Barbershop Appointment Booking Experience
Overview
Project type: Self-initiated UX case study
Product: Mobile web appointment booking flow
Business context: Neighborhood barbershop
Role: UX Designer (solo)
Timeline: 2 weeks
This project explores a simple, mobile-first appointment booking experience for a local barbershop. The goal was to practice core UX skills—defining requirements, designing clear user flows, and creating an end-to-end prototype—without redesigning or replacing an existing commercial system.
Problem
Booking a haircut should be fast and low-effort, especially for repeat customers. For small businesses, unclear or overly complex booking experiences can lead to abandoned bookings, missed appointments, and unnecessary back-and-forth communication.
The challenge was to design a booking flow that:
Works well on mobile devices
Minimizes decision fatigue
Clearly confirms that an appointment is successfully booked
Users & Goals
Primary user: Busy adult booking a haircut on their phone
User goals:
Quickly see available services and times
Book an appointment with minimal steps
Feel confident the booking is confirmed
Business goals:
Reduce no-shows
Capture essential booking information
Make the process easy enough for repeat use
Assumptions & Constraints
Most users access the booking flow on mobile
The barbershop offers a limited number of services
Appointments are time-based and require basic contact information
The solution should be simple enough for a small business to maintain
Because this was a self-initiated project, assumptions were based on common small-business needs and everyday user behavior rather than formal user research.
Process
1. Defining Requirements
I translated user and business needs into basic requirements:
Users must be able to select a service
Users must see available dates and times
Users must provide contact information
Users must receive clear confirmation
These requirements guided the structure of the flow.
2. User Flow
The booking experience was broken into five clear steps:
Entry point / Book now
Select service
Select date & time
Enter contact details
Confirmation
This linear flow was chosen to reduce cognitive load and keep users focused on one decision at a time.
3. Wireframing
Low-fidelity wireframes were created to explore layout and hierarchy without visual distraction. The focus was on:
Clear calls to action
Large, tappable buttons
Obvious progress through the flow
4. Visual Design
High-fidelity screens were designed with usability in mind:
Simple typography for readability
High-contrast buttons for accessibility
Minimal copy to keep the flow fast
Branding was kept neutral to emphasize structure and clarity over aesthetics.
5. Prototyping
A clickable prototype was created in Figma to simulate the full booking flow. This allowed testing of:
Navigation between steps
Error prevention (e.g., required fields)
User reassurance at the confirmation stage
Solution
The final solution is a mobile-first booking flow that:
Guides users step-by-step through the process
Clearly displays service options and availability
Confirms successful booking with clear next steps
The confirmation screen reinforces confidence by summarizing the appointment details and indicating what will happen next.
Outcome
While no formal usability testing was conducted, the final design achieves the project goals by:
Reducing the number of decisions per screen
Making progress through the flow obvious
Providing clear feedback at completion
This case study demonstrates foundational UX skills applicable to real-world product and service design.
Reflection & Next Steps
If this project were extended, next steps would include:
Conducting quick usability testing with real users
Testing variations of the service selection step
Exploring reminders or rescheduling flows to reduce no-shows
This project reinforced the importance of clarity, simplicity, and structured thinking in UX design—especially for everyday business tools.