Release Details

Product: Bookings - EQ1

Release Date: Wednesday 11th September 2024

Summary: A new calendar interface to view resource availability before making bookings

Overview

Video Snapshot

Calendar Based Availability

Existing Capabilities

Up to this point, determining the availability of bookable resources was done either by attempting to make a booking or by filtering resources based on the availability, using one or more of the available filter options shown below:

Open

The resources were displayed as a single list view:

Open

The catalogue of resources could only be viewed as a list up to this point

Although an end user could both search, and filter, to find an available resource, there were a few significant drawbacks to this approach:

• It can take time to apply filters to find available resources for the date and time you want

• If you didn’t apply these filters to begin with, the original booking form didn’t confirm availability until the final step i.e. once attempting to complete your booking. As such, you could spend time filling out the booking details only to find out that the resource wasn’t available on the specific day or time

New Calendar Availability

This new feature, in conjunction with other improvements to the booking process, has addressed the above two drawbacks and also provided end users with a more user friendly and expedited booking experience by means of booking via a calendar.

Users can more quickly determine availability of resources and select from available times, or predetermined slots. As a result, completing a booking is a far more streamlined and quicker process.

Accessing the Calendar

Select the Calendar icon at the top of the screen to access the calendar view:

Calendar Key Features

The calendar consists of the following core components:

1. An overview of the resource consisting of:

   1. Image

   2. Capacity (if enabled)

   3. Available discounts (if enabled. Feature coming soon)

   4. Name of the resource

   5. Location of the resource
      
      

      
      As you vertically scroll, the image section will be collapsed to free up screen space. The title and location will remain stuck in the header:
      
      

2. Horizontal scroll to view available resources. Simply scroll L > R or R > L to view the available resources
   

3. Current time indicator for today (green horizontal line) and automatic scroll to the current time of day when loading the calendar:
   
   

   
   
   

4. Availability times on the y axis:
   
   

5. Date picker to view today or a future date:
   
   

6. The same search and filtering options from the list view to further refine your search:
   
   

7. The ability to view and book resources set up with available slots or as a flexible booking:
   
   

8. Selecting a flexible time, or a predefined slot, will launch the side modal with the date prefilled on the form and the slot preselected (if applicable):
   
   

9. Colour coded backgrounds to indicate available/unavailable times. If a resource has a grey background to indicate it’s Not available it can be due to a number of reasons:
   - The resource having specific From/To hours
   - The resource may be included in a blockout date
   - The resource may be configured with a Prep time (before) and Prep time (after)
   
   

   
   
   

10. Ability to launch the booking form either by selecting a time/available slot or by selecting the title of the resource:
    
    

Mobile Experience

The calendar is optimised for mobile. Most of the key features apply when accessing the calendar on mobile but only one resource is shown due to a smaller screen space. Users can scroll L > R, R > L to view the available resouces:

Metrics

We are adding additional data points to determine how end users are making bookings e.g. via the existing list view or via the new calendar feature.

FAQs