Our client, a well loved UK holiday rental company, were redeveloping their internal availability and booking system and saw this as an opportunity to improve the functionality and overall user experience provided by the tool.

Due to agreements in place we are unable to include the name of the brand featured in this case study.

The company have been providing holidays for over 70 years. In this time they have built a reputation for exceptional customer service, low prices and standards of excellence.

They were redeveloping their internal availability and booking system and saw this as an opportunity to improve the functionality and overall user experience provided by the tool. The team had a fair picture of which direction the tool would take, but required an external consultant to provide a view of UX best practices, methodology and an element of sense checking.

Collaborative working and a rapid turnaround

Elixirr digital’s actions were clear. The first task was to gather a comprehensive list of requirements for the tool and build an understanding of the use cases which would be served. The best way of achieving this was through a collaborative workshop with the technical, product and ecommerce teams where user journeys were mapped and key layouts were sketched. An Elixirr Digital UX consultant also spent time observing the product team using the existing tool in order to identify important interactions and behaviours.

An Elixirr Digital UX consultant also spent time observing the product team using the existing tool in order to identify important interactions and behaviours

Following the workshop there was a rapid turnaround in requirements documentation. Wireframes were drawn for the core journeys based on use cases to document how functionality would be realised. These wireframes were well received, establishing the interface for the booking system before it was designed and built internally by the client’s team.

The forming of an on-going relationship

The project has also led to an on-going consultative relationship between Elixirr Digital and the client. Elixirr Digital invited their team to an innovation day, where elements of online marketing strategy and tactics were discussed. They also asked for UX consultants to review a new customer facing booking process which resulted in Elixirr Digital’s usability recommendations being implemented prior to launch.

Since the original project, Elixirr Digital have been involved with the continued evolution of the booking tool. The latest activities included a workshop with members of the project team to scope further developments and the creation of wireframes to give visual context to changes in functionality.