Test booking form: do the times match?

A booking form stores one time, then shows it on a screen with a clock of its own. Some forms display local times without naming a zone, so a visitor's phone can show 2 pm while the shop's calendar means its own 2 pm. Next, the date picker and the calendar are separate lists, so a closed Monday can look bookable. A service that runs an hour does not fit a half-hour gap, but the form offers the gap anyway. The visitor finds out at the review, or when a confirmation arrives with a different hour.

• Read the time on the list, the review and the confirmation. Does each one name a time zone, and do the hours match?
• Pick a day the shop is closed. Does the list stay empty with no message, or does the form say why?
• Pick the longest service, then the last start time of the day. Does the form still offer that start time?
• Check the email and any calendar invitation. Do they show the same day, hour and time zone as the page did?

The booking is stored in one time, the page converts it to the visitor's clock, and the email or invitation may use a third value. Each conversion is a chance to move the appointment by an hour, and the visitor only sees their own clock. A time that reads correctly on a laptop can show as a different hour on a phone in another region, which is why the stop looks like a mistake by the shop.

Test it by reading the same appointment at four points: the list, the review, the confirmation page and the email. Write down the hour and the zone at each point. If the hour changes, the conversion between them is the cause. If the zone is missing on one point, the visitor has no way to know which clock they are being shown.

A picker often reads a list of days that are allowed, while the calendar holds the days that are closed. A bank holiday or a shop closed for stock can be missing from the first list. The visitor picks it, the list of times comes back empty, and the page says nothing. The visitor assumes the shop is fully booked, and they try a different shop.

Pick a closed day on purpose, then read the list of times. An empty list with no message is a stop. A better form explains the closure, names the next open day and keeps the other choices on screen. Run the same pick after each change to the calendar, because a closed day added late is the one that slips through.

Services have lengths, and the form has to check each length against the free time after the start. A form that shows start times without that check offers the last half hour of the day for a service that needs an hour. The visitor picks it, and the server refuses the time at submit, or accepts it and overlaps the next appointment. Either way the visitor loses the time they chose.

Choose the longest service, then the last start time on a busy day, and see whether the form offers it. Then choose the shortest service in the same gap. A short service that fits where a long one does not is the difference visitors notice, and it is easy to break when a new service is added. Note the service length and the gap length side by side, so the mismatch shows in one look.

Clocks change in places that use daylight saving time, and each change can move the times on the list, the confirmation and the invitation. Run the same booking before each change, and again after any change to the calendar, the services or the time zone setting. On a protected preview, a paid run can use a site password, so the booking page is reachable.