MATCHi Waiting List
Introduction
MATCHi is an online court booking platform for Padel players. The user relies on the app and website to find, book and pay for courts all over Sweden.
Problem
During 2020 Padel exploded in popularity in Sweden. This has caused a drought of available courts and made it very difficult to play Padel outside of office hours and late nights. Most courts during comfortable hours are blocked by sponsors and members. But often these times do become available with short notice as they get canceled.
There is a feature on MATCHi's website that let’s the user sign up to a “waiting list” for the time that they are interested in and then get notified if the time becomes available. A wanted feature for the user. However, there are some problems that are likely to cause friction with the user:
1. Website only - The feature is only available on the website and not in the app. Users prefer using the app when booking courts and don’t want to change in between devices.
2. Limited filter - When signing up to waiting list there is a filter that let the user filter the type of court. You can can either chose one specific court, or all courts. The big problem here is that many venues also has single courts (which are much less wanted). So when choosing all courts, the user ends up being notified every time a single court becomes available. You can manually request every single court on every time you want but that would take a long time and the user need to go through countless steps. This causes lot's of frustration for the user.
3. Not actually a waiting list - It’s called waiting list, but in reality it’s not. What happens is that the users gets notified by sms when ever the time becomes available. And then it's all about who is quickest. No matter how long you have been in the “waiting list”. Whoever has their phone in their hand and is very quick when the sms comes gets the court.
1. Website only - The feature is only available on the website and not in the app. Users prefer using the app when booking courts and don’t want to change in between devices.
2. Limited filter - When signing up to waiting list there is a filter that let the user filter the type of court. You can can either chose one specific court, or all courts. The big problem here is that many venues also has single courts (which are much less wanted). So when choosing all courts, the user ends up being notified every time a single court becomes available. You can manually request every single court on every time you want but that would take a long time and the user need to go through countless steps. This causes lot's of frustration for the user.
3. Not actually a waiting list - It’s called waiting list, but in reality it’s not. What happens is that the users gets notified by sms when ever the time becomes available. And then it's all about who is quickest. No matter how long you have been in the “waiting list”. Whoever has their phone in their hand and is very quick when the sms comes gets the court.
Storyboard
Testing of existing user journey
In order to test my assumptions I created a Lo-Fi prototype of the existing journey where the user has to use the website to perform the mentioned tasks. The intention was to focus on this particular user journey and to validate the actual pain points. So I asked my test users to perform two tasks:
• Find and sign up to the “waiting list” at MATCHi website
• Book the slot that eventually becomes available when getting notified
• Find and sign up to the “waiting list” at MATCHi website
• Book the slot that eventually becomes available when getting notified
Link to Lo-Fi prototype: https://p9bh8o.axshare.com
Insights from user testing
• 4/5 users felt lost already on the home page. They did not know how to find the “waiting list feature”
• 3/5 users actually pressed “Book” because they did not notice that it was a single court. This was a problem I had not even thought of. The reason for this I believe is inattention blindness. The user pays so much attention on just quickly finding the “Book” button, so they miss important information.
• 2/5 users did not even check the “court” option. I believe the reason of this is lack of progressive disclosure. Too much info on the same place which makes the user overwhelmed and risk to miss important things.
• 4/5 users did tick the “Keep me logged in” box. This proved my assumption wrong.
• 3/5 users actually pressed “Book” because they did not notice that it was a single court. This was a problem I had not even thought of. The reason for this I believe is inattention blindness. The user pays so much attention on just quickly finding the “Book” button, so they miss important information.
• 2/5 users did not even check the “court” option. I believe the reason of this is lack of progressive disclosure. Too much info on the same place which makes the user overwhelmed and risk to miss important things.
• 4/5 users did tick the “Keep me logged in” box. This proved my assumption wrong.
• The majority of test users said they felt frustrated even though it was just a test
”
"I would go crazy if this happened to me in real life. How quick do I have to be to actually book a court?"
User interviews
I got in touch with 5 padel players and frequent MATCHi users in Stockholm to ask them about how they feel about the service in order to make sure I find out what the users really want and when they want it before I start designing solutions.
Key insights from interviews
• Users really don’t like the feature and how it’s working today. They think it’s a stressful and frustrating feature.
• Users wants an actual waiting list that puts the user in a real queue.
• Users finds it frustrating being notified when a single court is available. And I found out that this also happens with outside courts during summer.
• Users have a desire of signing up to several times at several venues at the same time.
• Users think it’s too time-consuming to use the feature.
•Users want to book their courts in the app, not on the website.
• Users wants an actual waiting list that puts the user in a real queue.
• Users finds it frustrating being notified when a single court is available. And I found out that this also happens with outside courts during summer.
• Users have a desire of signing up to several times at several venues at the same time.
• Users think it’s too time-consuming to use the feature.
•Users want to book their courts in the app, not on the website.
”
“It’s such an unfair system”
“It should a be proper waiting system, where you can also see how many people are in front of you in the queue”
“The single court thing drives me nuts. Also in summer, you get notified of outside courts when it's raining”
“It takes a hundred years to sign up to several venues on several times. It would be awesome if you could sign up to the same time at several venues on the same go”
“It should a be proper waiting system, where you can also see how many people are in front of you in the queue”
“The single court thing drives me nuts. Also in summer, you get notified of outside courts when it's raining”
“It takes a hundred years to sign up to several venues on several times. It would be awesome if you could sign up to the same time at several venues on the same go”
2x2 Matrix
Another tool I used was 2x2 matrix. It's a great tool to better understand the relationship between two things on a spectrum. I used my research findings to map out issues important to Matchi's users versus Matchi's business. This helps me to prioritize which issues to deal with first.
Sketching and low-fi wireframes
I sketched out possible solutions in low fidelity for the sign up flow and booking before starting with high fidelity designs. This helps me to focus on different ideas and layouts rather than details.
Solution
An actual waiting list
Hierarchical order
I designed a proper waiting list. Instead of the “who is quickest” system that is available on the website. The users now actually gets put in a queue that is ranked in a hierarchical order.
Turn order
When users sign up they can see how many people that are in front in the queue.
30 minutes to book
When receiving the notification about an available court, I wanted to remove that stress that the users feel. So I implemented a timer of 30 minutes that the users have to confirm the booking before it passes on to the next person in line. Fair and square.
Functions and filters that users really want
Multi choice of days, time and venues
Let users easly sign up to several days and times at different venues in the same flow instead of have to go back and do it manually countless times.
New filters
Let the user filter out Single/Double courts and Inside/Outside courts.
More clicking, less thinking
• I designed a sign up flow that has progressive disclosure and is logical. By breaking the process into steps which requires more clicks but less thinking and less risk of inattention blindness.
• Control and freedom to the user. Give the user the power to go back, edit and do what they want to feel free and flexible during the sign up flow.
• Showing Visibility of System Status by guiding the user and give feedback during the journey to tell them where they are, how far they have to go and how to go back.
• Progress indicators to let the user know how much time they have to spend on the journey.
• Removed distractions to help the user focus on the actual task. Got rid of unnecessary clutter but made sure the information in the periphery clearly states the purpose of the page.
• Implemented a clear visual button to the waiting list at the Home page for easier and quicker access.
• Control and freedom to the user. Give the user the power to go back, edit and do what they want to feel free and flexible during the sign up flow.
• Showing Visibility of System Status by guiding the user and give feedback during the journey to tell them where they are, how far they have to go and how to go back.
• Progress indicators to let the user know how much time they have to spend on the journey.
• Removed distractions to help the user focus on the actual task. Got rid of unnecessary clutter but made sure the information in the periphery clearly states the purpose of the page.
• Implemented a clear visual button to the waiting list at the Home page for easier and quicker access.
User testing of new design
To validate my new design I tested it with some padel players at Södertälje Padel in Stockholm. Once again I gave them the following tasks and use the think think aloud method:
• Find and sign up to the “waiting list”
• Book the slot that eventually becomes available when getting notified
• Book the slot that eventually becomes available when getting notified
Some quotes from the test users:
"Wow, did you really make this? This is so much better than it is today"
"It was very smooth and easy"
"I really like that that you can see how many are in front in the queue"
"Great that you have 30 minutes to book the court. Finally no more stress"
"I usually decide to play with short notice so the old system probably suits me better. But I really like how easy it is to navigate and also the filters are a great improvement"
User Flow in new design