Overview
The Hotel Elysia App is a state-of-the-art mobile application designed to enhance the guest experience at the prestigious Hotel Elysia in Paris. Located in the historic former residence of Prince Roland Bonaparte, this luxury hotel blends European grandeur with traditional Asian hospitality, offering a unique stay in the heart of the 16th arrondissement with stunning views of the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine.
Tailored to the needs of modern travelers, the Hotel Elysia App integrates advanced technology with the hotel’s luxurious amenities, providing unparalleled convenience and control. Guests can effortlessly manage every aspect of their stay, from booking their room to checking out. This comprehensive digital solution ensures that every interaction is seamless and enjoyable, elevating the overall guest experience.
The Problem
Guests often face difficulties managing their stay, from checking in and out to ordering room service and requesting amenities. Traditional methods can be time-consuming and inconvenient, detracting from the overall luxury experience the hotel aims to provide.
The Goal
To create an intuitive, user-friendly mobile app that allows guests to seamlessly manage their entire stay from their smartphones. This includes features such as online check-in/check-out, room service ordering, climate control, concierge services, and much more, ensuring a comfortable and personalized experience.
Key Features
⚈ Reservation Management: View and modify bookings, check room availability, and cancel reservations.
⚈ Online Check-In/Check-Out: Streamline arrival and departure processes.
⚈ Room Controls: Adjust temperature, lighting, and entertainment settings.
⚈ Room Service: Order food, beverages, and amenities directly to the room.
⚈ Concierge Services: Access personalized recommendations and book local activities.
⚈ Billing and Payments: Review and settle any charges incurred during the stay.
⚈ Feedback and Reviews: Provide feedback and rate the hotel services.
⚈ Accessibility Features: Ensure the app is usable for all guests, including those with disabilities.
Research & Design Methodology
For this project, I chose the Design Thinking process to gain deep, relatable insights from my target users.
I began the research phase with extensive reading, gathering unbiased information about Hotels. Following this, I defined clear goals and developed targeted interview questions to guide my user research.
Interview
To better serve my users, I needed to understand their needs and challenges firsthand. I asked them specific questions like:
⚈ What tools or platforms do you use for finding study partners?
⚈ What features do you find crucial in a hotel booking app, and why?
⚈ Have you encountered any difficulties while booking hotels?
⚈ How do you decide on a hotel? What factors influence your choice?
⚈ Is there something you wish hotel booking apps offered but currently don’t?
⚈ Can you describe your ideal hotel booking experience? What would make an app stand out to you?
By gathering and analyzing their responses, I gained valuable insights into their experiences, pain points, and expectations, creating a clear empathy map of my user group.
This is Emily, my persona. She’s a marketing manager who frequently travels for both work and leisure, often bringing her family along to various destinations. Emily values convenience and top-notch service, always seeking experiences that combine comfort and efficiency.
By analyzing and mapping the goals of my persona, Emily, I was able to design an effective site map. This site map ensures that the navigation is intuitive and user-friendly, accommodating both beginner and experienced users. Key sections are easily accessible, allowing users to quickly find important information and complete tasks efficiently. The structure prioritizes a seamless user experience, making sure that Emily and users like her can navigate the app with ease, whether they are booking a trip, checking amenities, or managing their accounts.
Wireframing
Design work is underway now. Using insights gained, I’ve developed a paper wireframe illustrating the app’s user journey. The website design began with a basic wireframe, which evolved into a low-fidelity prototype.
Following the wireframing, I progressed to creating a wireflow. You can see it in the image above. This iteration also incorporates significant design changes for the final version.
Usability Study
The primary goal of the usability study was to ensure that the design decisions and iterations focused on enhancing the user experience. The study aimed to identify pain points, areas of improvement, and user preferences to refine the app’s design.
Methods:
Utilized Task Completion Test, First-Click Test, Navigation Flow Test, and A/B Testing.
Final Design
All the insights gathered in the previous steps have been incorporated into the final design. I’ve completed the design system, ensuring consistency throughout the app. You can experience the final design yourself by using the link below.
High-Fidelity Prototype The app flow starts with a welcoming splash screen and ends with a user-friendly interface for booking rooms. Guests can easily browse through available rooms, view photos, and read descriptions to find their perfect stay.
Final Note
As an avid traveler, I recognize the importance of a seamless and enjoyable booking experience. During my journeys, I’ve encountered many fellow travelers frustrated by complex booking processes and a lack of clear information about room amenities and availability. This inspired me to create an app that emphasizes user-friendliness and transparency.
In this project, user research was a crucial component. Engaging deeply with potential users to understand their needs and preferences led to a truly user-centric design. This process underscored the vital role of the user experience in creating effective solutions.
The experience reaffirmed the importance of the human element in design. Truly understanding your users enables you to develop solutions that genuinely resonate with them, providing valuable and actionable insights.
“This project also made me aware of my own biases and demonstrated that continuous iteration is key to refining and improving any design.”
