Overview
EconomyBookings is a global car rental platform that offers users the ability to compare and book vehicles from over 20,000 rental locations worldwide. The platform partners with major international and local suppliers to ensure competitive prices and wide availability. I participated in the project as a product designer, contributing to the optimization of the UX/UI, development of promotional materials and improving brand consistency across digital channels. My responsibilities included developing key elements of the website booking process to improve user interaction and increase conversion rates. I also created visuals for online advertising campaigns and email marketing, which played a role in strengthening brand awareness and customer engagement. Working closely with the marketing and product teams, I ensured that all visual elements aligned with the strategic goals of the brand and contributed to its expansion into international markets. The project provided valuable experience in developing design for e-commerce in the tourism industry, with a focus on clarity, usability, and visual storytelling.
Problem
EconomyBookings is a long-established car rental aggregator that had not undergone a major redesign in over 15 years, resulting in a wide range of usability, performance, and business issues. The outdated UX/UI created a confusing and unintuitive experience for users, leading to reduced site engagement and low conversion rates. This inefficiency in the user journey increased dependency on the customer support and sales teams, who faced high volumes of inquiries that could otherwise be solved through better design.
One of the most pressing challenges was the noticeable decline in insurance sales—the platform’s key revenue stream. Users often overlooked or failed to understand the value of additional insurance services during the booking process, largely due to poor information hierarchy and a lack of persuasive interface elements.
There were also significant issues with the payment system. Users frequently abandoned the process at the transaction stage due to confusing flows or technical errors, which not only impacted revenue but also added unnecessary workload to the finance department in terms of manual verifications and corrections.
In addition to public-facing platforms, internal systems required modernization to improve operational efficiency and align better with the company’s evolving business needs. The project scope also extended to revamping native mobile apps and marketing communications, ensuring that all touchpoints reflected a consistent and modern brand experience. As a Product Designer, the challenge was to reimagine the platform holistically, improving usability, streamlining complex workflows, and helping the business regain customer trust and market relevance through design.
Solution
As a Product Designer on the EconomyBookings project, I focused on delivering a comprehensive redesign of the platform’s digital ecosystem, which included the website, mobile version, native apps, and internal tools. The primary goal was to modernize the product’s visual language and simplify user interactions to improve conversion, reduce support load, and drive revenue growth.
To shorten the user’s path to payment, we restructured the booking flow by deprioritizing non-critical elements, such as car upgrades and optional add-ons, and introduced a cleaner, more linear interface. On the car results page, I optimized the filtering system, enhanced sorting functionality, and improved the visual hierarchy of product cards, directly contributing to a more seamless and persuasive browsing experience.
We created the design of several new features, including the Favorites functionality and a personal user account dashboard. These additions encouraged re-engagement, reduced decision fatigue, and empowered users to manage their bookings independently. This not only boosted conversion rates but also reduced pressure on the support team.
In collaboration with the SEO and marketing teams, I designed dedicated landing pages for car types, suppliers, and regional rental offers, ensuring high visibility in search engines while keeping the content user-focused. Also, we developed the “Best Rated Supplier Award” and “List Your Cars” pages to support supplier engagement and acquisition efforts.
To address payment-related friction, I worked on simplifying the invoice and payment flow screens and introduced a range of global payment methods, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Klarna. Also, we implemented a digital E-Wallet feature, allowing users to manage cancellations and refunds directly through their account, which significantly lowered support requests and enhanced user satisfaction.
We redesigned the insurance and cancellation policy UI, adding clear indicators, tooltips, and NPS-integrated support articles to improve transparency and reduce confusion. Additionally, the default activation of full insurance and the introduction of free cancellation options helped to restore trust in the booking process and positively impacted revenue.
This holistic redesign not only modernised the platform visually but also created a more frictionless, trustworthy, and scalable product experience across all user touchpoints.