Hays Travel: Transforming Online Commerce to Drive Revenue and Trust
Image credit: Hays Travel
The Challenge
I was appointed to lead the accessibility, UX design, user research, content strategy, and service design workstreams for the new Hays Travel commerce website. The ambition was clear: to create a digital platform that reflected the warmth and trust of Hays’ in-store service while enabling scale, innovation, and measurable value across the customer journey.
The existing web estate lacked cohesion, control, and insight. It didn’t reflect Hays Travel’s values or give internal teams the tools they needed to create engaging, user-centred experiences. Our challenge was to build a futureproof platform that empowered teams, inspired customers, and complemented offline sales.
The Obstacles
We faced several critical challenges:
Fragmented Experience: Disparate platforms and inconsistent journeys diluted the brand’s message. We needed to digitise the Hays Travel ethos of supportive, trusted, and personal service across a unified experience.
Limited Internal Ownership: Content updates were inefficient and inflexible. Internal teams had little control over the user experience or the ability to tailor journeys to customer needs.
Lack of Insight into User Behaviour: The legacy site couldn’t track or measure meaningful engagement, making it difficult to connect digital performance with business outcomes.
Offline and Online Disconnect: Customers often began their journey online but completed bookings in branch. The old platform didn’t support a seamless transition between digital and physical touchpoints.
Low Confidence in Digital: Marketing and leadership lacked trust in the site’s ability to drive conversions or express the brand’s values, limiting its strategic potential.
The Approach
I brought together accessibility specialists, designers, researchers, and strategists around a shared vision.
Human-Centred Design Grounded in Insight: I led our user research efforts to uncover booking behaviours, anxieties, and pain points. These insights directly informed service design and content decisions, ensuring we addressed real user needs from the start.
Content Strategy that Builds Confidence: We created a content model that mirrored the reassurance and guidance customers receive in branch. The new voice and tone reduced booking anxiety and buyer’s remorse, reinforcing Hays’ "Book with confidence" promise.
Seamless Online to Offline Handoff: We designed an elegant handoff mechanism that lets users move between channels on their own terms. Store agents could pick up a user’s online journey via a simple reference, enabling tailored advice and upsell opportunities.
Accessibility by Default: With accessibility embedded from day one, I led the team in designing inclusive experiences that reflect Hays’ values. This ensured the platform met WCAG 2.2 AA standards and served the full diversity of the customer base.
Empowering Teams Through Better Tools: We selected and configured a flexible CMS and personalisation engine that gives internal teams autonomy to create, test, and refine campaigns, boosting marketing confidence and agility.
Futureproof and Measurable: I worked with analysts and stakeholders to define KPIs that tie engagement to conversion and loyalty. The platform includes integrated intelligence and user segmentation tools to inform continuous improvement.
The People Behind the Success
This transformation was possible thanks to a talented, cross-functional team.
Content and UX Designers: I led a team of specialists who translated insight into intuitive, accessible user journeys, motivating users to book and explore with confidence.
Researchers: Our user researchers worked closely with me to design and conduct testing that shaped every phase, helping us validate assumptions and improve the experience iteratively.
Accessibility Consultant: Embedded from the outset, they worked with the design and development teams to ensure every page met accessibility standards and offered a genuinely inclusive experience.
Developers: Collaborative and insight-driven, the development team brought our strategic vision to life, building a performant platform that could scale with the business.
Stakeholders: We engaged closely with internal teams, branch staff, and marketing leads to align the platform with Hays’ values and operational needs.
The Outcome
The new platform is already delivering value:
Increased Confidence and Conversion: The warm, welcoming experience mirrors in-store support and reduces booking friction, driving higher webform submissions and in-store referrals.
Marketing Enablement: Internal teams can now create and manage content efficiently, test campaigns, and personalise experiences at scale, closing the confidence gap.
Improved Insight and Optimisation: With tracking and segmentation built in, teams can visualise engagement and optimise content based on real user behaviour.
Offline and Online Synergy: Customers can seamlessly switch channels, while agents can pick up online journeys, creating continuity and boosting upsell opportunities.
Ready for What’s Next: Built for flexibility, the platform enables future phases such as CRM integration, marketing automation, and offline-to-online handoff.
Conclusion
Leading the full discovery lifecycle for this project was a chance to fundamentally reshape how Hays Travel engages with its customers. My team and I created a digital experience that is warm, efficient, and empowering, supporting customers across channels and enabling the business to grow with confidence.
