Scope

The client, a prospective buyer of the R3 Hotel, wanted a modern mockup of the R3 Hotel website’s main pages to show investors the hotel’s potential.

3 Weeks

Flying Solo

Constraints

The client was a potential buyer of the R3 Hotel, but not a current owner, so we had limited access to photographs and other on-site details. The client also had no plans of updating any signage, branding, or structural elements upon ownership.

Primary Skills Used

User Research

Wireframes

Information Architecture

Branding

Visual Design

Problem

The R3 Hotel is a predominantly gay hotel in Russian River area of Guerneville California. The hotel does have an existing website, but the client who is interested in buying this hotel and all of its assets is unhappy with the look and performance of the existing website. The client needs a website that is modern in both usability and appearance that will increase hotel occupancy.

My Process

As the sole UX designer, I conducted thorough user research, analyzed findings, and incorporated research insights into product design decisions that gave birth to the website’s personality through taxonomy, branding, and visual design. I designed an R3 Hotel website that speaks directly to the target customer, and, according to the research, will conquer the business goal to increase occupancy.

1.

Website Evaluation

The existing website looked like it was from the 90’s and horribly failed a quick heuristic evaluation. I determined it was best to start the new website from scratch.
2.

User Research

I conducted a competitive analysis, interviewed hotel patrons, and synthesized online reviews from Yelp and TripAdvisor to influence design direction.
3.

Analyze Research

I learned that R3 Hotel was thought of as a playful friendly place to meet people and have fun. I also learned that hotel patrons' most important feature when booking is a hotel in close proximity to a specific location or event. According to review synthesis, the R3 is often the party/event location in Guerneville.
4.

Information Architecture

I appointed and tested a unique and playful taxonomy that matched user’s impression of the hotel vibe: Stay, Eat, Drink, and Play.
5.

Branding

Following the playful taxonomy, a slogan was born, “Stay where you play,” and I added a rainbow signifier to the logo. Both of these speak directly to the target patron as identified in the user research.
6.

Wireframes

All design decisions were user centered with the business goal of increasing occupancy as the driving force for action. Design decisions were made based on the research conducted.
7.

Mockup

After the wireframes were completed I transitioned the designs into hi-fidelity mockups incorporating visual design elements.
8.

Prototype

The hi-fidelity mock-up was moved into Marvel for a basic prototype with limited hot spots and interaction.

Solution

My goal was to design a website that is modern in both usability and appearance that will increase hotel occupancy. To achieve this goal I needed to design a website that reflects the hotel and its patrons, is easy to use, and encourages hotel booking. The insights incorporated into the design, gleaned from my user research, are the single most important element of the solution. The final product is modern, user friendly, and will increase hotel occupancy because it is research informed and speaks directly to the target customer.

UX Researcher & Designer

(and I coded this here website)

R3 Hotel

R3 Hotel

- Website redesign -

Scope

The client, a prospective buyer of the R3 Hotel, wanted a modern mockup of the R3 Hotel website’s main pages to show investors the hotel’s potential.

3 Weeks

Flying Solo

Constraints

The client was a potential buyer of the R3 Hotel, but not a current owner, so we had limited access to photographs and other on-site details. The client also had no plans of updating any signage, branding, or structural elements upon ownership.

Primary Skills Used

User Research

Wireframes

Information Architecture

Branding

Visual Design

Problem

Data from user interviews (left), Data from synthesizing reviews (right).

Data from user interviews.

Data from synthesizing reviews.

My Process

1.

Website Evaluation

The existing website looked like it was from the 90’s and horribly failed a quick heuristic evaluation. I determined it was best to start the new website from scratch.

2.

User Research

I conducted a competitive analysis, interviewed hotel patrons, and synthesized online reviews from Yelp and TripAdvisor to influence design direction.

3.

Analyze Research

4.

Information Architecture

I appointed and tested a unique and playful taxonomy that matched user’s impression of the hotel vibe: Stay, Eat, Drink, and Play.

5.

Branding

Following the playful taxonomy, a slogan was born, “Stay where you play,” and I added a rainbow signifier to the logo. Both of these speak directly to the target patron as identified in the user research.

6.

Wireframes

All design decisions were user centered with the business goal of increasing occupancy as the driving force for action. Design decisions were made based on the research conducted.

7.

Mockup

After the wireframes were completed I transitioned the designs into hi-fidelity mockups incorporating visual design elements.

8.

Prototype

The hi-fidelity mock-up was moved into Marvel for a basic prototype with limited hot spots and interaction.

Taxonomy development to fix hotel vibe.

Card sort to complete taxonomy.

Solution

Three pages from the website mockup

Interactive prototype made with Marvel.