A midsize company with global branches is having difficulties with its internal travel desk. The travel desk has been in charge of organizing employee travel, including approving per diems and trip budgets based on employee hierarchy. However, the travel desk is now overwhelmed with requests, causing delays and employee frustration. The company wants their employees to be able to book their own travel with minimal interference from the travel desk, but they still need approval from their managers and notification to the travel desk. The solution will concentrate on streamlining the process of booking flights and hotels while maintaining the necessary approvals and notifications.

1. Corporate Travel and
Expense Management
Prasanna Hegde

2. agenda
Introduction
3
Empathize
6
Define
9
Ideate
10
Prototype
13
Test
Implementation

3. Introduction
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A midsize company with global branches is having difficulties with its internal travel
desk. The travel desk has been in charge of organizing employee travel, including
approving per diems and trip budgets based on employee hierarchy. However, the
travel desk is now overwhelmed with requests, causing delays and employee
frustration. The company wants their employees to be able to book their own travel
with minimal interference from the travel desk, but they still need approval from their
managers and notification to the travel desk. The solution will concentrate on
streamlining the process of booking flights and hotels while maintaining the necessary
approvals and notifications.

4. Overview
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• All travel arrangements are now made through a time-consuming and ineffective method that results in a backlog of requests
and employee annoyance.
• The travel desk's policies or restrictions may not take into account the individual travel preferences of employees, which can
cause further annoyance and irritation.
• The company wants to give employees more control over their travel arrangements while still having oversight and control
over travel expenses and approvals.
• Any compliance or regulatory requirements for travel approvals and expense tracking should also be considered in the
solution.
• The solution's primary focus will be on improving the booking process for flights and hotels, which are the most common and
necessary components of business travel.

5. Objectives
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Sl.No Objective Outcome
1 Allow employees to book their own flights while
maintaining oversight and control over travel expenses
and approvals.
A streamlined travel booking process that reduces the backlog of
travel requests while also empowering employees to make travel
arrangements that best meet their needs and preferences.
2 Reduce the amount of time and effort needed to
approve travel requests and track expenses.
A digital platform that streamlines the approval process and provides
real-time visibility, allowing managers to approve or reject requests
more quickly and effectively.
3 Improve employee satisfaction and engagement with
the travel booking process.
A user-friendly and intuitive booking platform that caters to
employees' needs and preferences, such as customizable travel
options and a seamless booking experience.
4 Enhance the efficiency and productivity of the travel
desk team.
A platform that provides real-time data and analytics to the travel
desk team in order to better manage travel budgets, track expenses,
and improve overall decision-making processes.

6. Empathize
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Empathizing with frequent travelers, travel desk team members, and any
other stakeholders involved in the travel booking and approval process. To
gain a thorough understanding of their pain points, needs, and preferences,
conduct user interviews, shadowing, and observation.

7. Research findings
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1. What issues do employees
have when booking travel
through the travel desk?
2. How can a digital platform
help employees and the
travel desk team streamline
the travel booking and
approval process?
3. What difficulties do
members of the travel desk
face when managing travel
requests and expenses?
4. What features or
functionality does a travel
booking platform need to
provide employees with the
confidence and support
they require?
Key Questions
Conduct
Research
(Survey, User
Interview,
Observation)
Synthesize Insights
Analyse findings
1. Employees are dissatisfied with the
backlog of travel requests and their lack of
control over their travel arrangements.
2. Members of the travel desk struggle to
keep up with the volume of travel
requests and the complexities of budget
approvals.
3. Employees prefer more customizable
travel options as well as a user-friendly
booking platform that is tailored to their
specific requirements.
4. To effectively manage budgets, the travel
desk team requires real-time visibility into
travel expenses.
5. Throughout the travel booking and
approval process, both employees and the
travel desk team value transparency and
clear communication.
Insights

8. User needs
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✓ The ability to book flights and hotels quickly and easily through a user-friendly platform.
✓ Clear guidance on budget and approval requirements based on their organizational level.
✓ The ability to obtain approvals from their manager quickly and easily.
✓ The ability to view and change all of their travel plans in one place.
✓ Notifications and reminders about upcoming trips and necessary approvals.
✓ Real-time data and analytics should be available to track travel spending and identify areas for cost savings.
✓ Communication and collaboration with employees and managers should be streamlined in order to resolve any issues or
questions that may arise during the travel booking process.
✓ Integration with existing travel management systems for seamless data sharing and integration.

9. Define
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10. Problem statement
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Employees and the travel desk face difficulties managing travel arrangements, which causes delays and inefficiencies in the
travel booking process. The current system does not allow employees to self-book, resulting in a backlog of travel requests
for the travel desk, causing booking delays and increased administrative overhead. There is a need for a solution that allows
employees to book their own travel arrangements while adhering to company policies and providing the necessary
oversight and control to the travel desk.
The above problem statement has arrived from research insights and user needs listed before.

11. Point of view
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Employees require a more efficient and user-friendly method of managing their travel arrangements, whereas the travel desk
requires a system that allows for oversight and control over travel bookings. Our challenge is to create a self-booking travel
platform that meets the needs of both employees and the travel desk, allowing employees to book their own travel
arrangements while still adhering to company policies and providing the necessary oversight and control to the travel desk.

12. Design criteria
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• Employees must be able to self-book their travel arrangements in an easy and efficient manner, without requiring extensive training
or support.
• The solution must enable the travel desk to retain control and oversight over travel bookings while also ensuring compliance with
company policies and procedures.
• All stakeholders involved in the travel process must receive real-time updates on travel requests, approvals, and bookings.
• Employees of all levels and locations, including those with disabilities and those working remotely, must have access to the solution.
• To meet the changing needs of the company, the solution must be scalable and adaptable, including the ability to integrate with
other systems and platforms as needed.
• The solution must reduce the administrative overhead and costs associated with travel booking management.
• The solution must provide data analytics and reporting features to help track and optimize travel expenses and usage.

13. Ideate
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14. Brainstorming
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In this step, we came up with a wide range of original and workable solutions to the problems mentioned in the earlier steps. Our objective was to develop solutions that would give the travel desk
the necessary monitoring and control while enabling employees to easily and quickly book their own travel plans.
Challenges Innovative/Feasible Ideas
The ability to book flights and hotels quickly and easily through a user-friendly
platform.
Provide a user interface that is straightforward to use and has basic booking
features.
Clear guidance on budget and approval requirements based on their organizational
level.
Depending on the organizational level of the individual, create an automated
approval pipeline that outlines budget guidelines and approval requirements.
The ability to obtain approvals from their manager quickly and easily. Let managers to swiftly and easily accept trip requests from their mobile devices by
implementing a mobile approval system.
The ability to view and change all of their travel plans in one place. Provide a platform for centralizing travel management so that staff members can
access and manage all of their travel arrangements in a single location.
Notifications and reminders about upcoming trips and necessary approvals. Set up automated alerts and reminders to make sure staff members are informed
on time about planned excursions and required approvals.
Real-time data and analytics should be available to track travel spending and identify
areas for cost savings.
Create a reporting dashboard that offers analytics and real-time data to analyze
travel expenses and find places for cost savings.
Communication and collaboration with employees and managers should be
streamlined in order to resolve any issues or questions that may arise during the
travel booking process.
Provide a messaging or chat option to facilitate constant interaction and
cooperation between staff and managers during the reservation of trip.
Integration with existing travel management systems for seamless data sharing and
integration.
To facilitate seamless data sharing and integration, make sure the system is
compatible with the current travel management systems.

15. Solution concepts
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• An easy-to-use travel booking tool that gives employees the ability to quickly and simply book flights and hotels while clearly outlining the budget and permission
criteria based on their organizational level.
• Employees can access and modify all of their travel arrangements in one location with the use of a mobile app, which also sends notifications and reminders about
forthcoming trips and required permissions.
• A real-time data and analytics platform that monitors travel expenditures, pinpoints opportunities for cost savings, and integrates with current travel management
systems for smooth data exchange and integration.
• A communication and collaboration tool that helps employees, supervisors, and the travel desk communicate more effectively, allowing concerns and questions to be
answered promptly and efficiently.
• Build a platform that encourages employees to make their own travel plans by rewarding them with points, discounts, or other incentives.
• Incorporate virtual assistants, such as chatbots or voice assistants, to give staff members real-time direction and support when they are arranging trips.
• Personalization: Provide a platform that can recognize employees' preferences for travel and automatically recommend itineraries based on their previous reservations.
By brainstorming and ideating a variety of potential solutions, I have produced many interesting proposals to address the trip booking difficulties encountered by employees
and the travel desk.

16. Selection criteria
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Based on the problem statement and the design criteria, some possible functionalities that could be included in the minimum viable product (MVP) are:
▪ User-friendly platform for booking flights and hotels
▪ Budget and approval requirements guidance based on an organizational level
▪ Quick and easy approval workflow
▪ Centralized view of all travel plans with the ability to make changes
▪ Notifications and reminders for upcoming trips and necessary approvals
▪ Real-time data and analytics to track travel spending and identify areas for cost savings
▪ Streamlined communication and collaboration with employees and managers
▪ Integration with existing travel management systems for seamless data sharing and integration

17. Prototype
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18. User Journey
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19. Wireframe: Login/Signup
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20. Wireframe: Home Page
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21. Wireframe: Book New Travel Request
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22. Wireframe: Select the trip options
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23. Wireframe: Approval Workflow
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24. Wireframe: Booking Details
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25. Prototyping
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After creating wireframes, the next step would typically be to create a prototype of the solution. This prototype could be a
low-fidelity prototype, such as a paper prototype or a simple interactive prototype, or a high-fidelity prototype, such as a fully
functional digital prototype.
For this exercise, I have taken the printout of these wireframes and used them as a prototype for testing with real users.

26. Test
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Once the prototype is created, the team would conduct user testing to gather feedback and
identify areas for improvement. Based on the feedback, the team would iterate on the
prototype and make necessary changes.
After several rounds of prototyping and user testing, the team would finalize the design and
move on to the implementation phase.

27. Implementation
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The next phase is to proceed with the solution's implementation when the concept
has been improved and user testing has been finished. This includes developing and
implementing the MVP, scaling it up, and making sure it satisfies the prerequisites for
widespread adoption and usage.

28. Implementation Steps
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• Create an implementation strategy: This phase entails coming up with a comprehensive plan on how to put the solution into
action, including deadlines, resource allocation, and roles.
• Create a pilot program: At this phase, you can create a pilot program to test the solution in a controlled setting before
implementing it across the board. Before scaling up the solution, this would help to clarify any potential problems and improve
the approach.
• Execute the solution: This phase entails putting the solution into practice throughout the organization. This could entail
educating staff members on how to use the new travel booking system, integrating it with current systems, and notifying all
relevant parties of the changes.
• Monitor and evaluate: Once the solution has been implemented, it is critical to monitor and evaluate its performance. This
could include tracking travel booking times, cost savings, employee satisfaction, and other metrics to see if the solution is
meeting its objectives.
• Refine and iterate: Based on the monitoring and evaluation process, the solution can be refined and iterated to improve
performance and address any issues that arise. This is an ongoing process that may involve incremental improvements to the
solution over time.

29. Thank you
Prasanna Hegde