About project
Web service for travel arrangements in medium and large companies. Designed to reduce expenses on travel agent services while make the booking tickets and hotels process transparent. It automates business travel process, facilitating seamless coordination among traveling employees, managers, and accountants
Challenges
— Scale the platform. Our challenge involved expanding the platform from an internal service catering to 1,000 employees within our company to a solution for multiple large organizations.
— Optimize the travel managers team of 8. The goal was to transition them from handling routine airticket and hotel bookings for internal business travel to managing complex orders and establishing the service for new, large clients.
— Maintain a manual process for cancellations and replacements during the initial phase. This approach was chosen to ensure precision and personalized handling of each request.
What I did
— Conducted research on current processes, competitors, and through in-depth user interviews to thoroughly understand the needs and tasks of the stakeholders.
— Designed a platform for business travel and bookings management, enabling smooth communication between employees, managers, and accountants.
— Designed iOS and Android apps for easy on-the-go management of business trips by employees and managers.
— Created a cohesive branding and design system for the service.
Popular features
— management of travel policies and manager approvals;
— flexible booking options: ticket exchanges, refunds, hotel cancellations, and trip cancellations;
— extra services including bus, Aeroexpress, taxi, and transfers;
— ticket price freeze;
— travel manager assistance for complex travel needs;
— group travel arrangements;
— closing documents for accounting;
— e-documents: simplified electronic document signing;
— business travel statistics;
— multi-platform access: web service, iOS, and Android apps;
— system Integrations with 1C, Oracle, and SUP.
Interviews insights:
— Business trips often planned through offline discussions, requiring explanations about the trip’s purpose.
— Trips can be organized by HR, travel managers, or other team members.
— Employees frequently select flights and hotels based on colleagues’ choices.
— Sometimes, early arrivals for work preparations lead to mismatches between actual trip dates and flight/hotel bookings.
— Preferences vary between trains and planes for travel.
— Most employees are focused on staying within the budget.
— There’s a strong desire to maintain good relationships with colleagues, with an emphasis on avoiding issues from substandard hotels or travel inconveniences.
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Employees plan business trips with supervisor approval, understanding trip limitations and expenses.
Given the variation in travel policies within different companies and the possibility of remote destinations, our platform offers flexible customization. This includes options like selecting different cities, alternative airports, overnight stays, and diverse transportation methods, along with accommodating special expenses within extended limits.
After planning, the trip request goes to the manager for approval and the details are automatically sent to accounting department’s part of the platform.
of users could plan their first business trip without help previously
of users can do it on their own, with the new version, showing a big improvement in ease of use
Managers get notified of employee business trips via the service, email, or a mobile app. They can reject and ask for changes if needed. The approval settings can be customized to suit the company’s supervisory needs.
it took on average for the manager to approve trip, often requiring a follow-up reminder from the employee
it takes for approval after the redesign, with the mobile app and improved login
Once a business trip is approved, one can start buying airline tickets. The system offers key filters for business travel, like connections, departure/arrival times, and luggage options. Tickets over budget are highlighted for extra attention or further approval.
average booking time used to be
it has reduced to, due to better user prompts, enhanced filters, and layout improvements
Hotels are presented on both a map and a list, so one can apply filters based on breakfast availability. Furthermore, the system highlights hotels and rooms that exceed the budget limit. If necessary, one can request a budget increase.
is needed to assist in choose hotels anymore.
Previously, travellers often relied on guidance from travel managers and colleagues when visiting new cities for business. However, the system, which incorporates recommendations from colleagues and reviews within the service, now simplifies the decision-making process.
At the conclusion of a business trip, one can easily report any additional expenses incurred. Using an SMS-based e-signature system, you can sign all required documents, sending them directly to the accounting department. This eliminates the need for paperwork or traditional mailing methods.
E-signing not only saves time and money but also enhances document security by eliminating the risk of loss
is took travellers to declare two additional expenses and complete the paperwork
it takes after the redesign, due to photo parsing and e-signing via SMS, eliminating the need for printing papers and manual signatures by managers and accountants collection
Accountants operate within a dedicated section, receiving documents through the service or via integration with accounting software. In this space, they review all documents, access source data, and correspondence, making decisions to either approve the business trip or request corrections. The dashboard provides comprehensive information for accountants, department heads, or company managers.
all statistics in one place
with the most popular accounting systems, enabling accountants to work with the platforms they are most familiar with
E-signing ensures document security, eliminating the risk of document loss