Final Presentation - Showing our client the results

1. MARRIOTT HOTELS

2. Executive Summary
In this presentation we will take a look at how
conducting user research will help strengthen the
Marriott brand and their digital experiences. Our
agency believes that if we start conducting user
research before, during, and after the design then
we can shift mindsets from cost. This resource can
provide Marriott with rich data about the customer
base
In this presentation we will look at the
following:
• Business goals defined by Marriott
• Research goals defined by the agency
• Methods Used
• Analysis of data discovery
• Our Results
• Final our recommendations

3. Business Goals
Here’s a recap of what business goals Marriott
wanted to achieve with the redesign of their
digital properties:
➤ Increase hotel bookings via digital properties by
10%
➤ Increase reservations for their Luxury and
Lifestyle collection hotel categories
➤ Gain 10,000 incremental members of the
Marriott Rewards loyalty program in the first
quarter after the re-design
➤ Decrease the number starting and then
abandoning a reservation by 20%
➤ Increase by 5% the number of people choosing
a hotel and flight package (vs. just booking their
hotel alone)

4. HOW BUSINESS GOALS AREN'T BEING MET
➤ Increase hotel bookings via digital properties by 10%
➤ Insufficient showcasing of the Marriott event space and property information
➤ Pricing can be hard to find or confusing to understand
➤ Cumbersome booking system
➤ Too much hotel filtration
➤ Not optimized for Search Engine Optimization
➤ Increase reservations for their Luxury and Lifestyle Collection hotel categories
➤ Poor visuals, video, and photography
➤ Lack of discounts when booking
➤ Packages can be too expensive
➤ Not enough amenities

5. HOW BUSINESS GOALS AREN'T BEING MET
➤ Gain 10,000 incremental members of the Marriott Rewards loyalty program in the
first quarter after the redesign
➤ Loyalty program’s rewards aren't enticing
➤ Points’ redemption cost too expensive
➤ Lack of rewards packages for reward members
➤ Extremely high requirements to meet certain elite statuses
➤ The absence of a return stay option for valued guests
➤ Decrease by 20% the number of people starting and then abandoning a reservation
➤ Website isn't optimized for mobile/tablet users
➤ Website booking system loads slowly due to too much multimedia content
➤ Requiring users to make multiple reservations when booking for groups of 4 and more

6. HOW BUSINESS GOALS AREN'T BEING MET
➤ Increase by 5% the number of people choosing a hotel and flight package (vs. just
booking their hotel alone)
➤ Lack of package booking
➤ Competing with websites that offer deals on booking flight and hotel stay together
➤ No rewards for booking flight and hotel stay with Marriott
➤ The absence of a return stay option for valued guests

7. ➤ What is the demographic makeup of
the Marriott guest?
How do users choose their next hotel?
What are the reasons for starting and
then abandoning a hotel reservation?
Is the Marriott website used more on a
computer versus the mobile and
tablet?
What values are customers looking for
in a hotel loyalty program?
Research Goals

8. Research Methods Used
To marry business goals with user
goals and desires, we need to get to
underlying issues. To do this we
conducted research utilizing
different Methods.
In the next slides we will summarize
some of the research methods used
to conduct our study.

9. Nano Usability Study

10. Nano Usability Study
A Nano Usability Test is used to evaluate a product/service by testing it on users. The purpose for
conducting this type of testing is to see how well users understand your design
How Nano Usability Study was used:
I recruited 3 users from various backgrounds. All 3 users are familiar with how to use the Marriott
website. The goal here was to see how the website worked in its current state. I had each user book a
reservation based on an immediate need. For example:
➤User A: Booking for a group
➤User B: Booking for their next next business trip
➤User C: Booking for their next vacation
As I watched each user, I paid attention to see who was having more trouble using the reservation tool on the
Marriott website, which user had little to no trouble at all, and finally what the overall hardships were. Here are
my findings:

11. RESULTS
➤ When trying to book a hotel reservation for more than 3 rooms, the user had to create multiple
reservations. The issue here is availability. If there’s a big event then hotels fill up fast so rather
than book online the user will call the hotels reservation line.
➤ The Marriott search results have too many fields and don’t do a good job with filtration. Users
can filter by location, but once that’s done it’s not easy to go back to the original result screen.
The user will have to repeat the search. This lack of functionality will cause users to go a
competitor or one of the hotel booking websites.
➤ There isn't an easy way to book hotel and flight together. Marriott doesn't currently offer this
type of service on their website. So users will go to one of the hotel booking websites to book
flight and hotel stay together. Also, these websites offer better deals when booking together.

12. User Interviews

13. User Interviews
A user interview is a common research technique typically utilized to get qualitative information from
either existing users and/or potential users. User interviews can cover a wide range of topics.
How User Interviews were conducted:
Before conducting the user interviews, our team determined what questions were appropriate for
Marriott. Some of the question types we used were:
➤Multiple Choice
➤Rating
➤Likert Scale
➤Ranking
➤Check List
We choose a variety of user question types so that the user wasn't bored with predictable questions.

14. How User Interviews were conducted cont…
Question Examples:
Here are three examples of the questions asked of our users. You will notice that they focus on
different aspects of Marriott’s business goals.
1. Do you find it more cost effective to book your flight and hotel stay together?
[1] Yes [2] Sometimes [3] No
2. How important are hotel rewards programs?
[1] Not at all important
[2] Low importance
[3] Slightly important
[4] Neutral
[5] Moderately important
[6] Very important
3. If you had to choose you desired device to book your next hotel reservation, what would it be? (“1” is first choice, “2” is
second choice, etc.)
[ ] Desktop/Laptop [ ] Smartphone [ ] iPad/Tablet [ ] Prefer to call

15. Results
➤ When it came to booking hotels, all users preferred to book a hotel reservation via a computer
while one user stated that he would be open to using a smartphone/tablet to book his
reservation.
➤ When it came to luxury, 2 out of 3 users stated that imagery was important when booking their
hotel. While the last user stated that imagery wasn't that important when booking their hotel.
➤ All three users agreed that getting the best deal was important to them, however, staying at the
best hotel wasn't that important.
➤ When it came to abandoning reservations, all three users agreed that for them it wasn't the fault
of the hotel. Rather it was getting interrupted that was the main cause of abandoning their
reservations
➤ Lastly, improving hotel technology in the check-in process was important to each user. Having
the option to check-in remotely or check-out remotely was something that each user was very
interested in

16. HOW THIS ALL COMES TOGETHER AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Final Thoughts

17. More Testing
Card Sorting
Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the
information architecture of a website.
In a card sort users organize topics into categories that make
sense to them. And in some cases the user might also help you
label these groups.
What type of card sort will be used?
We recommend an open card sort. In an open card sort users are
given a stack of cards and are asked to group them together in a
way that makes sense to them. After the grouping, they are asked
to name each of the groups.
Why conduct a card sort?
This type of testing will be useful in defining the website
structure for Marriott. We want to get a better understanding of
what categories and labels make sense for users.

18. More Testing
Mobile Website Testing
This type of testing is focused on how the website
looks on mobile/tablet devices. We want to know if
the website is mobile ready (meaning that the
website is just a carbon copy of the website) or if
the website is responsive (meaning that the website
is scaleable across different devices).
When developing a mobile application we want to
make sure that the app works seamlessly with the
website. Are users able to view the website, can
they make hotel reservations on portable devices,
and if so what is the experience like for users?
Based on the information from websites and mobile
testing, we can go to the next step which is
prototyping.

19. More Testing
Website Prototype
After gathering all the information from the tests,
we recommend building a prototype (or mock-up)
of the website and testing users
Why type of prototype to use?
We recommend a Low-fidelity prototype. This type
of prototype is paper-based and in the case of
Marriott could help with user interactions. Low-
fidelity prototypes range from a series of hand-
drawn mock-ups to computer printouts.
Low-fidelity prototypes are easy to mock up and
can be changed quickly. Since these sketches are
hand-drawn, users may feel more comfortable
suggesting changes.
This process helps you gather feedback early in the
design process, make changes quickly, and improve
your initial designs.

20. Final Recommendation
Build the Website
Take all the testing into consideration with user
feedback and we can build a more dynamic website
that users will feel comfortable using.
We also recommend taking a look at the company’s
SEO plan to make sure that our new design works
with what’s already been done. If not, let’s work
together to build a better SEO campaign.
Build the Mobile Application
After working on the Marriott website, we
recommend building a mobile application to go in
tandem. Since we’re building together, we can
make sure that the look, feel, and brand messaging
is consistent on both platforms.