The webinar provided an executive summary of a hotel industry UX benchmark study conducted by UserZoom and Key Lime Interactive. Hilton and Marriott were the top two most popular hotel brands according to unaided responses. The study tested the online user experience of finding specific hotel information and booking rooms on Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Sheraton, and Hyatt websites. While Hilton ranked highest on the UX score, all sites led to lower brand perception and net promoter scores after the tasks. Opportunities to improve the UX included providing more relevant rate, room style, and deals information upfront to better meet users' needs when booking travel.

1. Webinar: Hotel Industry UX Benchmark StudyJune 29th, 2010

2. OverviewIntroductions (2 min)Study Background (3 min)Methodology and Technology (3 min)Executive Summary (3 min)Findings and Opportunities (20 min)Questions and Comments (15 min)

3. Introductions Alfonso de la NuezPartner & Chief Marketing Officerat UserZoomAnia RodriguezFounder and CEO atKey Lime Interactive

4. About UserZoomLeading online (remote) user experience research software company9 years experience in UX research & consultingOffices in Sunnyvale (CA), London (UK) and Barcelona (Spain)Created because traditional UX research methods are great but not enough

5. About Key Lime InteractiveExperienced market research and usability professionals

6. Over 12 years of consulting experience testing Internet 500 websites and providing actionable results

7. Most consultants have Masters in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Industry Engineering or related field

8. Cross-Industry Expertise

9. Ability to scorecard against competition

10. Ability to suggest cross-industry recommendations to improve ease of use

11. Independent Third Party

12. Impartial with no-hidden agenda

13. Ability to work with business team and developers to “get everyone onboard”Expert Reviews

14. Study Background

15. Study Background

16. Today’s Session GoalsWhat's the most popular hotel brand? Can users successfully find a room? What matters most to users searching for a hotel room? Can users successfully find a weekend deal? If they couldn't, why not? What needs to be improved? How is the overall user experience? Would they recommend the site to friends? What common patterns did we find out with regards to user behavior?

17. TasksFind beach destination hotel: Your task is to find a hotel you would consider booking on the Hotel site for the 4th of July weekend. Make sure that the hotel is within 2 miles from the beach destination of your choice and that it has a fitness center, pool, and high-speed Internet. Your budget is $250/night.Find parking cost at specific hotel: Your task is to find out how much on-site parking cost at <hotel name> for one night.

18. Study structureIntroduction:When planning for a vacation and booking for a hotel to stay at, what is the first hotel that comes to mind?What type of content do you need to see before making an online reservation?Based on your experience, how negative or positive is your perception of the following hotel brands?Are you part of any of the following rewards programs? Post-task:Self-reported successEase of useEase of navigationClear where to startSatisfaction with amount of time to complete taskWhat content is missing or would make it easier to find what you are looking for?Wrap-up:Likelihood to recommend : (Net Promoter Score )Post-task brand imageScreenerN=200IntroductionHiltonMarriottIHGSheratonHyattn-=50n-=50n-=50n-=50n-=50Task 1Task1:Task 1Task 1Task 1Task 2Task 2Task 2Task 2Task 2Wrap-up

19. Methodology and Technology

20. Online Usability Testing SolutionUZ Self-Serve Edition100% on-demand, web-based software solutionTo manage & conduct various types of online UX research projects

21. How does UserZoom add value?By allowing you to see the BIG pictureTesting large samples of geographically spread participantsCombining statistically-significant usability + user behavior dataMeasuring Customer Experience cost-effectivelyGetting actionableinsightsBehaviorUsability Lab StudiesWeb Traffic AnalysisOnline UXStudiesAttitudesOnline SurveysFocus GroupsQualitativeQuantitative

22. How does UserZoom add value?

23. Our methodHundreds of users participate in a study

24. In their natural context

25. From geographically spread locations

26. Users try to complete tasks(or goals) + answer questions

27. No human moderation needed

28. Our browser bar connects users with our secure serversUser recruitment optionsChoose the user recruitment yourself Panel* Intercept Private mailing list*Partners of

29. Participants

30. Executive Summary

31. Executive Summary Hilton and Marriott are the top 2 most popular brandsHilton ranks #1 using the KLI UX ScoreHilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, and Starwood provide the a significantly better search experience than HyattHilton has the highest success rate (95%) for an open search for a beach destination Marriott leads in terms of ease of use (63%) and ease of navigation (64%)Intercontinental participants were most satisfied with the amount of time it took to find a beach destination that met the requirements and felt it was the most clear to know where to startIntercontinental had the highest success rate (73%) for finding the parking rate Intercontinental participants found the site easiest to use and easy to know where to start when looking for a hotel’s parking rateMarriott participants found it the easiest to navigate, however 72% of Marriott participants were unclear where to start Nonetheless, after spending about 10 minutes on the site, both brand perception and NPS were lowHilton leads with a -7% NPS. Hilton has the highest overall brand perception pre and post, however experienced a 12% drop pre to post experience

32. Findings and Opportunities