Agoda through Jogja, Let’s #UXnyaWejanginAja!

Last week I spent four nights in Yogyakarta for an important purpose. After considering making hotel reservations online, I tried to attach my heart to an application called Agoda. It was the first time I downloaded and surfed the Agoda application after one of my friends introduced it to me.

It’s not interesting if I just place an order and then enjoy the features until the service is like that, right? This time I will share some insights and my personal experience using the Agoda (Hotel) application.

Account Creation

After I managed to download the Agoda application from my favorite device, I was quite stunned for a few seconds because it is not the same as other applications that require filling in personal profile data. Agoda actually invites its users to surf first through the mobile application. Also, when users want to create an account or log back in, they only need an email or phone number (choose one) — without having to fill in detailed data.

This made it very easy for me to immediately achieve my initial goal when I first opened the Agoda application. Thank you for saving me the hassle of not needing to upload a complicated ID.

Hotel Search

There are two things in the hotel search section that make me feel happy.

• Various options, before I made up my mind to download the Agoda application, I had time to do a comparison with other applications — of course, competitors of Agoda. I had underestimated the Agoda application because it was rarely discussed by the public and the accommodation options were not diverse. I had let go of my trivial ego. In the end, I ventured to explore the application further. Turns out, what I had underestimated before was broken instantly. I didn’t expect to get a wide range of hotel filters with prices ranging from Rp40,000 to infinity! The map of the distribution of hotels and inns available on Agoda is very diverse. Starting from here, all areas in Yogyakarta Province can be touched.
• UI and UX tone of voice, when I opened the search page and a wide selection of hotels and inns appeared, I felt like I wanted to buy all the rooms LOL. Why? I’m quite ‘eaten’ by Agoda’s UI and UX tone of voice. For example, there are only a few rooms left in UX writing, “ONLY 1 LEFT”, “Hurry! Last room”, “Selling out fast!”, getting AgodaCash “Get AgodaCash Rp1,784”, cashback rewards, “Free Cancellation”, “Best Seller”, discounted price before–after discount, different color highlighting on each element, superior user reviews by providing ratings in the form of numbers & achievements of “Good-Very good-Exceptional”, various choices of VIP Deals/Gold offers. I am so amazed by the layout and appearance of Agoda’s digital products that can capture their users' psychological-emotional feelings with their FOMO elements or components.

Chat Features

In the past, I had hoped and dreamed that various hotel booking applications could provide a chat feature with innkeepers. Maybe this is the best time I met with Agoda, who has answered my dreams so far. They gave the name YCS App, which can make it easier for users (guests and property owners) to send messages.

So far, I have not found a chat feature with the innkeeper on several competitor applications. I was able to directly connect and send messages to the innkeeper, even though I had to wait a few minutes to get a reply. At least I don’t have to contact the innkeeper or hotel receptionist outside of the Agoda platform.

Zero Bugs!

I surf for 7 days before and after I surf in the Agoda application, even though I have never encountered any bugs or problems loading the application page. It is important for me–as a new user of the Agoda application–to judge how good or bad my experience was when I got acquainted with the application. Great job, product team!

Better Development

Feeling that there is still something empty

Am I the only one who still feels empty? Is it because Agoda chose white for the background of the mobile app? That’s how I felt while surfing the various features and services of the Agoda application.

Use real photos = see real good experiences

On the main page of Agoda–Hotel, Flight, Activities, Private Lodging, etc. menu, I see that they still use icons only. I imagine when Agoda replaces it with real photos from their gallery assets, it will definitely feel more “alive” and give the impression of a better experience for users.

Those are some of the results and findings using the Agoda application, based on personal experience. I can give a rating of 8.8/10 for one of these online travel booking platforms.

Every week I write about the user and product experiences. Follow me on Medium for more and the latest posts.

If you have a different opinion or want to discuss it with me, write it in the comments.

Thank you!