Designing a Delightful Buyflow from Screen to Sea
I transformed a complex mobile buyflow for a yacht charter platform into a seamless, human-centered experience that drove business growth and delighted users.
Key Activities
Activity A
Activity B
Activity C
Human Impact
Growth
Enjoyment
Duration
6 months
Role
UX and CX Consultant
Challenge & Vision
Booking a yacht charter should feel effortless, but GetaWave's complicated mobile buyflow was sinking user conversions. I led a data-informed redesign to simplify the booking journey. My UX contributions turned a critical business challenge into a strategic opportunity for both user enjoyment and revenue growth.
Problem
GetaWave, a yacht charter platform, was struggling with a complex and outdated mobile buyflow. This process caused high abandonment rates and lost revenue due to user frustration. The primary challenge was to help users convert more quickly and easily without compromising the security and legal requirements of a yacht charter, which were essential for Getawave stakeholders and customers alike.
Goal and Objectives
My goal was to create a more intuitive and enjoyable experience for users to simplify the charter request and booking processes. This approach was key to lowering the level of effort for mobile conversion while fulfilling all business and legal requirements. To achieve this, I focused on three key objectives:
Reduce the cognitive load on users to decrease abandonment risk
Streamline data collection to remove barriers between people and their charters
Create a more delightful interface to increase engagement
Role and Contributions
I was the sole UX and customer experience (CX) expert responsible for the end-to-end mobile buyflow redesign. Working with limited resources, I conducted data analysis to identify key pain points and designed a new buyflow that met business and technical requirements. My contributions ensured every screen was designed to support an efficient and enjoyable user experience.
Discover
Understanding the Problem
My first step was to get a clear picture of what was holding GetaWave back. I dove into the existing mobile user analytics to pinpoint where conversions were failing. Data revealed that the booking process was too complex, forms were overwhelming users, and a confusing visual hierarchy was causing frustration and accidental actions.
Key Learnings
Fixing key CX issues is a necessary step to increasing conversions
Customers with low buying intent are hesitant to start high-effort conversion processes
Too many form fields are cumbersome for users and create a high abandonment risk for potential leads
Ideate
Building the Solution
I used my key findings to design a conversion experience that was both intuitive and delightful. My low-fidelity Figma wireframes shifted the effort from the beginning of the process to the end, using new overlays and a descriptive progress bar to simplify the user journey. I designed a smooth buyflow diagram with system logic that prioritized required fields and collected missing information with a focus on minimally intrusive interactions.
Key Learnings
Diagrams help visualize complexity and expedite stakeholder alignment on the ideal user experience
Strategic prioritization of form fields can help users convert without disrupting underlying business requirements
Suppressing branding and creative styles make wireframe reviews more efficient and help teams focus on the core user experience
Validate
Refining the Experience
The lack of resources for user testing didn't stop me from making sure the solution was solid. I leaned on continuous site analytics and stakeholder feedback to inform my iterative design process. This collaborative approach allowed us to identify business priorities and define a strategic buyflow that satisfied both user and business needs.
Key Learnings
Site analytics can be a valuable UX tool for learning customer preferences when facing time and budget constraints
Working closely with stakeholders ensures the final designs support business goals
Iterating on wireframes before advancing into visual design allows me to work efficiently and adapt to changing project requirements
Deliver
Proving the Impact
The final deliverable was a set of high-fidelity mobile designs that made intuitive changes to the buyflow's organization, hierarchy, and content. I reduced the number of forms from six to three to simplify the user experience without sacrificing lead quality or legal requirements. My work proves the value of a data-driven, human-centered approach by directly contributing to tangible outcomes and metrics.
Key Learnings
An efficient, enjoyable process can turn a frustrating user journey into a delightful experience that keeps people on the path to conversion
A human-centered buyflow can lead to more engaged mobile users and an increase in qualified leads
Defining technical requirements with a strategic vision and human-centered approach creates a more effortless user experience that supports business goals
Measurable Outcomes
The real success of this project isn't only about the number of mobile conversions, it's about the effortless experience that enables them. By making the buyflow simpler to understand and more pleasant to interact with, I made the GetaWave platform more effective at engaging its mobile customer base. The following metrics show that when you design for human enjoyment, you also drive business growth.
50%
of forms removed from the buyflow without sacrificing lead quality
22%
increase in mobile traffic to buyflow pages page after launch, contributing to a 5% increase in leads captured
8 second
increase in average mobile session length after launch, demonstrating that the new buyflow was more engaging and valuable
Human Impact
While the numbers tell a powerful story, nothing captures the success of a project like a real person's experience.
Quote Statement
Quote Author
Quote Role
Personal Reflection
The GetaWave project reinforced my belief that a human-centered approach is always the right path regardless of the constraints. I learned that even without a budget for user testing, a resourceful approach to analytics and stakeholder collaboration can create
Future Considerations
I ended the project by delivering strategically phased action items that build on the successful redesign by further refining the GetaWave conversion experience:
A digital version of the charter agreement PDF to make the fine print easier to understand and use, especially on mobile devices
A new comparison tool to support purchasing decisions, boosting lead quality and decreasing abandonment rate during the charter request process
Facebook or Google integration to further simplify the charter request process from a single form to a single click