Hotel reservation UI Merijn Bellekom Ard Bahlman Vassilis Boucharas Martijn Nijenhof

Description We have been asked to create a User Interface (UI) specification for an online Hotel Reservation system. This specification must be abstract enough so as to serve as the basis for more concrete UI specifications. The idea is that the same UI logic will be reused by consequent lower-level specifications, in order to develop different solutions for different clients (i.e PCs, mobile-phones, etc.).

Simplifying Assumptions – A session is created with a SessionID when the user requests the search page – Only one type of room per booking – Same number of guests per room – Booking, Cancelling reservations can be done only by already registered users (the system provides no user-registration functionality). Registered users have payment details preset. – Billing is abstracted and happens automatically

Definitions SessionID - unique identifier for a user session DateFrom - booking start date DateTo - booking end date NumOfRooms - number of Rooms to book GuestsPerRoom - number of people per room Request(param1,param2,..*) - User-initiated or System-initiated Request to System, containing parameters. Response(SessionID, param1,param2,..*) - System- generated response from website, in response to Request - this always contains the SessionID, and some optional parameters. Alterantively the response is a Redirect.

Definitions (ctd.) Redirect(Request) – Alternative form of system Response. In essence it is a system initiated Request, that is given as a parameter. System – The webserver that manages the hotel reservation application and handles Requests/Responses. Room – RoomID: uniquely identifies a hotel room – Price: price of the room per night – Type: type of the room (suite, single, double) – NumOfBeds: number of beds in this room

Definitions (ctd.) Reservation: A reservation of the same User with multiple rooms will result to multiple reservations; each with the same ReservationID and different ReservationCnt. – ReservationID: Reservations grouping identifier – ReservationCnt: Grouped Reservations distinguisher. – DateFrom: First day of the Reservation – DateTo: Last day of the Reservation – RoomID: Room.RoomID – UserID: User.ID Referrer: is a variable that can refer to any Request. It holds the Request made the referral (the previous Request).

Definitions (cnt.) User: The User is the entity that makes use of the hotel reservation application. – UserID: User unique identifier – UserName: User identifier used during the log-in process – UserPasswd: User password used during the log-in process – CreditCardNo: User’s credit card data; used for Reservations billing. NavigationMenu: The main User-navigation element of the application. Exists at all times on the UI. Contains links that once activated, navigate the user to predefined sections of the application, by issuing a standard Request: – Req.1 (“Search”) – Req.6 (“Reservations”) – Req.7 (“Log-in”)

Request - Response Sets Defined The basic conceptual set of actions is a Request – Response set, uniquely identified by a number. E.g. Req.1, Res.1. This set can be thought of as a communication interface between the user and the system that the UI designer has to implement. The UI designer is left with the choice to fill the UI as needed in order to make use of the Request – Response interface.

Request - Response Sets 1-2 Set:1 – Req.1: SearchForm() – Res.1 : Search Form() A request for the Search Form (Req.1) is followed by a Response (Res.1) that provides on the UI the necessary input elements in order to perform a Req.2. Set:2 – Req.2: SearchQuery(DateFrom,DateTo, NumOfRooms, GuestsPerRoom ) – Res.2: SearchResult([Room]) A search request (Req.2) with obligatory parameters initiates a search. The System will return (Res.2) the search result as a list of Rooms that need to be displayed. UI designer should enable User to select a Room in order to perform Req.3.

Request - Response Set 3 Set:3 – Req.3: ReservationQuery(RoomID, LogInID) – Res.3.a : ReservationConfirmation([Reservation]) – Res.3.b: Redirect(Req.7) – Res.3.c: ReservationDecline() A request for a Room Reserveration (Req.3) with a valid RoomID and LogInID (valid and logged-in User) is followed by a Response (Res.3.a) that provides on the UI the necessary information or the Reservation as a confirmation. In case Req.3 LogInID is invalid then redirect with Req.7 (Log-in). If for any case the reservation cannot be made, provide on the UI a message of unavailability (Res.3.c).

Request - Response Set 4 Set:4 – Req.4: SubmitLogIn(UserName, UserPasswd, Referrer) – Res.4.a : Redirect(Referrer) – Res.4.b: Redirect(Req.7) A request for logging-in to the System (Req.4) with a valid UserName and Password is followed by a Response (Res.4.a) that redirects the User to the Referrer. Invalid UserName and/or UserPasswd will result to a response Res.4.b.

Request - Response Set 5 Set:5 – Req.5: CancelReservation(ReservationID, LogInID) – Res.5.a : CancelationConfirmation([Reservation]) – Res.5.b: Redirect(Req.7) A request for canceling a Reservation (Req.5) with a valid ReservationID and LogInID (valid and logged-in User) is followed by a Response (Res.5.a) that provides on the UI the necessary information or the Reservation as a confirmation. In case Req.5 LogInID is invalid then redirect with Req.7 (Log-in).

Request - Response Set 6-7 Set:6 – Req.6: ReservationsForm(LogInID) – Res.6.a : ReservationsForm([Reservation]) – Res.6.b: Redirect(Req.7) A request for displaying a User’s Reservation (Req.6) with a valid LogInID (valid and logged-in User) is followed by a Response (Res.6.a) that provides on the UI the User’s Reservations. In case Req.6 LogInID is invalid then redirect with Req.7 (Log-in). Set:7 – Req.7: LoginForm(Referrer) – Res.7 : LoginForm(Referrer) A request for the Log-In Form (Req.7) is followed by a Response (Res.7) that provides on the UI the necessary input elements in order to perform a Req.4. The Referrer is passed on for future reference.