reisetopia ✦ 2024

optimizing UI to increase trust & affiliate sales for reisetopia

A series of overlapping smartphone screens displaying travel, finance, and booking websites in German and English.

ROLE
Senior Product Designer

RESPONSIBILITIES
UI/UX Deign • Research Synthesis • UX Strategy • Prototyping • Branding • Visual Design

TEAM
1 designer (me), 1 PM, 3 developers, 1 marketing lead, 1 content lead

TIMELINE
Ongoing (initial sprint: 3 months, rolling implementation)

Context

reisetopia is one of the largest German-language websites for luxury travel and finance optimization. While the editorial and deal content is best-in-class, the core website experience was visually outdated, cluttered, and under-optimized for conversion. As the only product designer, I led a UX/UI refresh of key areas of the site based on Hotjar data, user research, and stakeholder interviews.

Problem

Despite high traffic and strong content, users didn’t perceive reisetopia as trustworthy or luxurious.

Our research uncovered three core issues:

  1. Cluttered layout: Users felt overwhelmed by visuals and dense text

  2. Confusing navigation: People relied on the search bar instead of exploring the site

  3. Ad-heavy experience: Ads disrupted trust and the feeling of premium content

Comparison of two smartphone screens showing travel and booking apps; the before screen displays a travel review website with a Singapore Airlines lounge review and hotel deals, and the after screen shows a travel finance app highlighting luxury smart financing options and deals.

Goals

Improve first impressions and user trust

  1. Clarify the site’s value proposition and navigation

  2. Increase conversions for newsletter signups, card comparisons, and content engagement

  3. Align the experience with reisetopia’s luxury positioning without a full rebuild

Screenshot of a digital article featuring a blue DKB Visa credit card in front of a white building with palm trees. The article's title is in German and mentions Lufthansa CEO discussing the ITA deal and supply chain issues.
Airplane wing above clouds next to a promotional deal advertisement with pink background and red button.

reisetopia homepage prototype plus optimized article box (to the left) and optimized featured deal element (to the right)

Audit & Research

Began with a UX audit and cross-functional research. We collected and analyzed:

  • 67 survey responses (from newsletter readers and social media)

  • Hotjar heatmaps & session recordings

  • Internal interviews with Marketing, SEO, Editorial, and Dev teams

Defining UX Principles

To focus the redesign, I established three guiding principles:

  • Luxury through clarity: Remove clutter, emphasize space, and use design restraint

  • Trust through structure: Create clearer hierarchies and consistent interaction patterns

  • Conversion without disruption: Reframe CTAs and ads as helpful, not aggressive

Wireframes & Flows

Redesigned core parts of the site with a modular, phased rollout strategy in mind.

  • New navigation structure: From sidebar to top nav, matching user expectations

  • Homepage hero redesign: Clearer headline + repositioned newsletter CTA

  • Improved content discoverability: Highlights for key sections like Hotels, Credit Cards, and News

  • Article page upgrades: Sticky table of contents, clearer ad separation, better mobile hierarchy

  • New article cards & CTAs: Cleaner cards, helpful credit card callouts, integrated promotions

Flowchart illustrating the process of account creation, login, password reset, and account management, with steps and decision points in various colors.

reisetopia user flow chart

Key insights included:

  • Users didn’t immediately understand what the site offered

  • Visual overload and low hierarchy made scanning difficult

  • Ads were often misinterpreted as part of content or simply ignored

  • Trust and perceived quality dropped due to layout and structure

Screenshot of a style guide with headings, text styles, and a color palette including red, black, white, green, grey, and their hex codes. Icons at the bottom depict various symbols like a gift, airplane, and piggy bank.

Visual Design & Branding

Outcomes

While still rolling out, early internal and soft-release feedback shows:

  • +15% lower bounce rate in early test cohorts

  • Clearer navigation behavior in scroll + click heatmaps

  • Stronger alignment between content, monetization, and product goals

This redesign helped shift reisetopia.de from “overwhelming blog” to a trustworthy luxury travel and finance hub.

Reflection

This project taught me how to work end-to-end, from defining product strategy to sweating the UI details. Working with developers in daily standups also sharpened my ability to think in systems and constraints. If I did it again, I’d push harder for structured usability testing earlier in the process.

Advertisement for an American Express Platinum Card offering a 30,000 point welcome bonus, with benefits including 150 Euro restaurant credit, 200 Euro travel credit, 200 Euro ride credit, free lounge access with guest, and the best insurance package in Germany. The annual fee is 720 Euro and the card has a 4-star Trustpilot rating.

reisetopia article page prototype & credit card CTA Box optimizations (to the right)