EF / World Journeys

Closing the Loop: Designing a Full-Circle Travel Booking Experience in Mobile

CLIENT
EF / World Journeys

TEAM
EF / World Journeys Engineering Team

ROLE
Product Design

CATEGORY
Native Mobile App
E-Commerce

EF World Journeys is comprised of three DTC guided travel brands—Go Ahead Tours, Ultimate Break, and Adventures.

Historically, the mobile app supported travelers only after booking. Despite 95% of travelers already using the app, there was no way to browse or purchase trips within it.

A limited version of in-app shopping had previously existed for one brand, but it was removed during a platform consolidation that unified all three brands onto a shared system. As a result, mobile commerce needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.

I was the sole product designer responsible for relaunching this experience, enabling travelers to move from inspiration to booking within the app.

The opportunity

Travelers don’t book trips in a single session.

They compare multiple tours, revisit options across sessions and devices, and take time to evaluate pricing and add-ons.

Yet the app only supported post-booking needs, missing the earlier—and more influential—parts of the journey.

At the same time:

  • Stakeholders questioned whether mobile web was sufficient

  • The platform had just been consolidated across three brands

  • The experience needed to work for a wide age range (18–65+)

If we launched shopping in the app (spoiler alert: we did), it would expand the value from managing trips to helping travelers choose their next one.

My role

As the sole designer on this initiative, I was responsible for shaping and shipping the end-to-end experience.

I partnered closely with product and engineering to:

  • Audit and align mobile and web purchase flows

  • Design new entry points for browsing and re-engagement

  • Define key experiences, such as Saved Quotes and navigation

  • Improve accessibility in critical moments of the journey

  • Conduct end-to-end QA across all brands prior to launch

The relaunch was designed and shipped over ~4 months post-consolidation.

The challenges

Launching mobile commerce required working within several constraints:

No native checkout → users transitioned into web checkout within the app

No traditional cart → required defining a clear way for users to save and return to in-progress trips

Shared platform across brands → limited ability to customize experiences

Inconsistent design systems → mobile UI had to reconcile with web patterns

Rather than waiting for ideal conditions, I focused on designing solutions that worked within these constraints while still meeting user expectations.

Reframing the app around discovery

With major new features, landing screen, and primary nav

The app’s original navigation was built for trip management—not shopping.

I redesigned it to prioritize discovery and re-engagement:

Before
Chat | My tours | Notifications | More

After
Explore | Saved | Tours | Chat | More

  • Explore became the primary entry point for browsing

  • Saved unified wishlists and what would become in-progress quoting (see below)

  • Notifications were moved out of primary navigation to reduce noise and elevate browse experience

This shift aligned the app with how travelers actually plan trips—not just how they manage them.

Within Explore, I designed the browsing experience to surface tours, giving travelers a familiar and low-friction way to begin planning their next trip. The UX largely inherited the layout and concepts established in web, just adapted for mobile app behavior.

Saved Quotes

Creating a quick path to resume complex trip quoting

One of the biggest gaps in the entire digital purchase flow (both web and app) was the absence of a traditional cart.

Travel booking is more complex than typical e-commerce—each trip includes multiple interdependent variables such as dates, flights, rooming, and add-ons, all of which can change over time.

Instead of introducing a new system, we built Saved Quotes to capture a traveler’s in-progress booking.

I focused on designing this experience to feel seamless and resumable, allowing users to:

  • Save a configured trip

  • Leave and return across sessions

  • Resume exactly where they left off

This was critical because travelers rarely convert immediately—they explore, compare, share with their travel companions, and come back. If we could help keep this part of the journey easy, it would be a huge win for everyone.

Journey of a Saved Quote to Checkout
Saved.png
Quote detail—Items collapsed.png

Accessibility

Ensuring usability in high-stakes screens at extra-large font settings

Tour booking involves dense, interdependent information.

One key improvement was redesigning the date picker, a critical decision point in the flow.

The original layout broke under large accessibility text sizes—particularly for older users.

I redesigned it into a single-column, scalable layout, improving:

  • Readability

  • Information hierarchy

  • Reliability across accessibility settings

This ensured the experience remained usable—and trustworthy—for all travelers.

Testing & Validation

Due to the aggressive timeline following platform consolidation, we were unable to conduct formal usability testing before launch.

To mitigate risk, I relied on several strategies:

  • insights from prior traveler shadowing sessions

  • accessibility best practices

  • parity checks against the web purchase flow

  • extensive pre-launch QA across all brands

I personally conducted end-to-end QA of the purchase journey to ensure consistency across:

  • Go Ahead Tours

  • Ultimate Break

  • Adventures

Results

📈

What happened

The relaunch successfully enabled travelers to browse tours and begin purchases directly within the mobile app.

Early results showed that mobile browsing contributed to both direct purchases and to bookings completed later on other channels.

Within the first month: Mobile app purchases represented 3.7% of total bookings.

Importantly, many travelers who browsed tours in the app later completed their purchase via web or phone, reinforcing the app’s role as a discovery and engagement channel.

💡

What we learned

Mobile discovery matters
Even when purchases occur elsewhere, mobile browsing can meaningfully influence traveler decisions.

Accessibility must be built into foundational components
Designing with accessibility in mind (particularly for older travelers) significantly improves usability.

Platform consolidation requires careful UX governance
Maintaining shared experiences while supporting brand-specific needs requires ongoing collaboration between design and engineering.