Work / Travel
Tripping
A vacation rental metasearch that had never had dedicated UX. Every page—from homepage to listing—needed a redesign. Photo quality was quietly killing conversion.
The challenge
This was my first UX role and the whole product. Search and discovery had to help people compare properties without drowning in amenities, price, location, and availability. Mobile browsing was rising; desktop still closed most bookings.
Research surfaced a second problem: Tripping relied on host photos. Quality varied wildly. Dark, blurry first images made good properties look worse than they were. With engineering, we used machine learning to rank images so the strongest photo led.
The solution
The homepage gets people into search quickly. Filters narrow without feeling like a wall of options. Price, location, and standout amenities sit up front; the rest waits until someone wants it. Mobile prioritizes browsing and comparison; desktop uses the extra space for detail.
ML ranking put well-lit, composed photos first. Combined with a cleaner visual system, the redesign improved engagement and conversion—properties looked like they deserved the booking, and sessions lasted long enough to convert.