Ferry aggregator

Project type: UX & Service Design | Research-led Product Optimisation
My role: Lead UX/UI Designer
Company: Direct Ferries – Global ferry aggregator (36 sites, 26 languages + apps)

The Challenge

Despite high traffic and a strong global presence, Direct Ferries was losing users during the booking process, especially at key conversion points such as the checkout and the route search (Dealfinder). The company had never run formal user research, and friction points in the user journey were going unaddressed.

To improve engagement and reduce drop-off, we needed to uncover what was truly happening across devices and markets — and bring user-centred design into a system that was largely business-led.

My Role

As the lead UX/UI designer, I introduced, led, and delivered a full-scale research and design initiative. This involved:

• Leading research and design initiatives across web and app products

• Conducting stakeholder interviews, expert reviews, heuristic and competitor analysis

• Designing and facilitating cross-functional ideation sessions

• Creating and presenting design improvements to C-level stakeholders

• Mentoring PMs and junior designers in UX and service design practices

I also worked hands-on across checkout flows and the core Dealfinder experience, balancing quick wins with deeper structural changes — informed by research.

Approach

I began by mapping out a hybrid discovery process to identify root causes and unlock opportunities:

• Interviewed internal teams (developers, marketing, support)

• Conducted heuristic evaluations and competitor benchmarking

• Synthesised insights from analytics, customer tickets, usability testing, and Contentsquare

• Created journey maps, personas, and early ideation concepts

• Prioritised quick, testable changes while shaping a long-term research plan

• Used AI-enhanced tools to speed up research analysis and ideation

Research & Insights

With no previous UX research function in place, I led the company’s first end-to-end research project, aiming to uncover why users were abandoning their bookings — and how we could address these pain points meaningfully and scalably.

Research Activities

I designed a multi-method research plan to gather both qualitative and quantitative insights, involving:

• Stakeholder interviews (developers, PMs, marketing, customer support) to uncover internal knowledge and assumptions

• Heuristic evaluation of the full booking flow, including mobile and web

• Competitor analysis to benchmark usability and content strategy

• Analytics deep dive using Google Analytics, Tableau, Datadog, and Contentsquare to trace drop-off patterns

• Customer data mining from support tickets and email logs

• User research, including:

  • Remote interviews with real customers across Europe

  • Surveys (via Typeform) to collect attitudinal data

  • Usability testing across key flows

  • Rapid AI-assisted analysis to speed up insight generation

These interviews revealed issues far beyond surface usability — they pointed to trust, accessibility, and cognitive load as critical blockers, especially for older users or those booking for others (e.g., a partner in a wheelchair).

Key Findings

From research, I identified several consistent, high-impact pain points:

• Checkout confusion: Users struggled with long, poorly grouped forms and weren’t always sure a payment had gone through.

• Accessibility gaps: Font sizes, contrast, and layout hierarchy made the mobile experience difficult, particularly for older or less confident users.

• Information overload: Dense screens with unclear labels, missing trust signals, and a lack of visual prioritisation created stress.

• Missing context: No clear indication of local time zones, flexible ticket options, or guidance on booking for accessibility needs.

• Trust barriers: New users often questioned the credibility of the platform due to a lack of familiar UX patterns, customer service info, or real-time support.

• Currency mismatch: Users from the UK living in Europe were forced to pay in euros, leading to friction and a sense of mistrust.

Personas & Journey Mapping

I synthesised findings into personas and journey maps to align teams around real user needs. One proto-persona, “Agnes,” captured the anxiety of a first-time user booking an accessible cabin for her husband — a task that required detailed information, reassurance, and support that simply wasn’t there.

These artefacts helped highlight backstage dependencies (e.g., content availability, customer support) alongside frontstage UI issues, forming a shared frame for ideation and prioritisation across the business.