Hotel Booking Platform UX Case Study

This project was developed as part of a Professional Diploma in UX Design with the UX Design Institute. The goal was to create a hotel booking platform that excels in functionality, aesthetics, and user experience by applying a full end-to-end UX design process.

Process Overview

The project followed a structured UX methodology, including:

• Research: Competitive benchmarking, user surveys, note-taking during usability tests.

• Analysis: Affinity diagrams, customer journey maps, and flow diagrams to uncover pain points and user behaviors.

• Design: Sketches, mid-fidelity prototypes, developer annotations, and high-fidelity prototypes.

• Testing: Usability tests at different stages to validate design decisions.

Key Research Insights

• Competitive Analysis highlighted common patterns (e.g., prominent CTAs, account options, chatbots, clear pricing) and gaps (e.g., location prefill, flexible search dates, better error recovery).

• User Surveys revealed:

  • Most users access booking platforms via mobile.

  • Key goals: booking rooms, checking prices/availability.

  • Payment preferences: credit/debit cards and digital wallets, with flexibility on payment timing.

  • Users want clear cancellation policies, room photos, and transparency in pricing.

• Usability Testing (across competitor sites) uncovered:

  • The importance of photos, cancellation flexibility, date selectors with price previews, and add-ons like breakfast.

  • Overwhelming choices (e.g., too many room options) cause decision fatigue.

  • Users value transparency and easy comparisons (like aggregator sites).

  • Performance issues (e.g., slow load times) impact user decisions.

  • Users prefer visual cues (icons, maps) over technical details (e.g., room size in square meters).

Design Execution

• Customer Journey Map: Highlighted key moments (e.g., search, booking, payment) with user goals, positive interactions, and pain points.

• Flow Diagram: Detailed each screen and state a user would navigate through the booking journey.

• Sketches & Mid-Fidelity Prototypes: Developed through Figma to visualize and test the booking experience.