Booking Optimization for IHG Hotels & Resorts
Designed a booking flow with customization options for various visitor needs.
Context
IHG's booking experience is standard across all 19 brands. The booking flow can be tailored to various user needs.
Outcome
Proposed a new booking flow with the 'Experience Search' feature to accommodate various brands and user needs.
Who is IHG?
IHG, aka the InterContinental Hotels Group, owns 19 hotel brands worldwide, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza.
IHG came to us wanting to improve their booking process. They wanted users to book through the IHG website rather than other travel agencies.
The Problem
19 Brands. 3 Competitors. 100+ third party websites.
Even if travelers choose to book through IHG, they are routed to individual brand websites and the booking process becomes more confusing.
Luxury and Lifestyle Collection
Premium Collection
Essentials Collection
Suites Collection
How might we optimize the booking experience so that travelers book through IHG instead of other websites?
But what even incentivizes travelers to book one hotel over another?
Turns out, it depends on the reason why they are traveling.
Our research showed that users can be grouped into 3 categories based on why and with whom they are traveling
Travel with Family
Travel for Leisure
Travel for Work
"I always look for deals where my kids can stay and do stuff for free"
"As long as I have a clean bed and decent bathroom I will go for the cheapest option"
"I always check if there is a bar and gym at the hotel, so I can relax after a long day at work"
Leisurely
Adventurous
Safe
Budget Friendly
Free Breakfast
Activities
Budget Friendly
Cultural
Productive
Late Checkout
Luxurious
Bar
*Updated Problem Statement
How might IHG help travelers book their stay according to their preferences?
The Ideas
Current user behavior involves comparing various options based on various preferences, which becomes a long and arduous process.
BEFORE
But what if IHG integrates these preferences as a main feature of the website?
AFTER
STAY TUNERS
Users can “tune” their stay based on various criteria. They are easy to use and provides hotel results based on their selections. However, it turned out to be unrealistic to try to quantify these values and compare them equally.
Users were unable to intuitively quantify their preferences. IHG representative doubted how the preferences would translate to hotel results.
What if we use qualitative adjectives so users can search by desired experience instead?
STAY TUNERS ITERATIONS
