Full CX design optimisation
During my time with Audley Travel, I had privileged access to multiple streams of data across the entire service design model. As well as the more common suite of Google Analytics and Optimize, we utilised the Contentsquare Digital Experience Platform (DXP) and tracked individual A/B test performance through to sale – giving us incredible granular insight on in-page behaviour and session route analysis.
Award for Best Mobile Experience
During my time as Lead UX Designer, Audley was awarded Best Mobile User Experience in the Travolution Design Awards.
Audley Travel’s digital ecosystem faced challenges typical of a growing business: multiple acquisition channels (PPC, organic search, social, CRM, and more) and a variety of stakeholder requests for design changes. Departments including Product, SEO, Performance Marketing, and Operations often introduced concurrent optimization demands, creating conflicts that required careful prioritization and strategic alignment.
To tackle these challenges, the work centered on building cross-functional ties and fostering collaboration between departments. This included mapping user journeys and the e-commerce sales funnel across key website page templates, leveraging data analytics tools to identify pain points and opportunities. The focus spanned both desktop and mobile platforms, balancing conversion rate optimization (CRO) with user experience (UX) and integrating content personalization to tailor the experience to user needs.
Measurable results
The design improvements delivered measurable results across Audley Travel’s digital channels:
Rebalancing primary navigation
Analysis revealed that the primary navigation caused user confusion and disrupted natural pathways to product pages (PDPs). Through user journey analysis and monitoring key page KPIs, the navigation was restructured to prioritize popular travel destination pages. This rebalancing improved page values by over 300% and increased user traffic to product pages.
Funnel optimized, mobile sub navigation
Mobile sub-navigation analysis revealed a tendency for users to loop back to higher-funnel pages instead of progressing to product pages and conversions. To address this, the sub-navigation was de-emphasized to promote onward conversion while remaining accessible for backward exploration of destination pages. This change drove substantial improvements, increasing visitor-to-enquiry (V2E) conversions by 23–32% across PLP and PDP pages and achieving an overall V2E increase of 37%.
In-depth key template analysis
In-depth analysis of the country template page identified opportunities to improve content quality, positioning, and PPC targeting. Based on these insights, a series of A/B tests were conducted to refine the page’s structure and enhance its effectiveness. The iterative approach ensured data-driven decisions, optimizing the template for better user engagement and alignment with campaign goals.
Achievements & Challenges
This project at Audley Travel exemplified the impact of strategic, data-driven design. From re-balancing UX and conversion across site navigation to driving increased engagement through key templates, seasonal promotions, and CRM communications, the outcomes were both measurable and meaningful. Key achievements include winning the Travolution Best Mobile UX Award 2020 and being recognized as an effective cross-collaborator, ensuring alignment across diverse teams and objectives—even while managing the challenges of conflicting requests and navigating the complexities of a global pandemic.
By balancing user experience with conversion optimization, the work delivered a seamless and engaging journey for users, while driving significant business outcomes.
