Taking LHA London's room bookings from a single generic form to a smart, filterable listing experience.
The old website listed LHA's accommodations but gave users very little to go on — no live availability, no room-level detail and no photos. Applicants enquired blind, often for high-demand rooms like singles that were already full, while the small LHA team was overwhelmed with enquiries it couldn't act on.
What LHA needed wasn't more enquiries, but better ones.
The previous site: no live availability, no room-level photography and no filtering.
I audited how established platforms handle room discovery — particularly Booking.com and YHA, LHA's closest competitor. Both offered filterable listings with live availability, room photography and clear pricing, confirming how far behind user expectations LHA's generic enquiry form had fallen.
Copying them directly wasn't right, though. Stakeholder calls established that LHA vets every applicant, so instant booking was off the table — the solution had to work within the existing enquiry process. And with only a few staff maintaining the site, content had to be manageable without developer support.
The journey starts on the homepage: users search by location and room type and arrive on the listings with filters already applied.
From there, each room's status decides the next step — available rooms lead to a Booking Form, full rooms to a Waiting List Form. URL parameters carry the Room Name, Hostel and Room Type into the form, so every submission arrives pre-filled and ready to action. When a room is full, similar available rooms are shown below, so applicants never hit a dead end.
Mapping the user flow: live room status decides the destination, and URL parameters pre-populate the form.
With the logic in place, I moved into low-fidelity wireframes to work out the room card and listings layout — prioritising photos, price, room type and a live availability badge — before presenting to the client for feedback.
Low-fidelity wireframes for the homepage search, room listings and property rooms widget.
The homepage search now filters by both area and room type, and the main call to action sends people to browse rooms rather than straight to a form. Drag the slider to compare.
Before
After
Room cards lead with photos, price, room type and a live availability badge.
The full journey: search from the homepage, filter by hostel, price and room type, then apply.
To make the system scalable and self-sufficient, I custom-built an Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) backend in WordPress. The LHA team can now update pricing, toggle availability and manage room inventory themselves, without raising a developer request.
Comparing Google Analytics for March–October 2026 against the same period in 2025: applicants now pick a specific room before getting in touch, and enquiries for full rooms go to a waiting list instead of the booking inbox.
visitors now use the room search
24,173 of 120,371 users
longer engagement than the old booking form
13s → 1m 08s average per user
fewer visits to the generic enquiry form
24,161 → 4,156 users, year on year
rooms across 14 hostels, managed in-house
Prices & availability updated by the LHA team
Source: LHA London Google Analytics, 4 Mar – 7 Oct 2026 vs 4 Mar – 7 Oct 2025.
The new additions to the website have significantly improved how guests navigate and access information. The structure is much clearer, making the booking journey more intuitive and user-friendly. We've already seen more confident user engagement and higher-quality enquiries. Internally, the updates have also made content much easier for our team to manage and maintain.
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