BookIn App

Platform: iOS
Tools: Miro, Figma, Principle
Deliverables: User Research, UX Design, Product Design

The idea for this mobile app concept I had already been exploring for a while, and ultimately designed a research-driven, mobile solution to help musicians or small businesses more efficiently organise their communication with clients.

Managing your business’s bookings/appointments is a very complex process where you need time and organisational skills. This app should remove the manual, repetitive work associated with managing schedules and let you focus on building a long-lasting relationship with your clients.

The Context

I have some friends who are working as freelancers (musicians, hairdresser) and their business depends a lot on scheduling appointments or gigs. I’ve noticed that they are still using daily handed planners despite having smartphones in their hands. It was a trigger for me to start this project.

The Hypothesis

After conducting research on users’ needs I suspected that some features would be definitely appreciated.

— Information of first available time slot;
— Previous visits record;
— Interface that reminds more of a daily planner than the Instagram page.

Defining the Audience

The interviews gave me insight into who exactly I would be designing for. The challenges would be creating a platform where the user will manage all booking/appointments and eventually spends less time in-app and more with clients.

Interviews & Affinity Clustering

I conducted 6 different interviews with potential users of the app. My main goal was to gain an understanding of my target market, and users behaviour and their feelings before contacting or getting a call from a client and after. I also wanted to learn about their needs and any desired features they were seeking, and how these compared to the ones I hypothesised.

Defining the Audience

— Beginner (min 3 bookings per week, mainly using calendar and reading messages)
— Professional (min 6 bookings per day, keeps tracking visits, using Payment and other services)
— Expert (interested in Analysis and Business Forecasting)

Card Sorting

Once I established my three personas, I did a card sorting exercise to help determine each user’s desired features and how to structure the app from an information architecture perspective.

Wireframes

— Home screen of the app contains all hot data that users would need in one-click access. The view of the Home screen can be customised according to the user profile (ex. add the chart section).

— Schedule & Messages screens pages provide details on upcoming events, showing history, contacts and what was agreed with a client.

Usability Testing

A format of every event in the schedule contains necessary info about what is a client expecting from a visit and some notes of what needs to be prepared as a reminder. Also, it is quite handy to add service from your customised service list.

Pop up menu in the messages organise your business according to client needs — appointment confirmation, payment link or location.

Next Steps

I will conduct another round of usability testing of core features, and continue to build out the data analysis and visualisation — crucial components that if executed correctly, will add more visibility on business performance and efficiency for app users.