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Minimum Booking Notice Time

Minimum Booking Notice Time

Business Context

Minimum booking notice time ensures consultants have adequate preparation time before sessions by preventing last-minute bookings. This feature applies to both one-off and recurring consultation types.

Product Requirements

Core Functionality

  • Per-consultation configuration: Each consultation can have its own minimum notice requirement
  • Real-time enforcement: Booking availability is calculated dynamically based on current time
  • Admin configurable minimums: Platform can set minimum notice requirements for all consultations
  • Consistent application: Same minimum notice applies to both ONEOFF and RECURRING consultations

User Experience

  • Consultant: Can set minimum notice when creating consultations (with platform minimums enforced)
  • Student: Only sees available slots that meet minimum notice requirements
  • Admin: Can adjust global minimum notice settings

Business Rules

Minimum Notice Requirements

  • ONEOFF consultations: Minimum based on admin settings (default: 0 hours)
  • RECURRING consultations: Same minimum as ONEOFF for consistency
  • Maximum limits:
    • ONEOFF: Up to 1 week (168 hours)
    • RECURRING: Up to 3 days (72 hours)
  • Configuration: Admin-controlled via settings with fallback to 0 hours

Booking Behavior

  • Slots are filtered in real-time during availability requests
  • Any slot starting within the minimum notice window is excluded
  • Setting minimum notice to 0 removes the restriction entirely

User Journeys

Consultant Journey

  1. Consultation Creation: Consultant sets minimum booking notice (defaults to 1 hour)
  2. Validation: Platform ensures minimum meets admin-configured requirements
  3. Publishing: Consultation goes live with configured notice requirement

Student Journey

  1. Browse Consultations: Student views available consultations
  2. Check Availability: System automatically filters out slots that don’t meet minimum notice
  3. Book Session: Student can only select slots with adequate advance notice

Admin Journey

  1. Configure Settings: Admin adjusts global minimum notice requirements
  2. Monitor Compliance: All consultations must meet configured minimums
  3. Override if needed: Admin can approve consultations that don’t meet minimums

Success Metrics

Key Performance Indicators

  • Booking success rate: Percentage of attempted bookings that succeed
  • Last-minute booking rate: Percentage of bookings made within minimum notice window (should be 0%)
  • Consultant satisfaction: Survey responses about preparation time adequacy
  • Platform revenue: Impact of minimum notice on overall booking volume

Quality Assurance

  • Validation coverage: All consultation types enforce minimum notice during creation
  • Runtime accuracy: Booking system correctly filters unavailable slots
  • Admin controls: Settings changes take effect immediately

Configuration Options

Admin Settings

  • Global minimum notice: Set platform-wide minimum for all consultation types
  • Per-type flexibility: Option to have different minimums for ONEOFF vs RECURRING (currently unified)
  • Real-time updates: Settings changes apply immediately to new consultations

Consultant Controls

  • Per-consultation setting: Consultants can set notice higher than platform minimum
  • Default application: Platform default applies when consultant doesn’t specify
  • Validation feedback: Clear error messages when minimum requirements aren’t met

Edge Cases & Considerations

Business Scenarios

  • Emergency consultations: May need ability to override minimum notice
  • Time zone considerations: Minimum notice calculated in UTC to ensure fairness
  • Recurring series: Minimum notice applies to each session in the series
  • Consultant availability changes: System respects minimum notice even after schedule updates

Technical Constraints

  • Performance impact: Real-time filtering must be efficient for good UX
  • Cache invalidation: Settings changes require immediate availability recalculation
  • Internationalization: Time calculations must handle different locales correctly

Future Enhancements

Potential Features

  • Dynamic minimums: Different notice requirements based on consultation price/duration
  • User-specific overrides: Allow certain users to book with shorter notice
  • Smart suggestions: Recommend optimal notice based on historical booking patterns
  • Emergency booking mode: Temporary suspension of minimum notice for urgent needs /home/mercciy/learnille/documentation/Engineering/Architecture/Minimum-Booking-Notice-Time.md