Mobile Check-In Redesign

A Strategic Redesign for Enhanced User Engagement and Growth

Mobile Check-In, a feature in the GolfNow app, lets golfers check in and pay online for tee times, skipping the traditional line to start playing right away.

In 2022, GolfNow's UX and Product teams redesigned the mobile check-in to boost engagement, making it more user-friendly and efficient. By 2023, the focus was on expanding its use and ensuring a seamless experience across platforms, as mobile check-in plays a key role in driving user adoption and growth opportunities for the GolfNow product line.

The Challenge

Recapture The Magic

After Mobile Check-In’s initial rollout, usage was low and feedback highlighted usability issues, many users found it too cumbersome, and limited golf course adoption meant the feature’s convenience wasn’t fully realized. To tackle this, we improved usability based on feedback and worked to boost course adoption by addressing their concerns and aligning the feature with their needs..

My Role

I led UX research across the full 10-month project, from discovery to final usability and prototype testing. I collaborated closely with a Senior UX Designer, three PMs, a Design Director, and the VP of UX, applying a mix of methods, contextual inquiry, usability and prototype testing, surveys, A/B testing, and user interviews, to tackle the project’s complexity and meet the team’s needs.

Observing Users In Their Natural Environment

To kick off the project, our team aimed to gain deep insights into how users interact with mobile check-in and the golf course staff in their natural environment once they arrive at the golf course to play.

I organized and led multiple contextual inquiry field research studies at golf courses in Orlando, FL, and Minneapolis, MN. Our primary goal was to observe golfers, ask questions, and document our findings.

🧠 What We Learned

Most golf courses, including the ones visited, still required members to confirm online check-in at the pro shop to maintain revenue from sales and provide a personal greeting.

Additionally, we learned that while golfers appreciate the convenience of mobile check-in, they find the overall user experience frustrating due to confusing workflows, repetitive screens, payment issues, and the need to visit the pro shop to complete check-in, which detracts from the convenience of using the feature.

Uncovering Pain Points & Establishing a Benchmark

Building on the project goals and insights from field research, I conducted a usability study to thoroughly investigate the challenges in the original mobile check-in. Participants were instructed to complete a tee time reservation and make the payment for that reservation during the online check-in process.

Study Details:

  • Tool: UserZoom

  • Quota: 15 participants (golfers)

  • Study type: Unmoderated usability test (audio and screen were recorded)

🧠 What We Learned

The usability study found several problems with the feature's visuals during the check-in process. Participants were confused by the call-to-action on the landing page, often clicking 'Place Order' instead of 'Check-In,' which took them to the wrong screen. Additionally, users found it confusing that they had to manually confirm the number of people they were checking in for. They felt this should be set automatically based on the reservation.

Original designs

In this initial usability test, I incorporated the SUPR-Q (Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire) to measure the overall quality metrics of the current design. The results served as a benchmark for the design iterations, enabling us to track improvements and identify areas that required further attention.

The raw scores range from 1-5 (1 being the lowest score and 5 being the highest score)

Integrating Research Insights for Design Development

Field research and initial usability tests revealed key user behaviors and pain points, helping us pinpoint specific issues and identify improvement areas.

The first round of mockups for the new designs focused on creating a clear visual hierarchy to guide users intuitively through the interface. Using size, color, contrast, and spacing, we highlighted key components like calls to action, improving navigation.

Original Design

New Design

🧠 What We Learned

Once the initial design mockups were created, I conducted additional usability tests. The results were positive, with users finding the new design easier to navigate and showing a significant improvement in time-on-task compared to the original.

Streamlining The Booking Process

Throughout the design process, our team focused on streamlining the multiplayer reservation workflow, allowing users to easily reserve tee times for groups. The new design introduced flexible payment options, enabling each player to choose their payment method and offering individual online check-ins with real-time updates to reduce bottlenecks.

To finalize the display of player counts on the reservation screen, I conducted an A/B test with 100 participants to compare two different design concepts.

Design A

Design A performed better in the A/B test, and that was the direction the team decided to go for. Users expressed that they found the design more intuitive and engaging.

Moving forward, we focused on refining this design based on the insights collected, ensuring that we addressed any remaining pain points while amplifying the strengths identified in our tests. Collaboration with the design and development teams were key to seamlessly implement the necessary adjustments.

Design B

User Perceptions and Feature Value Assessment

Alongside the usability and A/B tests, I designed and conducted a product-focused survey to address key questions from our product team, such as golfers’ perceptions of the feature’s convenience, the clarity of its benefits, and anticipated usage frequency. The survey was built on UserZoom as an unmoderated study with a quota of 100 participants who were active golfers.

Results confirmed that golfers not only understand the benefits of using mobile check-in but also recognize its value and potential. Participants expressed a strong willingness to use the feature frequently, indicating a high level of desire and demand for this functionality

This feature makes my check-in & payment experience easier or more efficient.

How much do you agree or disagree with this statement?

What are the benefits of using this feature on the days you play golf in terms of convenience?

How frequently would you use this service?

Interviews with Course Operators

Our field research showed that the golfer experience goes beyond check-in, extending through all interactions with course staff, and that a smooth experience for golfers relies on a positive experience for operators. While the designer finalized mockups, I conducted in-depth interviews with course operators to uncover challenges with mobile check-in and their workflows. Using open-ended questions and the 4 Forces of Progress framework, I gathered insights that helped remove adoption barriers and shape a strategy to encourage course buy-in.

Study details

Tool: Teams meetings (virtually)

Quota: 10 participants (course operators)

Study type: Moderated user interviews. Each session lasted 30 - 45 minutes

The 4 Forces of Progress artifact I created was key in communicating the factors influencing course operators' decisions about mobile check-in. It highlighted the forces pulling operators away from adoption (habits and anxieties) and those motivating them to embrace it (pushes and pulls). My analysis revealed that operators resisted mobile check-in mainly due to concerns about missed pro shop revenue and a lack of training on the system, leading to frustrations and abandonment of the feature. Additionally, smaller courses value personal greetings, further hindering full adoption.

SOLVING THE COURSE OPERATORS’ CONCERNS

Drawing on the insights and findings from the interviews, my team and I engaged in an intensive brainstorming session to generate ideas on how to help operators overcome their concerns about potential revenue loss, while still ensuring that mobile check-in remains a convenient and valuable feature for both golfers and course operators.

After long brainstorming sessions with all my stakeholders and leadership, the idea of implementing a mobile check-in booth inside the pro-shop emerged. This booth would feature a monitor where users can scan a QR code generated by the app after checking in, allowing them to be ready to play within seconds. This approach ensures:

  • Users still bypass the line, maintaining the core convenience of the feature

  • Golfers continue to enter the pro-shop

  • By scanning a confirmation code and quickly being ready to play, users have more time to enjoy the pro-shop

  • Course staff still have the opportunity to greet their members

It's a win-win! 🎉

Implementation & Business Impact

After finalizing our designs, I conducted an additional round of usability testing to validate the new designs. For these final tests, I gathered insights from over 30 golfers during a two-week testing period.

Benchmarking

By benchmarking our results against those from the original design, we gained a clear view of our progress over time. This approach was instrumental in transforming how we tracked and improved our designs, providing tangible evidence of the impact of our efforts. The steady improvement in ratings from the initial design to the final iteration demonstrated the power of research in crafting products that seamlessly integrate into our customers' lives, ensuring both user satisfaction and business success.

With the outstanding results from the final round of usability tests, combined with the extensive research data collected throughout the project and design cycle, the final designs were approved and successfully launched in 2023.

In addition, we introduced a new and innovative approach to our communication and partnership with course operators.

Since then, the business has achieved significant milestones, including:

  • +97.2% Unique transacting courses

  • +86% Golf course adoption

  • +294.8% Total mobile check-ins

  • +272.6% Total Charges

Final Designs

Shedding Light On Research

Last year I had the opportunity to shed light on the amazing research work done on mobile check-in at our annual Tech & Product Summit :)