Yandex Travel App
Challenge
Yandex is a large international technology company with millions of users and a presence in 21 countries [EMEA]. As the third-largest search engine globally and a leader in e-commerce, taxi services, and fintech in 2022, the company set an ambitious goal to create a unique product in the travel market and become an industry leader
Solution
Market research identified gaps in the current travel products, which covers only one user need — hotel booking and payment. Discovered seven contexts of traveler needs, six of which were unmet by competitors. Leveraged these insights to drive product growth
Customer Value Proposition
Created the CVP stream to deliver a unique app experience, differentiating the product from competitors. CVP features focused on retention and user loyalty. My leadership in the CVP stream emphasized continuous user feedback, essential for developing market-unique features
Discovery
About
Addressed the first stage of the travel journey, "Discovery", where users are undecided on their destination
Inspiring collections
Curated inspiring hotel collections for the homepage. I designed a scalable architecture for the homepage to integrate various content types [tickets, places, excursions, articles]
Search optimization
Kept search functionality accessible despite the emphasis on discovery scenarios, maintaining focus on the primary user interaction
Experiencing
About
Enhanced the travel experience during the trip, addressing common user questions like "how to get to the hotel" or "what to do in the city"
"My Trip" widget
Implemented the "My Trip" widget post-booking, displaying essential details like hotel and ticket information, payment status, and check-in updates, available offline
"What to do in the city"
We've woven in top-notch Yandex services like Weather, Afisha, Magazine, Audio guides, creating a feed of city insights within the Trip Page
Scaling to fit contexts
I designed a flexible architecture for "My Trip," adaptable to different contexts, such as ski resorts. When booking a hotel in top ski resorts, you'll have the weather on the slopes, live video feeds from cameras, and the Ski pass cost right at your fingertips
Smart camera
Integrated a smart camera feature for instant information on unfamiliar landmarks. Picture this: you point the camera at any object, and bam! Instant access to all the info you need
New Design Strategy
About
I oversaw the overall visual concept of the product and led the creation of a new design system
Clean design, seamless animations, and photo-centric layouts
Emphasized minimalism, attention to detail, and predictable navigation to enhance user experience
Shaped new design system
I led the creation of a new cross-platform design system with unified components for web and app, ensuring a consistent user experience across the product
Outcomes
хNDA
MAU growth for the year
х2
Share of bookings growth
27%
Collections CTR
In a year Yandex.Travel almost doubled the share of bookings — from 8.1% to 15% and became the leader among Online Travel Agencies in the CIS market. I am delighted to be involved in creating of such a unique product. A year later, I headed the design of the entire B2C direction in Yandex Travel and continued the rapid development of the product