Planning a booking system: what to define first
Before designing the calendar, define what is reserved, who manages capacity and when a reservation becomes confirmed.
The unit of booking
A court, an instructor or seats in a class? Define appointment duration, gaps, closures and schedule exceptions. The interface depends on these operational rules.
Online and assisted reservations
In the KBClub development work, phone and in-person bookings needed an admin entry path. These reservations must consume the same availability as online bookings.
Reservation states
Define temporary holds, confirmation, expiry and cancellation before adding payment. Specify what failed payments do to availability and make repeated callbacks safe.
Concurrency and permissions
Two people may request the same slot. Enforce availability in the server and data layer, rather than relying on a disabled browser button. Limit access to customer information by role.
An acceptance-test example
Design example: two customers request the last available slot simultaneously. Exactly one reservation should be confirmed and the other customer should receive a clear response. This is a proposed test scenario, not a project performance claim.
What to bring to an estimate
List the resources, weekly schedule, user roles, cancellation policy, payment and SMS requirements, and current booking process. These inputs define a useful first release.