Mamboats

After discussing the business and getting a feel for the clientele, the design team were enthused to get started and put their creativity to work. It was decided to approach the project from a 'mobile-first' perspective, and buid in a responsive manner. This meant that as well as looking great, the layout would also be optimised for the best user experience on different size screens.

However, the real magic was to happen back stage and unseen. The booking process had several complexities, such as timings for multiple trips, boat downtimes, agent booking & end-user booking, on-board drinks orders, and staggered payment options.

It didn't stop there though. Through consultation with Mamboats, we specified and designed a booking system that could be used by both external customers and staff internally, so it would function as a complete sales management tool. The back-end to this system maintains the availability calendar, produces order reports, and schedules boat crew - furthermore, it synchronises with staff phone calendars, sending work rotas and reminders automatically.

The front-end design was a very enjoyable project for our design team. Coupled with great quality input from the client, and a free hand to express ideas, the end result was a site that far exceeds the visual qualities that Mamboats had in mind. There has been much praise for the site by visitors to the Mamboats facebook page, and everyone involved with the project is extremely pleased with the end result.

With careful project management, the site was designed, built, and launched in the required timescale. We also released a mirrored 'test bed' version of the site, to allow reps and staff to practice using the booking system before taking live bookings.

 

It's early days, but the easy to use system has been very well received, and everyone is keen to make some real bookings - especially the boat crews, who appear to have full calendars!

Within the first weekend of going live during the 'off' season, the site received over 600 hits in a single day. With ongoing promotion from the parent company's facebook page and twitter, we expect to see some very heavy traffic as the summer approaches, and some impressive sales statistics to boot - this is just the beginning of what will be a very exciting partnership, so keep a look out for further developments.