Hybrid Booking Architecture

My Digital Experience team successfully migrated the iOS booking flow to a new hybrid digital architecture, fundamentally changing how we build and deploy features across mobile platforms.

The Challenge

Our digital products were built using three distinct approaches:

1. Desktop Web - Traditional responsive web application
2. Mobile Web - Separate mobile-optimized web experience
3. Native Apps - iOS and Android apps with their own codebases

This meant that a single change to booking required updates by four distinct teams across four separate codebases—a significant investment of time and resources for every feature.

The Hybrid Solution

We implemented a hybrid approach where native apps “frame in” the mobile web experience for key flows:

How It Works

• Native app provides the shell, navigation, and device-specific features
• Mobile web renders the booking flow inside the native container
• Single codebase serves both mobile web browsers and native app users
• Native features (camera, push notifications) remain fully functional

Benefits

• Faster development - Build once, deploy to multiple platforms
• Consistency - Identical experience across mobile web and apps
• Reduced maintenance - Single codebase to update and test
• Quicker iterations - Web updates don’t require app store approval

Implementation

As of November 4, 2021, iOS booking was running on the new hybrid digital architecture:

Phase 1: iOS Booking

• Launched hybrid booking flow on iOS
• Validated performance and user experience metrics
• Confirmed no degradation in conversion rates

Phase 2: Android Rollout

• Extended hybrid architecture to Android
• Achieved platform parity across all mobile channels

Results

The hybrid architecture delivered significant operational improvements:

• Reduced development cycles for booking features
• Improved consistency between platforms
• Faster time-to-market for new capabilities
• Simplified testing with fewer codebases to validate

Technical Excellence

This architectural transformation represented a major shift in how we approach mobile development. By strategically combining the strengths of native apps (performance, device integration) with the flexibility of web (rapid updates, single codebase), we created a more efficient development model that continues to accelerate feature delivery.

The new hybrid approach combines native apps with mobile web for faster development