with a presence in 60+ destinations across India and Nepal.
To support its growing user base and simplifying hostel bookings, Zostel launched its first mobile app. However, it struggled to deliver an intuitive experience, revealing the need for a usability-focused redesign.
Problem
How might we enhance the discovery and booking experience on Zostel to make it more engaging and user-focused?
Outcome
I redesigned the app with a cleaner, consistent interface, streamlined navigation while retaining primary user flows, and introduced new features to enhance functionality.
INFO
Type
Self-initiated work
Roles
Responsible for user research, usability testing, conceptualization, wireframing, design, and evaluation.
Team
Solo designer
Timeline
Dec ‘22 - Feb ‘23
Screenshots of the original Zostel app interface before redesign
INITIAL ASSESMENT
Diving deep and exploring user feedback
I started by exploring the Zostel app to understand its user flow and functionalities.
To uncover specific pain points, I analyzed user reviews on the Play Store, gaining insights into real-world challenges and expectations.
User reviews from the Play Store for the original Zostel app before the redesign
USABILITY TESTING
Evaluating the app usability
I recruited five users unfamiliar with the Zostel app. They were asked to complete a series of tasks while I recorded the task completion time, and difficulties they encountered.
Usability tracking sheet with tasks and metrics
🔍
Discoverability
Users encountered difficulties locating key features due to the app's disorganized layout, which limited interactions even with commonly used functionalities.
📱
UI Clarity
inconsistent design elements, visual clutter, and unclear hierarchies hampered the app's visual appeal, complicating navigation and overall usability.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Starting with the
solution
I refined the app’s information architecture, created high-fidelity wireframes, and introduced features like virtual room tours and visually inspired location to better support users.
Wireframes of the redesigned Zostel app
Onboarding and exploring Zostels
A visually enhanced onboarding experience and a home screen that clearly organizes Zostel updates, trips, and destinations.
Enhanced search functionality, featuring categorized results and filters, ensuring a quick and clutter-free exploration.
Zostel map
Zostel allows users to explore stay options on an interactive map with filters. The original app's obstructive UI, which visually blocked the bottom map, has been revamped for a clearer view.
Zostel details and booking process
Detail screen offered basic information. To aid informed decisions, additional details like contact, policies, and nearby activities were included.
With improved readability and simplified booking process, virtual room tours were introduced to allow users to preview rooms before booking.
Explore destinations
This new feature showcases stunning images of attractions and locations across India and Nepal, encouraging users to explore new destinations while highlighting nearby Zostels to make accommodation choices effortless.
DESIGN OVERVIEW
Final design and
Solution
The redesigned Zostel app prototype showcases an optimized experience that let users book Zostels, explore destinations and plan their trips more efficiently.
VALIDATING
Re-evaluating the redesigned app
To validate the redesigned app, I conducted usability testing with five new participants, asking them to complete the same tasks as before.
The results showed a significant decrease in task completion times, indicating improved efficiency and overall user performance.
RETROPECTIVE
Reflection on the project outcome
As my first redesign project, working on a live app was an insightful journey of exploration and learning.
⚖
Balancing familiarity and innovation
This experience taught me the importance of understanding existing frameworks and striking a balance between maintaining familiarity and introducing improvements.
🎯
Focusing on core goals
While brainstorming, I introduced too many features at once, overcomplicating the app. Refocusing on core goals and prioritizing user-centric features simplified the design.