Overview
The Brief
Design an end-to-end e-commerce/booking site for Northcliffe & Seaview holiday park in Whitby, with a marketplace to allow existing customers to advertise their caravans for sale and for new customers to register interest.
Considerations
Use the colours already in the logo and let the photography sell the accommodation. Make the site easy to navigate and use features and benefits to cross-sell. Incorporate a hub for visitor information and news.
The Team
The team consisted of a sales person, an account manager, myself (the only designer) and several developers. It was my responsibility to take the notes of the sales person and the account manager and translate them into a fully functional interface comprising of all of the customer requirements.
Wireframing & Prototyping
I initially started with rough sketches of how I imagined the site to work. I then took each page and feature in turn and designed a wireframe for them. Once I had made a set of wireframes using Sketch I was able to create a prototype using InVision which I then handed over to the account manager for sign-off. In turn, they demonstrated the prototype to the client. Iterations were made where necessary, then after sign-off was received I was able to complete the designs. I used Zeplin to share my designs with the development team so that they could be sure that they were building exactly what I had designed.
Testing
It was my responsibility as the sole designer on the project to test the website fully upon the release of each stage onto the testing platform. Any bugs were reported back to the development team and were retested after they were fixed.
Final Designs
The homepage
Incorporating sections on Holiday Accommodation, Explore The Local Area, About Us and Testimonials. Most importantly, the booking feature is at the top of the page. The main panel at the top of the page is a placeholder for an aerial video captured by drone.
About us
Incorporating sections on the Heritage Coast and local area, family ownership, Holiday Hire and the Coast Bar & Bistro.
Menu overlay
As a slider, appearing from the right side of the screen with a 50% opacity overlay covering the page behind. There are links to various marketing areas of the site, links to connected social media sites (which open in a new tab) and links to informative parts of the site, e.g. policies.
Accommodation
Incorporating complete pages for availability, details, FAQs and offers.
Booking
Incorporating complete pages for Choosing Your Accommodation, Enhance Your Stay, Personal Information, Payment and Confirmation.
Caravan Sales
Incorporating complete pages for Caravans For Sale, Information, FAQs and Contact Us.
Seasonal touring
Incorporating complete pages for What's On, Out 'n' About, FAQs and Application.
Information
Incorporating complete pages for Facilities, Pitch Information, Park Information and Testimonials.
Gallery
An important page where visitors can view photography on every aspect of staying at the site, with the emphasis being on letting the pictures speak for themselves.
Summary
The site was launched and immediately reduced administration costs for the holiday park, with a reduction in the number of phone calls to reception to place/amend bookings and with a reduction in the amount of paperwork that had previously been required to make a booking. The link between the front-end and back-end database meant that fewer mistakes were made and so ratings on social media also improved in the weeks that followed.
