Backick.com, first social hotel booking site

FIRST SOCIAL HOTEL BOOKING SITE

backick.com

Preamble

backick.com was the first social hotel booking site launched in December 2011 and retired March 2013

Although it was later discontinued and integrated into Expedia, it received quite a lot of traction and was definitely a success from a technical and user experience perspective

This presentation is a showcase of how the site worked.

Concept

The original idea was to reward users who share the site with their friends in order to create viral traffic and avoid expensive marketing channels e.g. SEM

When user shares the site with their friends, their friends get a 10% coupon, and for every booking that they make, the referer gets 5% of the amount of the booking as reward that can be used on future bookings

GUEST USER – BOOKING WORKFLOW

Workflow [1]

Home Page

Home Page - Description

1. User can enter keyword and search for location (auto suggest dropdown is used in this page)

2. Select dates for booking3. More Options- have additional filters for

searching4. Then click on Search Hotels button will

redirect to search results page.

Search Results

Search Results - Description

1. Sort options: sorts search results based on selection

2. Search filters: filter results by price, star rating, amenities, etc.

3. Message to login for additional 10% discount

4. Search Bar at the top of the search results page. Can be used to initialize new search

5. List of search items

Hotel Details Page

Hotel Details Page - Description

1. Hotel image preview2. Hotel image gallery with image carousal 3. Room type and rates search bar4. Location of hotel using maps5. Trip advisor rating for hotel6. Room types and options available in hotel

for booking

Make Payment

Make Payment - Description

1. Payment and discount related calculations2. Complete Booking button to confirm

booking3. Guest user details form 4. Payment details

GUEST USER – SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER

Workflow [2]

Home Page - Subscribe

Subscribe Newsletter

1. Even if user is not logged in user can subscribe for newsletter using the subscribe to email

Subscribe Email

Subscribe Email - Description

Subscribe form has field which should be filled in with correct information

Click on Join Form to subscribeUser can also use facebook account option

USER LOGIN

Workflow [3]

User Login

Login : Description

1. Click on login button 2. It will open new browser window. 3. Provide facebook credentials here4. Click on Log-in button

Logged in

Logged In - description

1. Once logged in page is updated with user status and users information

2. Also on main page area user details are updated

LOGGED IN - USER BOOKING

Workflow [4]

Search For Location

Search For Location – Description

1. Enter search term for searching. Search suggest feature is used on the UI to help user.

2. Once options for search are selected click on search button.

Search Results Page

Search Results Page - Description

1. Sorting options2. Search hotels are displayed on the search

results page. Click on any hotel for selecting it and getting to Hotel Details page.

3. Filter options to filter search results4. Once user is logged in using account

information user also get to see Backicks and Coupons as well. Which can be utilized for additional discount on bookings.

Hotel Details Page

Hotel Details Page - Description

1. Images for Hotel which is currently selected2. Hotel location using Map location3. Available options in selected Hotel4. Available Backick’s and Coupon’s for logged

in user

Manage Savings

Manage Savings - Description

1. Use Coupons: Allow user to use one of the existing coupon for getting discount

2. Use Backicks: Allow user to use desired backick account for getting discount

3. As per use of Coupon and Backick prices are updated on this section of page

4. Once done click on Continue button to continue with the booking workflow

Make Payment

Make Payment - Description

1. Guest Details: Provide necessary details2. Payment Details: Enter details for payment3. Click on complete booking to finish booking

LOGGED IN - USER ACCOUNT

Workflow [5]

Your Account

Your Account - Description

1. Click on the Your Account link to see account details

Your Accounts Page

Your Account Page - Description

1. User can keep track of recent booking done under this account

2. User can check available backicks3. Also available coupons are displayed 4. Send coupons help share coupons with

friends to earn more backicks. Click on send coupon will allow you to share message on you wall and share 10% discount to friends.

Send coupons

Send coupons - Description

1. Customized message to be shared on wall2. Share on wall button lets you share this post

on you wall

LOGGED IN – SUBSCRIBE NEWS LETTERS

Workflow [6]

Subscribe Newsletters :click on link to subscribe

Subscribe Newsletters - Description

LOGGED IN – INVITE FRIENDS

Workflow [7]

Invite Friends

Invite Friends - Description

1. If user is logged in then user can invite his friends using this option. Click on the invite friends link

2. It launches popup window with facebook friends list where user can invite friends

3. Click on send requests button to send the request

LOGGED IN – CANCEL BOOKING

Workflow [8]

Your Account’s Page – Recent Booking

Your Account’s Page – Recent Booking

On this page user can see all the past and future bookings. User can select any future booking and cancel it as well.

1. Click on the link to see the booking details2. Cancel booking list displays any bookings

which are recently canceled

Future Booking – with cancel button

Future Booking – Cancel Button

1. Cancel Button to cancel booking. Click on this button to cancel booking

2. Future booking details

Cancel Booking Page

Cancel Booing Page - Description

1. Details of hotel booked2. Cancelation details 3. Booking Details4. Click on the Confirm button to cancel the

booking

Confirmation of cancelation

Accounts page with recent cancelation