Somebody decides on Sunday evening to start going to classes. She opens the timetable and sees eleven class names, four of which she does not recognise, no indication of which suit a beginner, and a booking button that asks her to create an account before showing her anything.
She closes it. The studio has a Tuesday class with space, taught by somebody excellent, that would have been perfect.
Step 1: name classes in plain language
A name that describes the style and the level. Anything requiring insider knowledge to decode is excluding exactly the people you want.
Step 2: label the level clearly
Beginner, open, experienced, or whatever your terms are, with a one line explanation of each. This is the single most useful column on a timetable.
Step 3: say who each class is for
One sentence per class. New to movement, for people who want something strong, gentle and suitable after injury. This converts browsing into booking.
Step 4: show availability honestly
Spaces left, full, or waitlist. Somebody who books and finds it full once will not try again.
Step 5: remove the account requirement from the first booking
Let somebody book with a name and an email. Account creation before a first class is the single largest drop off point in studio booking.
Step 6: make the mobile experience the priority
Almost all of this happens on a phone, frequently in bed on a Sunday evening. A timetable that needs pinching and scrolling loses people.
Step 7: run a real waitlist
Automatic notification when a space appears, with a time limit to claim it. This fills cancellations that otherwise go empty.
Step 8: state the cancellation window plainly
How long before a class somebody can cancel without losing a credit. Unclear rules make people hesitate to book at all.
Step 9: send a useful confirmation
Time, address, what to bring, what to wear, where to park and what to do on arrival. Everything a first timer needs, in the confirmation they will actually open.
Step 10: handle timetable changes in one place
Cancelled classes, cover teachers and holiday schedules. A change announced on social media and not on the timetable is a change nobody saw.
Step 11: publish the term and holiday schedule
When classes pause, when they resume and what runs in between. Students plan around this and guess badly without it.
Step 12: keep the pass mechanics visible at booking
What a booking costs against their pass, and how many remain, which connects to class pass and membership questions at yoga studios.
Step 13: handle the non class bookings separately
Workshops, courses and retreats have different rules and deposits, as covered in retreat booking questions yoga studios receive.
Step 14: treat courses differently from drop in classes
A block that must be attended in sequence needs different presentation, which is the situation in short course and evening class enquiries.
Step 15: add a conversational route alongside the timetable
Somebody who cannot tell which class suits them needs a question answered rather than a grid, which is the comparison drawn in a booking widget versus conversational requests. An assistant that asks what they are looking for and points her to the right class to book converts the Sunday evening decision.
Step 16: what removing friction produces
A Tuesday class filled from the people who already found your timetable. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under fitness.