Context
Edgar Allan 2022
Client
IHG Hotels & Rewards
What I did
iOS Design, Product Design, Rapid Prototyping
Role
Product designer
Team
IHG App & On Property Team
Intro
The former version of the map was an early first approach to expand the list results with an hybrid version of the search. But we were aware that this experience had many pain points and we had many opportunities to improve user experience and at the same time expand IHG brand awareness.
Following our standard process, we started defining the problem statement and hypothesis for the project.
The first step was to re-define the style of the map itself. We wanted to be aligned with users mental models so we started looking at global patterns. We wanted a map that was lighter/muted enough to serve as a background with multiple color labels on it, but at the same time, highlighting relevant data as:
We designed different variations for hotel labels and weighed on the pros and cons of each version. We tried to cover all possible options, and then we chose the ones that worked better. Some of the versions included:
The last step was to consider the case scenario of many hotels in the same area. We had to come up with an icon to indicate a cluster of hotels.
With the new map design ready and with brand new labels for each hotel, now we had to develop whole map search experience:
Before the map re-design, users barely used the map view and preferred to use the list view. After the re-designed experience, users started to communicate in user testing sessions that they enjoyed using an hybrid version of the search, with the possibility of comparing hotels distances from specific points.
This was also a starting point for expanding brand awareness throughout all IHG channels, using the same brand labels as a design system, users will be able to easily identifying an IHG hotel brand on the desktop website, mobile website, or the native app.
Arleo
