How Expedia’s Innovation Lab uses “test-and-learn” methods to improve UX
How Expedia’s Innovation Lab uses electromyography and eye-tracking technologies to improve its site’s design.
Image source: Expedia
We watched from an observation room as a subject was hooked up to multiple wires, and then asked to search for pictures of puppies.
The room collectively cooed as we saw the subject’s search results reflected on our room’s monitor, and we could see that he was enjoying his puppy pictures too. Two graphs on our monitor were registering his emotional spikes, as well as where his eyes were looking at.
These are the two primary technologies that Expedia’s new Innovation Lab in Singapore uses. One is electromyography (EMG) technology, where researchers track the changes in EMG readings to understand the real-time impact of using Expedia’s website, by registering subjects’ reactions and asking them about it.
Image source: Expedia
The second is eye tracking technology, where researchers with skills in psychology and data analytics read exactly where users look at, what actions they took as a result, and explore the happiness or frustration triggers while using the site.
All of it might sound creepy, but remember that these are volunteers who have signed up to test the product in a lab. User testing isn’t new as well, products from Windows to websites have used testing of some kind to inform design choices (Google was infamous for testing 41 shades of blue to discover which color would convert better).
This “test-and-learn scientific method” is at the heart of Expedia’s design approach, with 1,450 tests based on traveler insights implemented in 2016. The new Innovation Lab in Singapore is the first in Asia Pacific for the company, and it joins the other two labs in its US headquarters and London.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.