Challenge: Your Hotel
Many hotel chains have loyalty programs to reward travelers who routinely stay with them. With the advent of affordable home automation and streaming media, hotel rooms can be transformed into customizable environments which adapt to suit the preferences of their current occupant. Design a digital experience for a guest of such a hotel which will make them feel at home while away from home.
Requirements
This document lists the goals and assumptions of the project. A proper requirements document would take into account the needs from the various stakeholders and team members building this digital experience. This document represents a rough sketch and does not constitute an actual PRD.
Research
I reviewed some hotel loyalty programs, home automation products, and streaming media services to examine how these touchpoints may affect the digital experience in a hotel. I interviewed two frequent business travelers who fit the target in order to hear first-hand about their hotel experiences.
Persona
A sketch persona was created as the target audience for this digital experience. This representation has limited qualitative research and does not include any of the qualitative data that would go into a real persona.
Brainstorming
A list of functions were generated as solutions to the project.
This list was refined and grouped into functional areas.
App Architecture
An overview of the architecture of this digital experience shows the organization of the solution from the brainstorming. Areas that are wireframed and prototyped are noted in this diagram.
Wireframing
1. Room Key – access to the room through the phone app
2. My Room – room options menu
3. My Room Wireless Access – Wifi access from app
4. My Room Room Speakers – Bluetooth connection to room speakers
5. My Room Temperature – Temperature controls
6. My Room Temperature Power Saving – Away from room
7. My Room Temperature Cooling – A/C cooling the room down
8. My Room Room Bill – Itemized list of expenses
9. Hotel App – Main entry screen for hotel chain app
10. Hotel Preferences – Setting your default preferences for the hotel chain
Hotel App Wireframes (PDF)
Prototype
This prototype demonstrates the Room Key and the Room Options. It was designed using proto.io.
The prototype on proto.io can be found on this link. Proto.io requires registration for viewing the prototype from the web or the app from the Google Play Store. A local version on my website has been created here:
The export of the prototype causes the resolution of the web pages to be quite large and a Zoom Out is required for proper viewing.