Project Overview
Cady, a premier school photography studio with locations across the U.S., needed to improve the online booking experience for senior portrait sessions.
I led the redesign of a booking experience that previously overwhelmed users with seven session types, unclear upgrade paths, and inconsistent visual design. By reducing cognitive load and streamlining mobile interactions, we created an intuitive experience that empowered parents and seniors to make confident booking decisions.
Reduced decision fatigue by simplifying session choices, while emphasizing premium options
Introduced clear upgrade paths to increase premium session adoption
Enhanced mobile responsiveness to improve accessibility and ease of use
The redesign resulted in a measurable increase in premium session bookings, with a +6% upsell rate three months post-launch.
Timeline
3 Months
Team
2 Product Designers
Project Manager
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma
Figjam
Google Docs
Zoom
ClickUp
Platform
Responsive Website
Status
Shipped
Live
Contribution
Primary research
Concept ideation
High-fidelity designs
Prototyping
Problem Context
The existing booking flow caused confusion, missed upsell opportunities, and mobile usability challenges.
Users faced multiple session types with unclear distinctions between basic and premium offerings, while inconsistent UI elements and poor mobile layout created friction. Decision fatigue, compounded by a 45% mobile bounce rate, was especially pronounced among seniors and parents. The combination of these issues led to frequent booking abandonment and lost revenue opportunities.
Core Challenge
How might we simplify session selection, make upgrades clear, and optimize mobile usability for diverse user groups?
The main challenge was balancing usability and revenue goals. Users needed clear, accessible choices without cognitive overload, and the business needed to preserve premium upsell opportunities. Seniors and parents frequently struggled with mobile inputs, and inconsistent visual hierarchy and labeling caused mistrust in session tiers. One parent noted, “I wasn’t sure which session was best for my child, and the options looked almost the same.”
UX Evaluation
By walking through the booking process, we were able to identify several steps throughout the customer journey that could be improved upon.
Before defining new design directions, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the existing customer booking journey. This review revealed several friction points across key steps of the experience that contributed to user confusion, drop-off, and missed revenue opportunities.
Key Findings
Redundant Flows: The Select School and Pick Scenes for Recommendation screens shared similar layouts and interaction patterns, leading users to believe they were repeating steps. This resulted in higher bounce rates early in the process.
Decision Fatigue: The Sessions Listing Page (PLP) presented too many options without clear hierarchy or emphasis on recommended packages. With up to nine sessions displayed, users struggled to make confident choices.
Missed Upsell Opportunities: Add-on offerings like hair and makeup were inconsistently presented, reducing visibility and lowering average order value.
Booking Complexity: The booking and scheduling interface was confusing and failed to surface upsell opportunities, limiting the ability to increase session engagement.
This UX audit established a clear understanding of where users were struggling, allowing the team to focus future design work on improving clarity, guiding users toward key actions, and creating a more cohesive end-to-end experience.
Various steps throughout the previous customer journey either added unnecessary frustration, or missed out on upsell opportunities.
Existing layouts of the booking flow for Cady's portrait customers.
Design Ideation
We began with low-fidelity wireframes to explore layout options that emphasized clarity and visual hierarchy.
Through regular client collaboration, we refined the designs to clearly present session details, pricing, and upsell opportunities. Moving into high-fidelity mockups, we incorporated Cady’s brand identity while introducing elevated design elements to reinforce the premium feel of Elite sessions, ensuring a seamless experience across desktop and mobile.
Exploring a
Display of various components created during the design system creation.
Visual Mockups
We crafted high-fidelity designs that balanced elegance with usability, reinforcing Cady’s premium brand while ensuring an intuitive booking experience.
By refining typography, color, and visual hierarchy, we emphasized clarity across every screen. Designs were tailored for desktop, mobile, and wide-screen layouts to deliver a consistent and polished experience on all devices.
Display of various components created during the design system creation.
Development Handoff
We delivered detailed documentation and design annotations to support Cady’s development team, including guidance on micro-interactions, animations, and responsive behavior.
By staying closely involved throughout the build process, we ensured the final implementation aligned with the intended design vision and delivered a seamless user experience.
Display of various components created during the design system creation.
Solution Highlights
Redesigned the booking flow to improve clarity, promote upsells, and enhance mobile performance—creating a more intuitive and persuasive experience that empowered users to book with confidence.
Scene Favoriting
We introduced favoriting to let users save preferred scenes, making it easier to personalize their session and revisit top choices during booking.
Optimized Session Listing
We revamped the session listing to clearly highlight premium options and guide users toward the most popular choices.
Improved Scene Selections
We redesigned the scene selection flow to better showcase immersive studio backdrops and help users visualize their experience.
Improved Add-On Experience
We restructured the add-ons screen to feature clearer upgrade options and compelling calls-to-action that increased upsell engagement.
Optimized Scheduling Screen
We streamlined the calendar interface to simplify scheduling, reduce friction, and promote VIP upgrade paths for faster appointments.
Key Success & Outcome
Our collaboration with Cady resulted in a vastly improved booking experience that emphasized clarity, guided decision-making, and increased sales of premium sessions.
The updated product listings, detailed Elite pages, and enhanced add-ons experience contributed to higher conversion rates and improved user satisfaction. Additionally, the improved mobile experience ensured busy parents could confidently book sessions from their phones. By working closely with Cady throughout the process, we successfully delivered a solution that met both business objectives and user needs. The redesigned booking flow has empowered users to make informed decisions with ease, contributing to Cady's ongoing success in the school photography industry.