Whova | Exhibitor Booth Selection Setup

From manual coordination to self-serve booth assignment.

Saving event organizers time spent on exhibitor booth assignment.

PLATFORM

Event management dashboard (admin)

TIMELINE

Q4 2023 - Q2 2024

TEAM

1 Product Manager, 1 User Researcher, 2 Engineers

Whova's registration suite handles ticketing and attendee management for different roles, including exhibitors. But for events with exhibitors, booth management had never been part of that system. The sales team regularly heard it come up as a reason prospects hesitated to adopt our registration service, and Booth Selection was the project we built to close that gap.

I owned Booth Selection as the lead designer, partnering with research, engineering, and stakeholders from discovery through launch. I led prioritization workshops to help shape the feature roadmap and define what to ship first. Since launching, the feature has contributed to increased buy-in for the registration suite, and I'm currently leading the next iteration based on insights from MVP usage.

PLATFORM

Event management dashboard (admin)

TIMELINE

Q4 2023 - Q2 2024

TEAM

1 Product Manager, 1 User Researcher, 2 Engineers

Problem

Problem

Problem

User retention risk cause by the missing step in exhibitor registration management.

It wasn't until I attended a few conferences hosted through Whova and joined user interviews that I realized just how much overhead booth management was creating for organizers. Without a built-in tool, organizers using Whova had to handle everything on their own.

And what made this more urgent was some organizers were choosing other platforms simply because they offered booth management.

🧾 Excessive time spent on manual booth management

Organizers had to contact the registered exhibitors individually, manually assign each booth, and coordinate changes over emails, sometimes for hundreds of exhibitors.

🔁 Hard-to-track process

Manual work made it difficult to track updates, and adjust assignments when exhibitors made requests.

⚠️ Increased risk of error

Limited visibility and fragmented workflows led to more mistakes and miscommunications as a team.

"Is there any way that we can have exhibitors choose their own booths during registration?”

"I have to assign booths to my exhibitors after they register and add the booth numbers to their profiles on Whova individually, and I have to do this for 100-200+ exhibitors."

Goals

Goals

Goals

What does success look like for a solution that supports organizers in the booth management cycle?

From initial assignment to post-registration adjustments

We knew we couldn't build everything at once. With limited time and resources, the priority was a focused MVP that addressed the most pressing pain points. The team was aligned to get something useful in front of organizers quickly. The process of defining the project scope and iterations was driven by measurable primary and secondary goals:

Business — Feature adoption & conversion

Ensure feature adoption without disrupting existing ticket and registration setup workflows.
Secure user satisfaction and boost Whova registration buy-in and retention.

Users — Efficient booth management experience

Learnability: Users should be able to understand and use the feature with little to no guidance.
Efficiency: Users should be able to complete booth setup quickly and move on.
Error Prevention: The feature should minimize the risk of mistakes during booth setup.
🔹 Average time to complete booth assignment
🔹 Drop-off rate during setup
🔹 Support tickets related to booth assignment

Solution
Overview

Solution Overview.

Upload venue map. Drop booth pins. Track in real time.

Organizers set up an interactive booth map as part of exhibitor registration and track the entire booth assignment process in one place. Within 3 months of launch, we saw significant results:

40%

Saved time on initial booth assignment

8.9%

Feature adoption 3 months after launch

+2.2%

Whova Exhibitor Registration buy-in

Customize booth tier - Reduced decision fatigue

Save time with booth tiers synced from exhibitor ticket setup

Pre-assign color to each exhibitor ticket tier to represent different booth tier.
Switch tier color efficiently from the provided color palette.

Place pins on map - Efficiency focused & Error prevention

Track booth map setup progress with clear interactions and timely feedback

Dedicated top sections for instructions and quick booth tier switching.
Click to place a pin; edit details on the side; drag to reposition as needed.

Booth selection preview - Status visibility

Manage booths and track registration status with the real-time booth map

Search by exhibitor name for the booths taken or reserved.
Filter by booth tiers and booth status.
View booth and exhibitor details right on the map.

Discover

Discover

Discover

How do the organizers currently register exhibitors outside of the platform?

At project kickoff, we had no clear requirements—only customer requests from support about having such a feature that allows exhibitors to choose their own booths.

To bridge the insight gap, I collaborated with the PM and research team to conduct user interviews and a survey, and led a round of competitor analysis. The insights we uncovered helped clarify the problem space and shaped the foundation for later project scoping.

At project kickoff, we had no clear requirements—only customer requests from support about having such a feature that allows exhibitors to choose their own booths.

INSIGHTS FROM SURVEY & USER INTERVIEWS

Booth assignment varies by event size. Smaller events are more flexible and open to adjustments, while larger ones tend to follow set rules based on:

Ticket tiers: higher tiers get better locations and larger booths.
First-come, first-serve: changes are allowed upon request.
Exhibitor preferences: e.g., avoiding competitors or choosing spots near key facilities

INSIGHTS FROM COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Organizers might already be familiar with certain UX patterns used in other products and expect new features to align with those standards:

Side-by-side map and booth list display.
Interactive maps with various interactions.
Search and filter functions.

🤔 Some competitors offer Map Builder

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Jobs to be done

Determining the must-have functionalities

Following the completion of research and analysis of the suggested features, my next step was to determine the feature positioning and establish feature implementation priorities.

We considered customer needs, impact on existing features and system, technical feasibility, and required resources, ultimately landing on a balanced solution for this milestone.

Following the completion of research and analysis of the suggested features, my next step was to determine the feature positioning and establish feature implementation priorities.

We considered customer needs, impact on existing features and system, technical feasibility, and required resources, ultimately landing on a balanced solution for this milestone.

[JTBD] As an event organizer who needs to assign booths to registered exhibitors, I want to set up a venue map and map each booth to an exhibitor tier on the map, so that exhibitors can easily select from the booths during registration without me manually assigning them.

Upload a venue map with booth layout pre-defined, so the system can support booth selection without starting from scratch.
Map each booth to an exhibitor tier so that exhibitors can view and select according booths during registration.
Reserve certain booths to premium exhibitors
Track which booths have been claimed and by whom to avoid double-booking or confusion.
Make real-time updates or corrections if booth assignments or availability change.

Upload a venue map with booth layout pre-defined, so the system can support booth selection without starting from scratch.
Map each booth to an exhibitor tier so that exhibitors can view and select according booths during registration.
Reserve certain booths to premium exhibitors
Track which booths have been claimed and by whom to avoid double-booking or confusion.
Make real-time updates or corrections if booth assignments or availability change.

Mapping out the user flow

To guide both the design and technical implementation, I broke down the experience into 3 bite-sized steps—each tied to a core job the user needed to accomplish. Rather than looking at each screen in isolation, I considered how every step connects with existing features to ensure a smooth, integrated workflow.

Entry point exploration

Entry point exploration

Entry point exploration

Exloring how Booth Selection setup can fit into the existing exhibitor registration flow

When exploring where to introduce Booth Selection, I considered multiple entry points—each with trade-offs in visibility, complexity, and potential disruption.

Guided by our core principle of ensuring adoption without disrupting ticket or registration setup, I mapped out the pros and cons and presented them to the team, and finally aligned on an entry point that felt intuitive, low-friction, and easy for users to adopt.

When exploring where to introduce Booth Selection, I considered multiple entry points—each with trade-offs in visibility, complexity, and potential disruption.

Why we chose this

Picked 🔵

Exploration 1

Exploration 2

Individual feature item in the side menu

Higher feature visibility that aligned better with business goals

✅ Higher visibility as a menu item, which supports better feature adoption.

✅ More space for onboarding, with a dedicated page to explain benefits and setup steps.

❗ Less clarity in flow order between ticket setup and booth selection—but manageable as an edge case in later iterations.

Side-by-side tab view of ticket and booths

Mapping each booth tier with a ticket tier right away

✅ Streamlined experience, keeping booth setup closely tied to ticket creation.

❗ Limited visibility and onboarding space, as the new feature is nested within an existing flow.

❗ High risk of disruption to a familiar and frequently used workflow, which could impact usability and adoption.

Booth Selection as the second step of ticket creation

Mapping each booth tier with a ticket tier right away

Higher feature visibility that aligned better with business goals

Picked 🔵

Exploration 1

Exploration 2

Individual feature item in the side menu

Higher feature visibility that aligned better with business goals

✅ Higher visibility as a menu item, which supports better feature adoption.

✅ More space for onboarding, with a dedicated page to explain benefits and setup steps.

❗ Less clarity in flow order between ticket setup and booth selection—but manageable as an edge case in later iterations.

Side-by-side tab view of ticket and booths

Mapping each booth tier with a ticket tier right away

✅ Streamlined experience, keeping booth setup closely tied to ticket creation.

❗ Limited visibility and onboarding space, as the new feature is nested within an existing flow.

❗ High risk of disruption to a familiar and frequently used workflow, which could impact usability and adoption.

Booth Selection as the second step of ticket creation

Mapping each booth tier with a ticket tier right away

Higher feature visibility that aligned better with business goals

Design & Iterations

Design & Iterations

Design & Iterations

Diving into design: validating decisions and navigating constraints

After creating paper wireframes for the key screens, I developed an initial design for the 3-step flow and conducted a round of design and stakeholder reviews (PM, engineers).

The goal was to confirm the overall flow and provide the engineering team with a foundation for assessing technical feasibility.

After creating paper wireframes for the key screens, I developed an initial design for the 3-step flow and conducted a round of design and stakeholder reviews (PM, engineers).

The goal was to confirm the overall flow and provide the engineering team with a foundation for assessing technical feasibility.

Design & Testing

Design & Testing

Design & Testing

Testing & Iterations

Peer reviews

Stakeholder reviews

User testing with sales team

During the user testing stage, it was challenging to reach and schedule sessions with our customer organizers within the limited timeframe.

As a result, I conducted testings with 2 designers and 3 sales representatives. Since the feature doesn't require extensive domain knowledge and sales interact with our customers daily, their feedback was valuable for evaluating usability.

During the user testing stage, it was challenging to reach and schedule sessions with our customer organizers within the limited timeframe.

📋 Tasks

Locate the feature to set up a map for exhibitors to select their booths during registration.

Upload a floor map to the platform.
Set up tiered booth information (with 5 pre-created exhibitor tickets).
Place pins on map as booth, and complete the setup for at least 2 booth tiers.
Modify the tier information for an existing booth.

🎯 Goals for User Testing

⚠️ Observed problem & Impact

Things to observe

1 Overall usability and efficiency

Do users find the terminology and visual elements familiar and easy to understand?Does each step help users achieve their goals effectively?
Are there any steps where users frequently experience delays or confusion?

2 Information clarity

Are instructions clear and concise?
Is there any unnecessary information that distracts users from the main tasks?

3 Action discoverability and system feedback

Is the interaction with map intuitive enough for users?
Do users receive adequate feedback and instructions on how to proceed?

Step 2 iteration

Step 2 iteration

Step 2 iteration

Addressing usability issues

ORIGINAL EXPLORATION

ITERATED DESIGN

Step 3 iteration

Step 3 iteration

Step 3 iteration

Pushing pixels for action discoverability and clear system feedback

The final and most critical task was refining map interactions to improve action discoverability and surface system feedback at key user touchpoints.

I explored hundreds of interaction patterns to make the experience feel more intuitive. Throughout, I regularly synced with engineers to assess feasibility and iterated based on feedback from design reviews and stakeholder demos —ensuring what we shipped felt polished, purposeful, and grounded in real use.

The final and most critical task was refining map interactions to improve action discoverability and surface system feedback at key user touchpoints.

Takeaways.

Takeaways.

Takeaways.

Design to make things obvious and put users in control

Building something from 0 to 1 always involves moments where user behavior surprises you, or technical constraints force a design change you weren't expecting. The thing that helped most was staying in close communication with the team and being willing to adjust without losing momentum.

Designing the map interactions taught me that what made the difference wasn't finding the most clever interaction pattern. It was making sure every action had a clear, immediate response. Organizers managing hundreds of booths can't afford to wonder whether something worked — getting a clear signal that their action was successful or not makes all the difference. Clarity isn't polish. It's the core of the feature.

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