A mobile-first booking experience that makes complex reservations feel clear and accessible.
Client
Port Jefferson Ferry
Year
2021-2022
My Role
Senior UX Designer
Team
1 Design director
1 Brand designer
Development team
Timeline
20-24 weeks
Overview
Port Jefferson Ferry is a long-running service connecting Long Island and Connecticut for both passengers and vehicles. As ridership grew and booking needs became more complex, the existing online flow became difficult to use, especially for customers booking vehicles or special cases.
My Role
As a Senior UX Design contractor working directly with the Design Director, I led UX the research and end-to-end design for the mobile-first booking experience as well as the operation and admin experience for the ferry controllers. I facilitated interviews, journey mapping, and persona development, then translated findings into a guided step-by-step flow. I partnered with the ferry team and engineers to ensure the solution could scale to complex vehicle reservations and operational constraints.
The Problem
The existing booking site was only built for desktop and felt overwhelming and error-prone on mobile. Many riders opted to buying tickets in person, which overwhelmed the agents. The agents spent significant time troubleshooting online booking issues in person, and received many requests from customers for an easy mobile booking experience.
Too many decisions upfront led to confusion and drop-off.
Edge cases were fragile: vehicle and special-case inputs were easy to get wrong, with errors appearing late.
Mobile + accessibility gaps: dense layouts and small tap targets made booking harder, especially for older riders.
Target Users
Target users included everyday commuters and local riders booking quick trips, occasional travelers and families who needed more guidance, and vehicle or edge-case bookers (cars, trucks, cargo, bicycles, oversized requirements) where accuracy matters, across a wide range of tech confidence that often skewed toward older riders who would choose mobile if the flow felt guided and reliable.
Customer and operations journey mapping
Critical user journey and opportunities (See full UX Strategy Deck)
First-time-user flow mapped to reduce confusion and front-load reassurance
I restructured the booking experience around a guided, progressive disclosure flow that reduced cognitive load.
To make ferry booking feel simple on mobile without stripping away necessary complexity, I redesigned the experience around a guided, step-by-step flow. The goal was to reduce cognitive load for first-time and tech-averse users while still supporting vehicle reservations and special requirements with clear rules and error prevention.
Key Process
Mapped real booking scenarios: defined 3 primary paths (passenger-only, standard vehicle, complex/oversized) and documented the rules that changed inputs, pricing, and eligibility.
Rebuilt the flow with progressive disclosure: moved complexity behind clear steps so users only saw vehicle/cargo requirements when relevant, reducing early drop-off.
Designed error prevention, not just error messages: added input constraints, inline validation, and review checkpoints so mistakes surfaced early in the flow.
Mobile-first UI + accessibility: increased tap targets, simplified form inputs, improved hierarchy, and used clearer copy for older and mixed-confidence users.
Validated with riders and staff: tested with customer groups and aligned with ticketing agents on where users typically get stuck, then iterated on the highest-friction steps.
Progressive disclosure pattern that reveals complexity only when needed
Review and successful purchase screens
End-to-end booking workflow designed to scale across reservation types
Built the admin side that keeps the customer experience running: manage schedules, manifests, and reservation issues in one place.
Operations Console (Admin + Ops)
To support the end-to-end ferry booking experience, we worked with ferry staff and operations to design an internal operations console for admin users to manage customers and ferries. The goal was speed and clarity: to give staff a single place to monitor departures, manage tickets, voyages, manifests and schedule changes, and report maintenance or other issues. Key patterns included high scalability for time-sensitive work, filters and sorting, and guardrails and audit history so critical changes remain traceable.
Key Process
Timetable planning: Day/multi-day/month views to monitor coverage and quickly add or adjust departures.
Manifest source of truth: Manifest list + detail that surfaces route, time, capacity, and ticketing status at a glance.
Reservation triage: Search/filter/sort within a manifest to resolve rebooks and edge cases without losing context.
Warnings + auditability: Clear operational alerts plus a Manifest History log for traceable changes and coordination.
Transaction detail with available actions such as canceling reservations
Manifest management view keeps capacity and departure context visible while staff manage reservations
Ops timetable views help staff plan, edit, and spot changes quikly.
Outcome
We delivered a mobile-first booking flow that guided users step by step through making a successful ferry reservation. Using progressive disclosure for complex scenarios like vehicle bookings, oversized cargo, and special requirements, the re-designed experience reduced cognitive load, surfaced key rules at the right moment, and introduced earlier validation and review checkpoints so users could complete reservations with fewer surprises.
Impact
This work was validated through iterative usability testing with existing customer groups and stakeholder reviews with ferry operations and ticketing staff. Across testing rounds, the redesigned flow showed clear improvements in clarity and confidence, especially for less tech-comfortable riders.
Higher task clarity in testing: Riders were able to move through the flow with less hesitation because steps were broken down and rules appeared only when relevant.
Fewer preventable errors during tasks: Early validation and review checkpoints helped participants catch mismatched vehicle or special-case inputs earlier, rather than at the end.
Reduced reliance on staff guidance (expected): The guided structure mirrors the reassurance of an in-person agent, which testing suggested would reduce the need for help on common booking questions once launched.
Scalable structure for future complexity: The progressive disclosure model makes it easier to add new constraints, vehicle types, or policies without redesigning the entire experience.