Improving the activity planning experience

The activity planning process was fragmented across multiple products, with limited visibility and consistency. Users struggled to locate configured activities within the system, and there were inefficiencies in scheduling and communication between the central planning department and location staff.

Why did this matter?
It led to wasted time, duplicated efforts, and inconsistencies in activity presentation, impacting staff efficiency and the guest experience.

Who was affected?
Central planners, local location staff, and guests were the main stakeholders affected by these issues. Planners found it difficult to manage schedules across multiple locations, and local staff struggled to access and manage relevant activities.

"The system is all over the place. It takes forever to find the right activity, and communication between teams is a nightmare."

The Goal & Constraints

What did we need to achieve?
The goal was to streamline the activity planning process, improve usability for both central planners and local staff, and ensure better collaboration across teams.

What constraints existed?
The project had to work within the existing platform, which had limited flexibility. Additionally, the system needed to support an increasing number of holiday locations without compromising performance.

Success Criteria:

• A more intuitive and streamlined scheduling experience.
• Improved visibility of scheduled activities across all locations.
• Better cross-team communication and collaboration.
• Reduction in administrative time spent managing activities.

Research & Key Insights

Approach:

What research was conducted?
We conducted user interviews and usability testing to understand pain points related to activity location, scheduling, and cross-team collaboration.

Who was involved?
Collaboration with product managers, the development team, and key users, including central planners and location staff.

What were the key takeaways?

1. The need for a centralised location to search, filter, and schedule activities.
2. Users needed an intuitive interface that allowed them to view activities at multiple locations in one place.
3. There was a strong demand for better visibility of scheduled activities to improve communication between teams.

The Solution & Design Process

How did we approach the solution?
We focused on three key areas: information architecture (IA), interface improvements, and better collaboration.

Information Architecture Optimization:

• Mapped user flows to create a logical structure across the platform.
• Streamlined activity details and scheduling to improve usability and reduce navigation complexity.

Enhanced Scheduling Interface:

• Designed a new, more intuitive interface for managing activities.
• Integrated filtering and search capabilities to improve navigation and reduce time spent on tasks.

Improved Collaboration Between Users:

• Unified workflows for central planners and local staff, ensuring consistent communication and better visibility of activities across all locations.

Key Features & Decisions:

Centralised Activity Search

A central location to search and filter activities, making it easier for users to manage and schedule them across multiple sites.

Intuitive Scheduling Interface

A redesigned interface that simplified the scheduling process, improving task efficiency and reducing training requirements.

Cross-Team Communication Improvements
Ensured consistent and clear communication by aligning workflows between central planners and local teams.

Results & Impact

Quantifiable Outcomes:

• 30% reduction in admin time for scheduling activities, allowing staff to focus on more value-driven tasks.
• Improved task completion time by 25% due to the new, streamlined interface and search functionality.
• Adoption across 10+ locations, with scalable design enabling seamless integration as the number of locations increased.

"The new system has saved us hours every week. We can now find and schedule activities in minutes, not hours!"

Why This Matters

Improved User Experience:
A more intuitive interface reduced training time and improved user adoption, making the system easier for both central planners and location staff to use.

Business Operations:
The streamlined process reduced administrative burden, improved the efficiency of scheduling, and allowed the system to scale effectively as the number of locations increased.

Cross-Team Alignment:

By improving communication between the central and local teams, the solution aligned different user groups, fostering collaboration and reducing errors.

My Takeaways & Next Steps

What I learned:
This project highlighted the importance of simplifying complex workflows to make systems more accessible, reducing the cognitive load on users and enabling smoother collaboration.

What I’d do differently next time:
In the future, I would involve users earlier in the process to identify pain points and needs more proactively, ensuring the design is even more tailored to their requirements.

Next Steps:
We plan to monitor the system’s performance as it scales and continue gathering feedback from new locations to refine the interface and improve its usability further.