Case Study · Almosafer · Seera Group

Accommodation
Reviews

Getting users to actually finish what they started
Company
Almosafer — Seera Group
Role
Senior Product Designer
Year
2022 — 2025
Methods
Analytics · Usability Testing · Competitive Analysis
Impact
+14% Conversion Rate
14%Increase in review completion rate
TimeFaster time to complete a review
3StepsFrom one overwhelming scroll to a focused flow
Overview

The problem worth solving

Almosafer is one of the leading travel platforms in the MENA region. Accommodation reviews are critical — they build trust, drive booking decisions, and keep content fresh for millions of users.

But something was broken. Users who started leaving a review were abandoning before finishing. The platform was losing valuable social proof at scale — and nobody had dug into why.

My job was to find out exactly what was causing the drop-off, and redesign the experience to fix it.

"Users are starting the review flow — but they're not finishing it. We're losing content, credibility, and conversion at the last mile."

Research & Discovery

What the data — and users — told us

📊
Analytics Deep Dive

Using Quantum Metrics and Google Analytics, I mapped exact drop-off points in the review funnel. Steep abandonment at the free-text fields and rating steps on mobile — clear map of where friction lived.

🧪
Usability Testing

Moderated sessions with real users who had recently stayed at an Almosafer-booked property. Watching people attempt the review form surfaced the exact moments motivation collapsed.

🔍
Competitive Analysis

Audited Booking.com, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and regional competitors. Identified patterns that consistently drove completion — progressive disclosure, smart defaults, and micro-motivations.

The Old Experience

Everything at once.
No wonder they left.

Looking at the original form makes the problem immediately obvious — 7 rating categories, 3 open text boxes, nationality, travel companion, all on a single endless scroll with no progress indicator and no motivation.

Before — Original form
Original Almosafer review form

What was wrong

7 rating categories shown all at once — no grouping, no breathing room
3 separate open text fields back-to-back with no guidance
Nationality dropdown and travel companion buried at the very bottom
No progress indicator — users couldn't tell how much was left
Nothing explained why their review mattered
One giant Submit button at the end — all or nothing, no momentum
Not mobile-optimised — tiny tap targets, crowded layout

"I started filling it in but then it just kept going… I thought I was almost done and there were still more questions. I gave up."

— Usability testing participant

Key Findings

Three root causes.
One broken experience.

01
The form was too long

All fields presented upfront on a single screen. Users felt overwhelmed before they even started typing. Cognitive load was killing motivation at the starting line.

02
It wasn't built for mobile

The majority of users were on mobile — yet the form was clearly designed for desktop. Small tap targets, endless vertical scroll, and a keyboard that covered key actions made it genuinely difficult to complete.

03
Users didn't feel motivated to bother

No sense of purpose, progress, or reward. Users didn't understand why their review mattered — without motivation, any friction becomes a reason to quit.

The Redesigned Flow

One overwhelming scroll
became three focused steps

Progressive disclosure — breaking everything into three purposeful screens, each with one clear task, a visible progress bar, and warm motivational copy throughout.

Step 1
Step 1 - Choose Rating
Choose Rating
Hotel context shown upfront
Clear progress bar — 1 of 3
Larger, grouped tap targets
Step 2
Step 2 - Write Review
Write Your Review
Single focused text field
"What makes a review great?" — motivation built in
Clear guidance reduces writer's block
Step 3
Step 3 - Trip Details
Trip Details
Pill-style selectors — fast, thumb-friendly
Companion and purpose on one clean screen
Feels like the finish line
Done ✓
Confirmation screen
Confirmation
"Help thousands of travellers" — purpose made explicit
Warm, celebratory end state
Users feel like contributors, not form-fillers

"Motivation is a design problem. We often focus on reducing friction — but sometimes users need a reason to push through. That insight changed everything."

— Shahad Altayeb, Senior Product Designer

Outcomes

The results
spoke clearly.

14%
Conversion Rate Increase

Review completion rate increased by 14% — directly improving the volume and quality of accommodation reviews across the platform.

Time
Faster Completion

Users completed reviews significantly faster — the progressive flow reduced perceived effort and kept momentum high throughout.

Quality
Richer Reviews

With reduced pressure and better prompts, users wrote longer, more useful reviews — improving content quality for future travellers.

Reflections

What I learned

01
Data shows you where. Research shows you why.

Analytics told us users were dropping off at specific points — but only usability testing revealed the emotional reality. Both are essential. Neither alone is enough.

02
Motivation is a design problem.

We often focus on reducing friction — but sometimes users need a reason to push through. Designing for motivation was the insight that changed the outcome of this project.

03
Mobile-first isn't a trend — it's the reality.

The majority of users were on mobile, yet the original form wasn't designed for it. Always start with the most constrained context.

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