I joined Hotwire (Expedia Group) as Senior Product Designer on the Android team on a product that was established and already scaling. My job was to modernize a dated Android UI, rebuild the design system from scratch, and drive measurable improvements to the booking experience.
Hotwire is a major consumer discount travel platform offering flights, hotels, and rental cars at below-market prices through exclusive deals with travel providers.
Two challenges surfaced immediately that had to be resolved before any meaningful product improvement was possible.
The Android design system was outdated and inconsistent. Without shared components and patterns, design and engineering were working from different starting points and every new feature required decisions that should have already been made.
On top of that, the components were overloaded. Rates, deals, discounts, and branded promotional elements were all competing for attention at once. Users were getting lost in the noise before reaching a booking decision.
Two things needed to happen. Build a system that could hold the product together and then use that system to drive real improvements to the booking experience.
I rebuilt the Android design system from scratch. 100+ components covering the full range of the product. Shared patterns for how pricing, deals, and branded content were displayed across the app. It gave the team a common language and cut the inconsistency that was slowing down design and engineering.
The system also solved the content overload problem. Hotwire's value proposition lives in the price, but leading with too much pricing information at once created noise that worked against conversion. The solution was hierarchy. Clear, deliberate component hierarchy that let the deal breathe without burying it. The right information at the right weight, in the right order, designed to move users toward a booking decision without friction.
With the system in place, we had the foundation to tackle the booking flow directly.
Slide to Book replaced the standard booking confirmation tap with a gesture-based interaction. It reduced accidental bookings, created a moment of intentionality in the flow, and made the confirmation feel more satisfying. The result was a 16% conversion increase tied directly to that feature.
X CLOSE- 16% conversion increase tied directly to Slide to Book
- Increased user engagement across the Android product
- 100+ component Android design system rebuilt from scratch
- Modernized UI across a high-traffic consumer travel platform