Snapshot

A streamlined way to view, access, and service bookings

Role: Lead Designer

Duration: Ongoing

Overview

The legacy booking system in Smartpoint Cloud lacked visibility and required manual refreshing, leading to inefficiencies and errors. To address this, we developed the Booking Snapshot in Smartpoint Cloud, providing agents with real-time updates, a clear overview of key booking details, and quick access to critical sections. This has streamlined workflows and improved efficiency. Early user feedback has been very positive, with interest in expanding the tool’s functionality.

Learn more about Smartpoint Cloud here

Challenge

In the past, when agents worked with booking files, they had limited visibility into the changes being made and saved as they worked. Updates were made in the background, and agents had to manually refresh the file to confirm whether their changes had been saved. The user interface, often referred to as the "cryptic view," was outdated and difficult to understand. It required agents to learn complex software-specific language and rely on intricate keyboard shortcuts to navigate and operate the booking file.

Even with efforts underway to enhance the graphical interface of the booking file, a key gap in functionality remained. Agents were still unable to easily see what booking they had open, what the file contained, what changes had been made, and what actions were still needed. This lack of clarity led to inefficiencies, errors, and frustration.

When we transitioned users to our new platform, Smartpoint Cloud, the need for an updated automation solution became clear. We needed to create a tool that would maintain the benefits of automation while addressing the pain points users had experienced with the legacy tools.

Solution

Through user research, we identified the need for a “quick view”—a high-level overview that would provide agents with immediate insight into the contents of the booking file, what was missing, and what tasks were still pending.

We designed the Booking Snapshot, a tool that delivers this functionality and more. When agents retrieve a booking file, the Booking Snapshot provides a clear and concise summary of key information:

The number of bookings made
The number of travelers in the file
File and booking statuses
Real-time alerts and updates on bookings
Quick links to critical, commonly used areas of the booking file

As a bonus, Snapshot would provide better access to Smartpoints core search forms.

Key features and benefits

Instant Overview: Agents can quickly see the most relevant details of their booking file without navigating through complex menus.
Real-Time Updates: The snapshot provides live status updates, ensuring agents are always aware of current information.
Increased Efficiency: The tool eliminates the need for constant refreshing or manual checks, saving time.
Quick Access to Key Areas: Direct links to frequently used sections streamline workflows and reduce the time spent searching for information.
Easier access to upsell: Snapshot provides direct links to certain upsell areas, such as seats, additional bags, upgrades, trip insurance, and more.
Search access: Faster and easier access to Smarpoints core search forms.

Results and feedback

The initial feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive. Agents appreciate the clarity and efficiency that the Booking Snapshot provides. In early feedback sessions, many users expressed interest in expanding the snapshot to include additional functionality.

The placement of upsell options within the Snapshot menus has driven significant growth in both seat selections and bookings. By offering an intuitive, easy-to-access point for these options, we've also seen a notable increase in trip insurance uptake, enhancing both ancillary revenue and overall customer satisfaction.

Discovery

Research & testing

The need for Snapshot came from initial user feedback. The switch to a more graphically focused UI meant that users could not always see the booking they had open, or what that booking contained. A high-fidelity prototype was created.

Some research was conducted to investigate Snapshot as part of an app-wide change in the UI. The research found that most users liked the idea of Snapshot but felt that it could use some additional features to make it more worthwhile.

The first testing was conducted as part of a wider test on the core navigation functions of Smartpoint. The study was conducted as follows:

Remote moderated interviews:
- Booking Snapshot was discussed with a high-fidelity prototype as a visual aid
4 sessions:
- 4 participants, approx. 60 minutes each
- Participants for research were suggested to the team by their account managers

The overall feedback to this initial design prototype was positive, with the majority of the 4 users tested stating it has useful functions, such as:

Visibility of ticketing alerts and dates
Access to seats and whether they have been booked
Traveler details, such as security documents, or whether certain information, such as member number has been added.

From this testing, the participants gave some suggestions for additional features they would like to see in Snapshot:

Having a method to generate Notepad items or remarks to document the lifecycle of alerts on the booking file.
For example, if the Snapshot alerts the agent that the customer does not have a hotel booked, in a simple “click” the agent can provide a reason for this and it’s documented as a notepad remark with the reason, date, and agent signature.
Having custom alerts.
For example, a reminder to ask about offering Parking services at the airport.
Providing quick access to customizable searches to add attachments.
For example, if the agency prefers car type B with a Hertz negotiated rate, and using the dates already in the Booking File, allow a one-click search mechanism to find a car option for the customer.

Journey mapping

An exercise of agent journey mapping was conducted, along with planning to map out the path to an MMP. Along with Product Managers and Product Owners for the project. We created a Mural to map this out.

This exercise allowed us to narrow down our MMP and focus on the core issues faced by the user:

Easier access to search functions
Overview and summaries of current booking
System and custom alerts
Quick access to extras in the booking, e.g. seats for flights, extra bags, and upgrades for car rentals etc.

Nicole the novice - one of Smartpoints personas

Who is this aimed at?

Snapshot aims to help users of all levels but is focused on novice agents. It has a few primary functions:

Enable novice users to access and service traditionally complex bookings without needing to learn and understand the system's cryptic language
Help veteran agents improve their workflow by giving them easier access to high-value areas.
Provide easier access to core search forms. Simplifying the selling flow.
Provide alerts and notifications for issues related to bookings

Snapshot will be visible across the app, allowing users to access its functions no matter where they are in their workflow.

With the shift to Smartpoint Cloud and its graphical interface, similar to that of online travel agencies, a tool like Snapshot is critical for all users. It will make them more efficient, increase revenue and uptake of extras, and provide better access to the search functions of Smarpoint Cloud.

Continued design

I created further wireframes using customer feedback. In these designs, I incorporated the user need for additional actions, as well as feeding the business need of allowing easier access to upsell materials such as seats, trip insurance, and other extras.

Trimmed snapshot demo.mov

Current designs

The video demo shows a brief overview of the high-level functions of the booking Snapshot.

The main functions of Snapshot can be described as:

Main header: The main header contains the Snapshot tabs and main navigation functions. The header remains pinned throughout the app and can be accessed from any page
Tabs: The primary tabs in the header give access to their associated search. i.e when clicking the flight tabs, the flight search side panel will open, and so on for each of the respective tabs
Info badge: The user can hover (or click) on this badge to reveal a summary of what is already in the booking file associated with that header. This is also where alerts appear
Summary menus: When the info badge is clicked or hovered these menus appear. They give the user the most important information related to the booking file they have open. These can be accessed from anywhere in the app

Between the prototype test and this design, Smartpoint underwent a global rebranding of our Atlas Design System. This meant changing the entire platform and this feature to reflect the rebrand and use of the Atlas Design system.

Another area that users felt useful was the use of alerts. In the prior test, there was only access to system alerts. In this iteration, users can define custom alerts and trigger them off several events in the workflow. Examples of both can be seen below.

System alerts

The system detects a probelm with the flight and triggers and alert. User can view the alert and navigate to the area of the booking where the issue can be addressed and fixed.

User-defined alerts

User clicks book and ticket, alert is triggered. User can then access the alert and see what is required to clear it.

Further testing

The Figma prototype seen below was tested with internal customers and customer account managers. This was a live demo of the prototype to over 50 users.

We used this time to get feedback on:

Is access to the search panels intuitive in this new navigation?
Is access to the reservation summaries & information intuitive in this navigation layout?
Is having quick access to these summaries useful?
What content is the most crucial to agents when looking at a summary of their reservations?
What other quick access options, like managing reservations or adding seats, could be useful for agents?
Are alerts, statuses, and notifications similar to the ones shown a useful feature?
What kind of alerts would be most useful?

Snapshot Figma prototype demo

Snapshot.mov

Opening in a new tab may allow for faster load time of demo video

Feedback

Overall the feedback was good. User feedback included:

Users appreciated the customizable alerts and suggested adding control over alert frequency (single vs. multiple times). They also proposed displaying information on hover instead of clicking for faster access.

Other key feedback included:

Ensuring all segment types display a status for clarity.
Introducing keyboard shortcuts for efficiency.
Adding frequent flyer/TSA details if relevant.
Balancing feature additions with maintaining a quick user experience.
Displaying tabs only when content exists, while considering the impact on search/add functionality.
Renaming the +seats button to +ancillaries for broader usability, as agents frequently need access to all ancillary options.
Clarifying whether remarks would be accessible within the interface.

Snapshot is currently under ongoing development to reflect the changes shown in the above prototype.

Next steps

Investigate and iterate some of the more useful user feedback, such as:
- Adding frequent flyer information
- Renaming and adding more buttons in summaries for upsell opportunities
- Improving keyboard accessibility
Further external user testing
Investigate "smart searches" by using the data in the Snapshot
- e.g. if the Traveler has a flight scheduled to land in New York on X date, can we do a one-click search for a hotel or car using that data?

Impact

Snapshot has only been live for a short period, but the initial feedback has been good.

An increase in the conversation rate of flight extras such as seats, baggage, and trip insurance, increasing ancillary revenue
Reported enhanced user productivity, reducing the time on task for most agents
Easier access to search functions

What went well?

The involvement of users from early on in this project allowed us to really tailor it to suit their needs. It removed a vast amount of "trail and error" and gave us a much stronger starting point.

Continuous feedback from users during various stages of testing also helped in solving problems before they arose.

What would I do differently?

The time between the initial conception to deployment of Snapshot was simply put, too long. Looking back I would've pushed harder to build and test more often

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