Project deliverables helped to increase UX maturity of the company
hotelkit is a company that provides a digital platform for hotel operation, communication, and collaboration. This project zoomed in on the housekeeping solution of the platform, where several UX flaws were eliminated and the UI was refreshed to look more modern. More importantly, essential gaps in the product offer were identified through contextual analysis, which informed the strategic planning of new developments.
The learnings from the project brought awareness of opportunities and benefits of UX research, which contributed to the development of the UX maturity level within the organisation.
Assumptions mapping with internal stakeholders
Example of a theme from the data analysis
Discovery of unresolved needs of both users and clients
Resulting from extensive research using a mix of methods, I discovered several untapped needs. Most importantly, the operation of hotels is deeply dependent on accurate and timely usage of the app by the housekeeping staff; however, due to complex workflows and confusing UI, the housekeepers neglect to use the app accordingly.
I worked independently on the project while being employed as in-house UX / UI Designer, and I collaborated with the product owner, customer support, sales, and engineering. The research and design approach followed typical Design Thinking activitites – you know the drill:
Interviews with housekeeping managers
Contextual inquiry with housekeeping cleaners
Synthesis and analysis
Internal workshops with the hotelkit team
Rapid and parallel prototyping of ideas and concepts
Concept testing with users
High-fidelity prototypes
The display of the work list and work unit makes it easy to extract necessary information
A simpler checklist layout with grouping of checkpoints
Removing workflow barriers and focusing on clean, elegant UI
The above screens approach the fundamental needs of the housekeepers: reviewing their list of work, extracting essential information about a specific work unit, and registering their work progress in the app.
In the work list, they can directly see the tasks associated with a work unit, and once opening the work unit, only the most necessary information is presented (e.g. that the guests need an extra bed and a welcome gift).
If necessary, the full detail of the work is available upon scrolling. The detail page includes a checklist section, which I through the research discovered was barely used – it was too complicated to interact with. In the new design I used a simpler layout with grouping of checklist points.
A new dashboard page gives users overview and control of their work
Suggesting a new product offer to sustain product and business strategy
Aside from solving for the main needs of housekeepers and hotels, the research also uncovered areas that were not catered for in hotelkit's housekeeping solution at that time: 1) preparation of the cleaning work, and 2) monitoring progress and success. By adding a dashboard with vital stats about the cleaning tasks and cleaning progress, the housekeepers are now in full control of their work day. By suggesting this addition to the housekeeping solution, I provided the company with a promising new product offer to include in the ongoing product and business strategy.