Checkout

Context

Neo is a business travel platform that allows users to book hotels, trains, and flights. Once selections are made, users proceed to the checkout process, where they can:

Select a payment method
Add a loyalty card
Confirm their email address
Choose their ticket delivery method

However, the current checkout process relies on outdated technology (KCR), leading to inconsistencies as some pages have been migrated to newer systems while others have not. This fragmentation creates a disjointed user experience and contributes to significant technical debt.

The goals of the checkout migration were to address these issues by providing a unified experience, reducing technical debt, and enabling the delivery of new functionalities.

CHALLENGES

The first major challenge of this project was time. The original checkout process consisted of over 10 steps, each represented by a separate screen that needed to be analyzed, sorted, retained, or discarded.

The second challenge was resource constraints. For years, progress was slow due to having only one developer assigned to the migration. By the time the project was prioritized, some pages had already been migrated, but their design was outdated.

The primary challenge, therefore, was to create a modern and sustainable vision for the checkout process that could withstand the project’s extended timeline. Additionally, there was a critical business challenge, as several Neo prospects declined to adopt the platform due to the limitations of the existing checkout experience.

PROCESS

On this project, I collaborated closely with a Senior Product Designer, with responsibilities divided between us to ensure efficiency and focus. To bring this project to fruition, we adopted the Double Diamond methodology. Initially, we diverged individually to thoroughly understand the project’s complexities. Then, we converged as a team to collaboratively define the solution we believed was most effective.

Market research

I started by establishing a benchmark, checking what our competitors' checkout looked like.

I decided to have a look at :

Travel booking platforms (B2B & B2C)
Globally used sites (Apple, Amazon & Backmarket for the French market)

For each site, I listed the various elements making up the checkout, then identified the recurring patterns we could also need in the Neo checkout.

I also noted the different flows and how the pages were constructed (layout, information hierarchy, etc.).

audit

Meanwhile, my colleague Julien mapped out the existing steps of the Neo checkout process, determining which steps to retain, merge, or eliminate.

This analysis also allowed us to identify pages that had already been migrated and assess the current state of the checkout, providing a clear foundation for the next steps in the project.

Ideation

With a clear understanding of the must-haves and nice-to-haves, we initiated the creative process by designing an initial user flow, represented through wireframes.

Interviews & tests

We crafted an initial ultra-simplified prototype and conducted some tests with internal Neo users. During these sessions, we interviewed participants about their checkout experience and tested our preliminary design concepts.

Building the vision

Based on the feedback from our testers, we collaboratively refined the vision and presented it to key project stakeholders, including Product Managers, developers, and customer-facing teams.

After incorporating their feedback, we finalized the vision and shared it with the Scrum team responsible for the checkout project, including developers, QA, and the Product Manager.

DEVELOPMENT

The entire Scrum team collaborated to break down the epic, and we agreed to migrate the checkout in multiple phases.

After defining the vision, my colleague Julien transitioned to another team, and I have taken full responsibility for managing the project for almost 2 years now.

We’ve successfully migrated the hotel checkout step and are now focused on the transport portion.

I’ve been providing detailed specifications to the developers on my team, and we work closely together daily to ensure smooth progress on the migration.

kpi & results

The complete checkout migration is still underway. However, we have already made significant progress in development and are beginning to see tangible results:

The number of steps in the checkout flow has been reduced from 19 to 5 by more effectively distributing user input across the flow.
The average Time to Book has decreased substantially, from 1 minute and 46 seconds in January 2025 to 1 minute and 32 seconds in March 2025. This early improvement is a promising indicator as we work toward our objective of reducing Time to Book by 35% by the end of the migration.

Once all the steps have been migrated, we will integrate them into a unified, single-page checkout that aligns with our original vision.