Impact
The Things to Do page serves 70M+ monthly users and contributes approximately 25% of Tripadvisor’s revenue, making improvements to discovery both high-impact and highly scalable.
Content-thin geo pages (validation phase)
- +1.75% product review page visitors
- +3.39% product list page visitors
- +2.43% increase in product click uniques
- $27K in annualised revenue
All Things to Do pages (scaled rollout)
- $1.5M in annualised revenue
Overview
Tripadvisor’s Things to Do pages are a key entry point for travelers researching experiences, but they primarily surface activities within a single anchor destination. This narrow focus often limits discovery of nearby destinations, leading to dead ends during exploration.
This issue was particularly acute on content-thin geo pages (166,000+ pages across Tripadvisor), where limited activity options contributed to high bounce rates.
Additionally, repeated stacks of similar product shelves made long-scroll pages feel visually monotonous and uninspiring, increasing the risk of abandonment.
There was a clear opportunity to improve discovery while also introducing a more engaging, flexible guidance module that could scale within the Tripadvisor Design System.
My Role
I led the design end to end, partnering closely with the Product Manager and cross-functional teams in Machine Learning, Data Merchandising, and Engineering.
Approach
We ran A/B/C experiments to evaluate the impact of introducing the module and to compare two design variations. We moved forward with the option that enabled simpler implementation and faster rollout.
The module’s positive impact on content-thin geo pages supported its expansion across all Things to Do pages, with further testing underway in other parts of the Tripadvisor experience.
Design Explorations
Following landscape research and an assessment of technical constraints, I explored multiple design directions with the broader team.
Two primary approaches emerged:
- Multi-destination guidance, surfacing several nearby destinations to encourage broader exploration
- Single-destination spotlight, highlighting one nearby destination with recommended activities
We moved forward with the multi-destination approach, as it offered greater choice and better supported discovery beyond the anchor geo.
- The final design surfaces 4–6 nearby destinations, each paired with relevant activities powered by a machine learning model that factors in distance from the anchor geo, co-viewing similarity, product availability, points of interest, and reviews.
- To break the visual monotony of long-scroll pages, the module introduced a two-card collage layout, creating a more engaging interruption that encouraged continued exploration.
Flexible & Accessible Designs
Because the module was built from scratch, ensuring accessibility and alignment with Tripadvisor’s Design Principles and Design System was a core requirement.
I partnered closely with the Design System team to refine the module’s scrim treatment. Existing scrim values were not suitable for reuse across different contexts, so I proposed updated values that met accessibility standards and could scale across multiple use cases. These improvements were incorporated into the Design System, strengthening consistency beyond this feature.
Results
The Nearby Destination Discovery module increased engagement across key discovery touchpoints, including product review and listing pages. Users explored more content, spent more time engaging with nearby destinations, and progressed more deeply into the experience.
Following strong performance on content-thin geo pages, the module was expanded across all geo pages. At scale, it enabled continuous nearby discovery and delivered sustained engagement and revenue impact.
