Understanding How People Book Hotel Rooms
To create a seamless hotel booking experience, I set out to understand user behaviors, challenges, and habits. Through research and testing, I identified key friction points and designed a booking flow that makes the process intuitive and frustration-free.
The Challenge
A new hotel was looking to develop an online booking system that was simple, accessible, and user-centered. My goal was to design an experience that aligned with user needs, reducing barriers to booking while ensuring clarity and convenience.
Research & Discovery
The foundation of great UX is understanding the user. To gain insight into how people book hotel rooms, I conducted:
- Competitive benchmarking – Analysing existing hotel booking experiences to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
- User surveys – Gathering feedback on real-world booking experiences to uncover user priorities and frustrations.
- Usability testing – Observing users interacting with competitor sites to identify pain points and areas for improvement.
One key finding was that location is the most important factor when booking a hotel. Users wanted to quickly understand how close the hotel was to key attractions. Another insight revealed that room dimensions often confused users, leading them to rely on photos for a sense of space. Additionally, flexible cancellation policies were a major concern, especially post-COVID.
Defining the Solution
With research insights in hand, I created:
- Affinity diagrams – Organising key findings into themes to map out user needs.
- User journey maps – Visualising the booking process to identify moments of delight and frustration.
- Flow diagrams – Outlining essential screens and interactions for a smooth booking experience.
Designing the Experience
The booking flow needed to be simple, informative, and flexible. Key design decisions included:
- Enhanced room visualisation – Multiple images and potential floor plans to help users understand space.
- Customisable booking options – Allowing users to opt out of extras like breakfast for more control over their stay.
- Clear cancellation policies – Ensuring users feel confident in their booking choices.
Prototyping & Testing
Using Figma, I built an interactive prototype and conducted usability testing to validate design decisions. User feedback helped refine interactions, ensuring a frictionless experience from start to finish.
The final design provided a streamlined, user-friendly booking flow that directly addressed user needs and pain points.
Mark Boxall 