“A homepage that loses people before the search even starts is a funnel with a hole in it.”
Purpose: improve the flight search experience to reduce bounce rate and increase engagement on the Emirates homepage. Research objectives spanned the booking funnel end to end: uncover pain points in the homepage search, understand user behavior while booking, surface expectations for a clean header layout, and analyze competitor patterns for what users already prefer.
Users were leaving the homepage without completing a flight search. The KPIs told the story before any redesign started:
Surveys, user interviews and an empathy map converged: people could eventually find what they needed, but the cost of getting there was the product.
70% found what they needed but found parts confusing; 60% struggled to locate specific information like baggage policy or refund options; only 40% felt the site was fast and responsive, and 60% preferred Qatar Airways' cleaner, more minimal site.
“I used it some months back to compare flight fares to Dubai.” · “I did not know where to search for the baggage policy; I had to scroll so much to get to it.” · “The home page is somewhat too busy.”
Tasks were: book a flight, find policies, find live chat. Users booked the flight, barely found policies, and never found the live chat.
The response was a restructured header and search widget: clearer, less distracting, and naturally leading the user through the booking flow. It works because it starts from the empathy map's mental model, reduces friction and search fatigue, and borrows cues from the competitor site users themselves said they prefer.
Modeled against the baseline KPIs, the restructure was projected to move every number that mattered:
10% 5–6%
60% 75–80%
2% 4–5%
14% 20%+