Boosting Tourism NI’s Website Performance with User Research
The Problem
Tourism NI needed to ensure its travel website served two distinct visitor types:
Users searching for specific events, locations, or accommodations
Browsers looking for inspiration and general content
Having already supported beta launches for both discovernorthernireland.com and tourismni.com, we were asked to test usability themes common to travel websites and identify how well the site met diverse visitor needs.
The Idea
We carried out a comprehensive end-to-end research and testing programme:
Analytics review: identified performance issues and opportunities
Heuristic evaluation: highlighted usability gaps
Unmoderated user testing: captured broad visitor behaviour
Moderated user testing: added depth and context to findings
All insights were consolidated into prioritised recommendations, supported by video highlights to bring user experience issues to life.
The Outcome
90% increase in sessions
31% reduction in bounce rate
81% increase in visit duration
Ideas + Outcomes’ research and subsequent prioritised recommendations document, enriched with video highlights, have given us clear guidance as to key areas of focus and attention.
- Lesley-Ann O’Donnell, Web Editor, Tourism NI
FAQs
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What challenge did Tourism NI face with its website?
The site had to serve both task-focused users and inspiration seekers, making usability critical.
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How did Ideas + Outcomes test usability?
Through analytics review, heuristic evaluation, unmoderated user testing, and moderated user testing.
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What impact did the optimisation deliver?
A 90% increase in sessions, a 31% reduction in bounce rate, and an 81% increase in visit duration.
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How were findings communicated back to the client?
With prioritised recommendations supported by video highlights to illustrate real user behaviour.
Increase in the number of sessions
Reductions in bounce rate
Increase in visit duration