Industry

Aviation

E-commerce

Tools

Figma

Miro

Google Meet

Pen & paper

Microsoft Word

Year

2025

Designing an online booking system

Affinity Mapping & Customer Journey

To make sense of the research, I created an affinity map that organized observations into themes. This helped uncover patterns in user behaviour and isolate core areas of frustration.

Following this, I built a Customer Journey Map to visualize the end-to-end experience. This highlighted specific moments of confusion and opportunity — especially where users needed reassurance or clearer feedback.

Flow Diagram & Early Sketching

With the core insights in hand, I mapped out the end-to-end booking journey, prioritising essential user tasks and minimising friction. Sketches allowed me to quickly explore layout ideas and interaction concepts before committing to digital designs.

This early stage kept me focused on solving real user problems rather than polishing visuals too soon.

Prototyping & Annotation

I translated the strongest concepts from my sketches into low-fidelity wireframes, focusing on structure, navigation, and content hierarchy. At this stage, the goal was to validate the logic of the flow rather than visual details.

I used annotations to clearly document:

  • Intended user actions

  • System feedback and edge cases

  • The rationale behind key UX decisions

These annotations helped clarify how the experience should function and made design decisions explicit, even without live user testing at this stage.

During my UX Design Professional Diploma, I designed an online booking system from the ground up - a web platform, no app - focused on creating a smooth and intuitive user experience. This project gave me the chance to apply a full range of UX skills and simplify a complex process for real users.

The Problem

Flight and travel booking experiences can be frustrating — users often encounter unclear navigation, confusing calls-to-action, and unnecessary steps that lead to hesitation or abandonment.

Users needed

  • Clear guidance through the booking flow

  • Logical navigation and simplified decisions

  • Confidence that they were completing tasks efficiently

The Goal

To identify and resolve common usability pain points and create a design that felt effortless, intuitive, and user-friendly — ultimately lowering barriers in the booking journey.

Usability Testing

I conducted usability tests where participants completed flight booking tasks on four different booking sites. I moderated one session and documented the others, focusing on observable behaviour rather than assumptions — ensuring insights were clear even without watching recordings.

Key findings:

  • Users struggled with unclear navigation and labelling

  • Calls-to-action lacked consistency, causing hesitation

  • Friction points often stemmed from unnecessary steps in the flow

These insights informed the rest of the design work.

Lift off ✈

Lift off ✈

Outcome & Reflection

Outcomes

This UX project strengthened my ability to:

  • Conduct purposeful usability research and synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights

  • Translate observed behavioural patterns into structured UX decisions and user flows

  • Design logical, end-to-end experiences informed by research and established UX principles

  • Create cohesive systems that support user goals while reducing friction in complex tasks

Reflection & Next Steps

If I were to continue developing this project, the next steps would include:

  • Expanding usability testing to include a broader and more diverse group of users

  • Comparing additional competitor booking flows to further validate interaction patterns

  • Applying progressive disclosure more intentionally in complex steps such as add-ons and payment

  • Testing and refining a high-fidelity prototype with real users to validate assumptions and identify friction points

This project highlighted the importance of grounding design decisions in research while reinforcing that real user validation is a critical next step in strengthening and refining the experience.