Swimming pool online booking: level picks stall

A parent wants a Saturday lesson for a child who has never been in a class. The pool's page lists four levels with names like Stroke Development, and the time slots sit below the level list. Until a level is chosen, the slots do not appear. The parent cannot tell which level fits, and the form has no option for not sure. She reads the page as closed on Saturdays, goes back to her search, and books a pool across the city instead.

• Pick the level a parent is least sure of. Is there a not sure choice that still books?
• Before a level is chosen, are any times shown? If not, can the parent tell why?
• Enter a child's date of birth. Does the page say which age band applies, and on what date?
• Enter a child under 18. Does the waiver ask for a guardian's name and signature?
• Book an adult lane, then check whether its minimum length appears before checkout.

Pools name their levels after the skills taught in them, such as Stroke Development or Water Confidence. A parent does not know what a stroke should look like at seven, and the level name tells them little about whether their child can float or cover a width. Some pools place children with a short assessment on the first day, but the booking form can assume the parent already knows the answer. A useful picker gives a plain sentence for each level, such as can float and kick with help, and offers a placement booking when the parent is not sure.

Onboarding flow testing

One layout shows the level list first and the time grid second, and the grid stays empty until a level is picked. That order suits a pool that plans around staff schedules, but a visitor who sees no times does not read it as a step. They read a broken page. Load the lessons page with no level chosen and check what is on the screen. If the first thing a parent sees is an empty grid, the pool looks closed, and nothing else on the page can rescue that first impression. Show the times for every level, with the level beside each time.

Children need a guardian to sign, and some booking forms reuse an adult waiver without a guardian field. A parent who books for a child may reach the waiver, sign as themselves, and find that the form rejects the child's name in the signature box. The age band is a separate trap. The form may say ages 6 to 8 while counting the child's age from today rather than from the first day of the term, so a child near a cut-off lands in the wrong group. Check both with a child whose birthday falls close to the cut-off you use.

The first run finds the screen where a parent could not answer the form. A fix renames a level, moves the times above the level list or adds a guardian field, and a new term or a new level list can bring the same stop back. Run a parent with a young child after each change, then one booking an adult lane, so both lesson and lane paths get checked.