Finding one guest, fast, with that guest waiting at the desk
The real challenge wasn't displaying information. It was helping staff act on it.
The arrivals screen serves two different needs: receptionists who need to check guests in quickly, and shift managers who need to scan upcoming arrivals and prepare ahead.
Both work with the same dense set of reservation data, but they approach it with different priorities.
The challenge was to make the right information easy to find without overwhelming the user or forcing them to leave their current context.
Design principles
- Keep essential guest information visible
- Make reservation and arrival statuses easy to distinguish
- Support both quick actions and broader scanning
- Preserve context while users review or update a reservation
What we saw at three front desks
We observed check-in at three hotels, watching both the receptionist and the shift manager work with guests. I then studied how leading hotel systems present arrivals, check-in, and status, and documented the findings in a research site for the team.
- Mews
- Opera Cloud
- Cloudbeds
- Apaleo
- Stayntouch
From insights to design opportunities
Three decisions that shaped the screen
Separate two kinds of status
- Problem
- Reservation status and arrival status communicate different things, but can easily be confused in a dense table.
- Decision
- I differentiated them through visual hierarchy, placement, shape, and color, making each status easier to scan independently.
Alternative considered: placing guest tags right beside the name. It complicated development, so tags sit on their own line under the name.
Keep the list in context
- Problem
- Opening a separate screen to review or act on a reservation could interrupt the front-desk workflow.
- Decision
- I chose a slide-in panel that keeps the arrivals list visible, allowing staff to work with reservation details without losing their place.
Alternative tried first: a dedicated check-in screen. It felt very different from what receptionists were used to, so we replaced it with the side panel.
Preserve orientation in a dense table
- Problem
- When a table contains many columns, users can lose track of which guest or row they are working with.
- Decision
- I used sticky columns and synchronized scrolling to keep key guest information and actions accessible while navigating the data.
Anatomy of the final screen
Each part of the screen answers a different question at the desk. Try them in the interactive illustration at the top of the page.
Summary cards
Counts by category, each with a colored edge, that also work as filters.
Filters and search
Date range, operational status, search with suggestions, and saved searches for recurring views.
The table
Sticky columns, two synchronized scrollbars, reorderable columns, and color-coded arrival timing.
Side panel and actions
A slide-in panel keeps the list visible, with row actions and a bulk actions bar for groups.
Every state designed, and code as the source of truth
States and edge cases
The spec covers loading skeletons, error and empty states, hover and focus behavior, mobile breakpoints, and accessibility labels. It surfaced open questions early: what a zero-count summary card should do, how to reassign a room after the first assignment, and confirmation before a group check-in.
One edge case changed the design. Some hotels prioritize Booking.com reservations because reviews there are critical to them. For those hotels, the booking-source column decides who is served first, so it received special treatment.
Microcopy as a system
I wrote the microcopy as a system: more than 300 strings across 17 sections. Industry terms staff already use (GTD, ETA, Pax, F&F) stayed as-is.
Outcome
The redesigned Arrivals experience was rolled out to hotels.
Feedback from reception staff indicated that finding a guest and completing check-in no longer required switching to a second screen.
The work also established a clearer foundation for future improvements to the arrivals workflow.
What I would measure next
- Time required to find a reservation
- Time to complete check-in
- Errors or repeated actions during check-in
- Staff confidence and satisfaction
These metrics would help validate whether the new experience improved speed and reduced friction in day-to-day hotel operations.
What I learned
The key insight was that the problem wasn't simply how to display a large amount of reservation data. It was how to help staff move from finding a guest to taking action with as little friction as possible.
That insight shaped the information hierarchy, the interaction model, and the decision to keep reservation details accessible without leaving the arrivals list.
What this project shows about how I work
- Simplifying a complex, data-heavy interface
- Clear hierarchy through shape, color, and position
- Anticipating edge cases and system states
- Balancing operational needs with learnability
- Working across design, product, and engineering, down to the code
- Turning field research and constraints into product decisions