Superyacht Holdings Case Study

Client:

Superyacht Holdings

Timeline:

Sep 2024-Current

Role:

UX Designer, Product Designer

Superyacht Holdings is a private yacht club that offers exclusive journeys and experiences aboard a superyacht — filling the gap between traditional yacht ownership. Traditional superyacht ownership is catered almost exclusively to billionaires, while the high-end cruise market attracts travelers seeking curated luxury experiences. Rather than simply offering cabins or itineraries, their ambition was to design a lifestyle. Membership would unlock tailored voyages across the globe, with each journey defined by elegance, intimacy, and seamless service.

The Problem

The traditional booking model was too constricting, which didn't allow a lot of flexibility for creating custom itineraries and complex booking experiences. Allows users to build fully personalized itineraries Supports multi-room, multi-guest bookings with independent dates Encourages exploration of 100+ destinations across the globe Feels seamless, indulgent, and exclusive — like the brand itself

Goals

To create a dynamic booking system capable of handling complex itineraries, multiple staterooms, and flexible extensions, while never losing sight of the feeling of belonging to a private club. The goal was clear: craft a user experience as elevated and effortless as stepping aboard the yacht itself.

Research & Discovery

Project Kick off

I met with the founders of SYH to discuss their business goals, audience, vision, and constraints for their company. After this meeting I was able to clarify their wants and goals for the site. Which was to create an intuitive, luxury-focused booking system that: Allows users to build fully personalized itineraries Supports multi-room, multi-guest bookings with independent dates An explore feature that allows users to navigate a map to discover destinations Feels seamless, indulgent, and exclusive — like the brand itself

Sitemap Creation

During our initial call, I gained a clearer understanding of the project scope and the key features that needed to be prioritized. The vision was rooted in a traditional booking model—spotlighting staterooms and a calendar of 365 itineraries—but with a modern, luxury-driven execution. Matthew and Thomas emphasized three core booking pathways that would anchor the experience: Itineraries — allowing users to browse curated, prepackaged voyages similar to a cruise line. Staterooms — enabling guests to view availability and book directly from specific room selections. Interactive Map — the most distinctive and ambitious feature, offering an exploratory drag-and-discover interface to browse destinations. This was positioned as the platform’s key differentiator, and also its greatest design challenge.

DESIGN PROCESS

The Building Blocks

My primary focus was tackling the three major booking flows and preparing them for production. The landing pages for staterooms and itinerarieswere relatively straightforward to design, drawing on familiar patterns from luxury hotel sites. The interactive map, however, presented the greatest challenge. Moving into Mid-Fidelity, my goal was to provide stakeholders with a clear vision of the structure, hierarchy, and flows for this complex luxury booking system. The wireframes addressed the three core user flows while also solving high-stakes user needs, including Multi-stateroom bookings Trip extensions Points management.

The Main Challenege

Booking a yacht is fundamentally different from booking a hotel—it demands a level of flexibility and personalization that caters to each guest’s unique needs. What makes this experience even more complex is the points-based membership system, where every member has a set balance that determines how staterooms can be reserved. Additionally, date selection is directly tied to destinations, raising an important question: how customizable can the booking process truly be while still feeling seamless and luxurious?

Booking Two Staterooms (No Trip Extension)

WIREFRAMES

First, the user selects their desired stateroom and dates, which generates a custom itinerary. When a second stateroom is added, a subtle prompt appears, allowing the user to adjust the dates for the additional room.

Once the new dates are confirmed, the system displays the available stateroom options based on that selection, ensuring a seamless and intuitive booking experience.

Trip Extension

Another aspect that set SYH apart from traditional booking systems was the ability for users to extend their trips. The founders proposed a type of matrix that would allow guests to quickly scan available staterooms and add them to their current itinerary. I embraced this challenge and focused on enhancing the design to create a solution that is both luxurious and intuitive, allowing users to extend their trips seamlessly while maintaining the brand’s high-end aesthetic.

Trip Extension

Brainstorming Sessions

What made this challenge unique was the need for users to add multiple staterooms at once, reflecting a desire for speed and efficiency. Through several rounds of ideation—from sketches to wireframes—I developed an intuitive, aesthetically refined matrix that not only streamlined the process but also aligned with the brand’s luxury standards.

Ideation 1

Ideation 2

Ideation 3

FINAL DESIGNS

After multiple rounds of user testing, it became clear that users wanted a faster way to add additional staterooms. In the original design, users had to select individual dates to view availability.

The revised design now displays all available staterooms and dates upfront, streamlining the process and reducing friction.

Map Feature

The interactive map is the platform’s signature feature, inspired by Airbnb’s map-based exploration. It allows users to visually explore all destinations the yacht will visit and build itineraries in an intuitive, engaging way.

The main challenge was presenting these itineraries luxuriously and clearly, without disrupting the UI. Since itineraries follow preprogrammed routes—for example, the yacht visits Cannes three times in different months—the design had to balance the feeling of customization with the reality of fixed schedules.

This raised the question: how can we allow users to feel like they’re creating a custom itinerary while maintaining a seamless, high-end experience?

Map Flow

Once a user selects their desired location, they are prompted to choose a starting date. If multiple dates are available for that location, the user can select their preferred option to begin building a custom itinerary.

Once users select their desired location and starting date, the map updates to display other destinations available around the same timeframe. After refining and confirming their custom itinerary, users can proceed to book a stateroom.

DESIGN PROCESS

Iterations

Following usability testing, I refined the user flow for booking multiple staterooms. In the original flow, users often overlooked the option to adjust dates for the second stateroom. To resolve this, I introduced a modal step that appears after adding a second room, prompting guests to either confirm the same dates or select new ones. This intermediary step also gives users the ability to review and confirm both reservations together—a feature specifically highlighted during testing. These adjustments formed the basis of my second round of iterations, which were prepared for validation with a new testing group scheduled for late September.

Booking Two Staterooms (No Trip Extension)

Testing & Iteration

I conducted two rounds of testing: one with an external user pool and another with project stakeholders. The primary task was to simulate a real-world booking scenario: Select a stateroom and dates (August 12–23) Add an additional stateroom for friends who were only available from August 12–18 The results highlighted a major usability gap. Only 2 out of 10 participants were able to successfully complete the flow. Both user groups struggled with the process of adding a second stateroom with different dates, revealing that the interaction was not as intuitive as intended. This disconnect validated the complexity of multi-stateroom bookings and underscored the need for clearer pathways, contextual prompts, and stronger visual hierarchy to guide users through high-stakes decisions.

User 1 noted that there was frustration on where users can locate their points

User 2 had a hard time adding a second stateroom with separate dates

KEY TAKEAWAYS - IN PROGRESS

Working closely with the Locastro brothers to bring their vision to life has been an incredible privilege. This project has presented numerous challenges, making it a truly unique experience that strengthened my critical thinking skills. I learned how to simplify complex flows, surface contextual prompts, and maintain a luxury aesthetic without overwhelming users. Since officially starting this project a year ago, I’ve grown significantly as a designer, and I’m excited to see it fully realized. User testing for the latest design iterations is scheduled for late September. While Hi-Fidelity is still in progress, the insights gained so far have already reshaped how I approach complex booking systems and luxury user experiences. The next phase will focus on refining visuals to bring this foundation fully to life.

Click to learn more about SYH