Find a easier way for the users
Introduction
Rentevent, an event rental company, didn’t have an e-commerce platform. Customers chose products by emailing long lists of links. That caused a lot of problems, mistakes, and missed opportunities.
Problem statement
How might we streamline the booking process to improve efficiency and create a better experience for both customers and the team?
By replacing the old system with a solution that would reduce errors, streamline the booking process, and lessen the workload for both customers and the team.
My Role
Conducting user interviews, benchmarking competitors, observing current processes, and selecting and customizing an e-commerce platform to find a way to solve the problem.
Interviewing for insights
I began by interviewing both customers and employees to better understand their pain points with the current manual booking process. Through these conversations I gained valuable insights to build upon, for example:
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No basket to put multiple products of interest in.
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Confusion with similar products when ordering.
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Extensive back-and-forth emailing before placing an order.
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Unable to right-click and save pictures (used for mood boards when pitching to clients).
Benchmark Analysis
I researched competitors in the event rental industry to understand how they approached online bookings. I focused on their product catalog structures, the ease of use for customers. This research helped identify practices that could be applied to Rentevents process.
One issue that came up was the need for article numbers on products to avoid confusion between similar items. With over 3000 products and the requirement to integrate the new site with the existing internal booking system, implementing this solution would take some time and manual work.
Observing the booking process
I observed how both customers and employees interacted with the existing system to better understand the current booking process.
It became clear that the lack of a platform led to many miscommunications and errors, as customers often forgot to include product details or would send multiple follow-up emails.
One common scenario I observed involved clients sending lists of product links, sometimes exceeding 25 links, which had to be individually clicked and entered into the booking system.
Additionally, initial contacts often lacked essential client information needed for booking, leading to a prolonged exchange of 3–4 emails just to gather basic details.
Analyzing Data
After gathering data from interviews, observations, and competitor benchmarks I analyzed the most common challenges:
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A lack of visibility for customers when browsing products.
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Difficulty for employees in tracking customer orders and confirming selections.
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A disconnected, manual process that slowed down the entire workflow.
Workshop card sorting
To organize the collected data, I collaborated with the employees. Together, we used sticky notes to group and identify the most important points.
They emphasized prioritizing tasks like enabling
right-click saving, listing desired rental products, simplifying article numbers for clarity and fewer emails when in contact.
Conclusion
By selecting and customizing an existing e-commerce platform, I was able to simplify the booking process for Rentevents customers and reduce the workload for their staff. This project enhanced both the user experience and internal operations, ultimately making the process more efficient and error free.
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Better User Interaction: Allowing right-click to save images makes it easier for clients to create mood boards, which is important in event planning.
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Clear Product Identification: Adding article numbers to over 3,000 products helped eliminate confusion with similar items and made orders more accurate.
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Faster Communication: A product list feature reduced the number of emails needed for each booking, making the process faster.
Moving to an e-commerce platform gave them more flexibility to make changes without needing developers, so we can update the site more easily for seasonal events and product promotions.
In the future, we plan to integrate the website with the internal booking system to allow real-time updates and improve efficiency for both employees and clients.