Jithin

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Slot Booking
Experience

Turning slot selection into a confident decision

As Playo grew, booking became harder than it needed to be. Users found venues but hesitated at the final step of choosing a slot.

28.7%

Paid bookings conversion

₹43.5L → ₹51.7L

Monthly Online GTV

+36%

Transacting users

Slot booking experience — the redesigned selection flow across key screens

Context & Problem

Choosing a slot was harder than it needed to be.

Users could find a venue and reach the slot selection screen, but making the final decision wasn't always straightforward. They had to figure out when their session would end, how long they were booking, what they would pay, and whether they were getting the best available option.

32%
Adjusted slot 3+ times
47%
Struggled to understand session end time
26%
Checkout-entry drop-off
11%
Venue coupon usage
The existing slot selection — users had to mentally calculate end time and duration
The existing slot selection — users had to mentally calculate end time and duration

The Insight - Users wanted confidence, not more options

The opportunity wasn't to add more information. It was to make the information already available easier to understand at the moment of decision.

Insight diagram — Time, Duration and Price converging into one clear timeline
Three separate data points — time, duration and price — needed to become one connected understanding

Exploring Directions - We explored different ways to make comparison easier

We tested multiple approaches before landing on a solution that made time and duration immediately understandable.

Design explorations — different approaches to simplify slot comparison
Design explorations — different approaches to simplify slot comparison

The Breakthrough - Make time immediately understandable

The dual pointer timeline changed how users understood their session. Start time, duration and end time became one connected interaction.

The dual pointer timeline — start time, duration and end time in one interaction
The dual pointer timeline — start time, duration and end time in one connected interaction

Designing for Confidence - Making every decision around the slot clearer

Once the core time selection was simplified, we looked at the decisions around it. Date, price, rewards and booking context were redesigned to help users move forward without second guessing.

01

Choose

Date + Slot Selection

Plan your game with clarity. See the real-time availability and pick the exact time that works for you.

Date and slot selection — real-time availability at a glance

02

Discover

We surfaced venue specific offers at the moment users were deciding, making promotions easier to discover without interrupting the booking flow.

Venue offers surfaced at the moment of decision

03

Recover

Don't let an unavailable slot end the journey

When a user's preferred slot wasn't available, we didn't treat it as the end of the journey. We surfaced nearby venues with availability for the same time.

Nearby venues with open slots — turning a dead end into another chance

04

Commit

Make the final booking feel safe

We introduced insurance during checkout, giving users an additional layer of protection while creating a relevant opportunity to opt in at the moment of purchase.

Insurance at checkout — making the final booking feel safe

The Outcome - More users completed the booking they already intended to make

The redesigned experience improved conversion and helped more users move from selecting a slot to completing payment.

28.7%
Paid booking conversion
₹43.5L → ₹51.7L
Monthly online GTV
+36%
Transacting users
+20%
Venue coupon redemption
Booking funnel — conversion improvement across all stages
Booking funnel — conversion improvement across all stages

After Launch - The redesign didn't stop at launch

Launch validated the core experience, but real usage uncovered behaviours we hadn't anticipated. Those became the next opportunities to improve the journey.

Post-launch iterations — handling edge cases like expired slots and nearby venue suggestions
Post-launch iterations — handling edge cases surfaced by real usage

Takeaway - We didn't make booking more complicated

We removed the uncertainty that was stopping people from finishing it.

The redesigned slot booking experience — bringing clarity to every step of the journey

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