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of kids activites

of kids activites

B2C SaaS

UX Optimisation

Mobile Responsiveness

IA

UX + UI Design

Design System

Storytelling

Brand Positioning

Usability Testing & Iteration

Redesigned a mobile-first discovery experience for DoDays, a children's activity marketplace, focusing on simplifying activity discovery, increasing engagement and retention, while supporting platform's long term growth with a new scalable design system. The new UX differentiates the brand from competitors while positioning it as an accessibility advocate for children's diverse needs.

Timeframe

2025 / 16 weeks

Client/Industry

DoDays / Leisure

My Role

UX/UI Designer and Project Lead

UX/UI Designer and Project Lead

Team

UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing

1 Product Owner and Developer, 1 UX/UI Designer, 1 Design Intern, 1 Data Analyst

Context

Context

Context

DoDays is a childrens’ activity marketplace that streamlines discovery and booking, connecting families with trusted activity and event providers so that they can focus on keeping their children active and engaged. The company heavily focused on feature development for organisers, however the family-facing user experience had fallen behind. This design project focuses on designing a new discovery experience for families.

DoDays is a childrens’ activity marketplace that streamlines discovery and booking, connecting families with trusted activity and event providers so that they can focus on keeping their children active and engaged. The company heavily focused on feature development for organisers, however the family-facing user experience had fallen behind. This design project focuses on designing a new discovery experience for families.

View Live project

Problem

Solution

Product Requirements

👉🏻 Improve activity discovery and search efficiency to make the user experience more relevant for diverse user needs.

Business Goals

👉🏻 Increase user retention and conversions.
👉🏻 Position them as an inclusive brand that supports different physical and sensory needs.

Existing barriers

UX Audit

I started with the pre-requisites: Heuristics evaluation. A deep dive into the existing user experience with a fine-tooth comb to uncover key pain points, unmet user needs and barriers in discovery and engagement.

(Old) Home Page

High user effort, low value
The home page fails to inspire and guide users into relevant journeys

The home page experience lacked inspiration and relied on basic categorisation to find relevant activities, which placed the full burden of discovery on user efforts. For parents who are unsure of which activity to book, this experience failed to set intent or highlight value, resulting in missed opportunities to guide users into relevant journeys.

Fragmented landing

Lacks consistency & structure

Linear entry point

Time-consuming Discovery navigation
Drowning in options and starving for relevance

The discovery page presented long, unstructured filters caused repetitive listings. Weak visual hierarchy on activity cards made information hard to scan and compare, which led to slow decision making. Majority of the drop-offs were happening at this point if they couldn't find anything relevant quickly. in For busy parents, saving time is critical and this inefficient discovery made it hard to find relevant activities quickly.

Inefficient Discovery

Weak Visual Hierarchy

Unstructured filters

Slow decision-making

(Old) Discover Page

The mental load of navigating such disconnected services is too high with busy schedules and choice overload.

Next, I worked with the data analyst to review DoDays annual usage analytics to understand existing user behaviour and engagement patterns. Low user engagement, low conversions and high user churn were identified. The insights gave clear signals of a leaky bucket situation (where new users are signing up but retention is low due to unmet needs).

Quantitative Insights

Listening to the data - Engagement Patterns and Behaviour

Mobile usage dominance

Despite 82% of DoDays users primarily using mobile, the design is not mobile optimised - unskimmable information and requires many clicks to find a relevant activity.

78% of bookings happen on weekdays during midday

Parents have small windows of time to find & book activities, often around work breaks or family routines.

Planning ahead of time

Majority of booking patterns indicate advance bookings (atleast a week in advance).

High user churn

Low conversions

User Personas

Segmenting how users think and act

High-intent Planners

These parents book in advance, motivated to plan their kids’ schedule around their family life.

Goal
Discovery must feel curated and inspiring, with activities reflecting schedule, themes, interests, and ages.


Booking patterns and behaviour

  • Act during work breaks when the moment allows or late evenings after dinner or family time

  • Often plan and book activities few days in advance. Depending on their kids’ age, they may already have a specific activity in mind, or they are exploring and may need inspiration to feel confident in their choice.


Engagement Hooks

  • Curated discovery flows

  • Category-specific flow

  • Trusted reviews for confidence

  • Recurring activity packages for routine assurance

  • Saved or wish list

Busy Opportunists

This audience acts fast or not at all. Even when booking for inspiration, they skim information an want the service to help with decision-making.

Goal

Discovery and booking must be low effort, clear and touch-optimised with big tap areas and minimal input fields. Prioritising urgency + relevancy = higher engagement and conversions.

Booking patterns and behaviour

  • Spontaneous behaviour, often booking last-minute due to changing circumstances

  • Active during weekday mornings and lunch windows.

  • Prefer quick, low-friction booking experiences


Engagement Hooks

  • Quick look at "what's happening in the week"

  • One-tap "Activities near me"

  • "Book again" quick links and similar recommendations based on past behaviour

  • Trusted reviews for confidence


📌
Prioritising Core User Flows & Mental Models

The findings clearly signalled that the success of design isn't just about building a well-architected activity list; but the UX/UI design needs to support two core mental models: Open-ended discovery and intent-driven search.

Open-ended Discovery Flow

Imagine a parent entering the website with undefined or loosely defined activity in mind. This user group is relying on inspiration, recommendations and filters to guide them. The old home page fails to meet this expectation, resulting in friction and a decline in user satisfaction at that touchpoint.

Use Scenario: A parent wants ideas for activities their child might enjoy but does not yet have a specific option in mind.


Translating into Design Challenge

👉🏻 How might we inspire and guide parents to browse activities personalised to their interests?


Suggested Design enhancements

👉🏻 Browse curated activity collections that support personalisation.

👉🏻 Relevancy by age groups, interests, schedule & location, popularity

👉🏻 Clear visual hierarchy on activity cards to highlight and compare essential information

Intent-driven Search Flow

Imagine a parent entering the website with a specific activity or goal in mind, but typically have limited time to evaluate options. This user group relies on direct search and filtering to locate accurate results and quickly make a decision. Old search filters were less specific, and activity cards suffered from weak visual hierarchy and structure, making it harder for users to scan key information.

Use Scenario: A parent knows they want swimming lessons for their child and uses the platform to find the best available option.

Translating into Design Challenge

👉🏻 How might we enable parents with specific goals to quickly search, filter, and identify the most relevant activities?


Suggested Design enhancements

👉🏻 Emphasis on search, structured filtering and precise results

👉🏻 Activity cards help to compare age, location, accessibility, price

👉🏻 Clear visual hierarchy on activity cards to highlight and compare essential information

👉🏻Informing UX Strategy

I worked with Product Owner and developers to align strategic product goals with user needs. Then, I combined it to form the UX Strategy "Transition from the fragmented user experience to encourage active exploration. Reduce cognitive load by prioritising discovery entry points and time to relevance, to accommodate for diverse needs."

Brandwise, the strategy was to establish DoDays as a trusted, inclusive service that evolves with children and meets the needs of all levels and types of physical and sensory abilities.

👉🏻Defining Design Objectives

• Redesign a mobile-first experience that improves discoverability.

• Design an intuitive, inspiring home page that guides users through relevant entry points.

• Restructure activity database to make it effective for varied interests, ages and abilities.

• Enhance the visual hierarchy to optimise the mobile experience.

• Develop a scalable design system to support future growth and brand consistency across all touch points.


👉🏻Success metrics

• Increased engagement through home and discovery flows.

• Lower drop-off rates during activity search and booking.

• Improved user satisfaction and perceived ease of use.

• Positive feedback on accessibility and discoverability of activities.

Problem

Solution

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