The Marriott BonVoy program takes their commitment to high-quality experiences seriously. By crafting a seamless user onboarding experience, more travel journeys will get booked and more members will earn points to redeem for hotel stays, room upgrades, dining, spa services, and more.
Let's travel through the UX!
Marriott is the leader in travel and hospitality with one of the most powerful portfolios in the industry - and they want to stay in the lead. For this reason, they wanted to prioritize developing an intuitive onboarding experience to minimize any friction or obstacles to enrollment, ensuring that users can effortlessly navigate the task.
The mission was to get users to move down the funnel and join Marriott Bonvoy’s Loyalty program with an onboarding process that is desirable for the user, viable for business, and technologically feasible.
To create onboarding patterns that fit with the user journey and their desired outcome, in a simple experience that champions the value proposition to join, and ensures people can easily discover the features they need.
New members are not just shown around but also offered a wide array of exclusive perks and bonuses right from the start. They have the chance to discover everything that BonVoy Marriott has to offer in a manner that is both immersive and interactive.In
Human-centered design promotes engagement, collaboration and iteration between designers, stakeholders and most importantly, users. It highlights empathy, taking into account the human perspective in every step of the problem-solving process.
By integrating this approach, I was able to meet the project goals which spanned key business areas while ensuring the product design is as accessible, engaging, and satisfying for users as possible.
This meant supporting the Marketing Team with copy that would resonate with target audiences, resulting in more significant returns on marketing investments. It also meant developing a more intuitive, user-friendly onboarding experience that would boost user engagement and enrollments. For Loyalty, this approach helped us communicate the genuine value of the program to users, thus fostering greater loyalty to the brand.
Research
User Testing
Conduct Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Ask Questions
Synthesize Data
Analysis
Personas
Storyboarding
Problem Statement
Brainstorming
Sketching
Benefits Audit
Storytelling
Voting
Content-first Design
Aesthetic Elements
Wireframes
Animations
Visual Design
Usability Testing
Launch
Feedback
Research
Iterate
Competitive analysis is an essential strategy to help understand the standards and norms in the hotel industry. This involves studying the main competitors, what they offer, how they deliver services, their online presence, and their design and interface approaches. It helped to define what unique values and benefits Marriott can deliver, thereby positioning ourselves distinctly from the competition.
I identified pain points in the competitor’s onboarding process such as slow loading, confusing navigation, unnecessary steps, and inadequate information provided to new users. Then, I endeavored to make Marriott’s onboarding process free from these pain points.
I took inspiration from industry best practices but also put an emphasis on unique selling propositions like Marriott's reputation for service excellence and personalized guest experiences. These findings were instrumental in crafting a digitally streamlined onboarding process that is easy to navigate, engaging, and informative, embodying the high standards Marriott stands for.
The insights from competitive analysis provided a foundation to design an onboarding UX that offers lasting digital experiences, setting Marriott apart and above the crowd in the online hotel booking sector.
Next, I constructed scenarios, based on each persona's goals and behaviors. These were built in detail, imagining how they would interact with the app at each stage of their travel journey. Throughout this process, the key goal was to deliver an onboarding experience and journey that matches users' needs, providing them with a hassle-free and enjoyable travel experience from the moment they open the app, and during their entire journey with BonVoy Marriott.
By understanding the user needs and simulating their potential interactions with the app, I was able to establish the most effective, user-friendly, and efficient designs for the BonVoy Marriott app.
38 • Sales Manager • Boca Raton, FL
Ben stays with Marriott each week for work travel, but he realized while in transit that he forgot to book his usual hotel this week. He quickly downloads the app to his phone and urgently needs to make a booking as soon as possible.
Need: To quickly book a hotel without delay
44 • Dental Hygienist • Austin, TX
Alysha downloaded the Marriott Bonvoy app to view a hotel sent to her by a friend for an upcoming trip, but she didn’t think there was any benefit to signing up as a member.
Need: To see value in joining Marriott Bonvoy
24 • Interaction Designer• Santa Francisco, CA
Tanya has chosen a Marriott hotel for her upcoming vacation. She has never stayed with Marriott before. She downloads the app to see if she has the best price, and to earn points for her stay towards future trips.
Need: To learn about her member benefits and start earning points for future stays
57 • Account Manager • Seattle, WA
Lee frequently stayed with Marriott for work and earned Lifetime Silver elite status before he retired last year. He is planning a trip abroad and has downloaded the app to redeem his points for bookings.
Need: To use elite status benefits and redeem points for stays
The onboarding process had to be crafted in a way that will not only engage users, but keep them interested and inclined to join the Loyalty program. I focused on creating an intuitive, seamless flow that minimized user frustration and encouraged positive user engagement. Through collaborative brainstorming and iterations, we crafted a logical flow that respectfully asks for user's permissions and also transparently explains why we need these permissions and how they enhance the user's experience.
This process involved carefully considering user's potential concerns and objections, designing the user interface and interaction model accordingly, and anticipating the points of resistance within the user journey.
The permissions flow needed to consider different operating system regulations and design guidelines to ensure the compatibility and optimal performance on multiple devices.The Product team was continuously updated to ensure that the implemented design fulfilled the business needs and the flow logic integrated seamlessly with other app functions.. In short, it was a multi-disciplinary project where effective collaboration and persistent focus on user's needs and business objectives resulted in an efficient, empathetic, and engaging device permission flow.
The onboarding process had to be crafted in a way to engage users and get them interested to join the Loyalty program. Conveying a strong and attractive user value proposition was crucial in making users want to join the loyalty program. We highlighted the unique benefits of the program and a seamless sign-up process, without lengthy forms and multiple verification steps.
I took a close look at the app’s core value —and made it obvious to users. Everything had to make a valuable statement about the product and its capabilities.
The Onboarding Experience, crafted with deep understanding and thoughtful design, targets users' pain points, helping them understand the value of the membeership and providing relevant prompts at each step of their journey.
Cut down on jargon, speaking to the users in simple, user-friendly language.
Delivered an enjoyable journey rather than a mundane task.
Able to significantly decrease the resistance points, resulting in increased user engagement, improved enrollment, and higher user retention.
Marriott is the leader in travel and hospitality with one of the most powerful portfolios in the industry - and they want to stay in the lead. For this reason, they want to prioritize developing intuitive onboarding that minimizes any friction or obstacles, ensuring that users can effortlessly navigate through product enrollment. The goal was to craft a user experience that is effortless and seamless, allowing users to.
Marriott is the leader in the hospitality industry with one of the most powerful portfolios in the industry. For this reason, they want to prioritize developing an intuitive onboarding that minimizes any friction or obstacles, ensuring that users can effortlessly navigate.
Marriott is the leader in the hospitality industry with one of the most powerful portfolios in the industry. For this reason, they want to prioritize developing an intuitive onboarding that minimizes any friction or obstacles, ensuring that users can effortlessly navigate.
This project focuses on delivering a seamless authentication experience, so users can search for homes by moving between App and Homes & Villas website without having to sign-in again.
Increase in HVMB traffic
Increase take rate with flow that does not interrupt the user by prompting them to sign-in again
Parity with Hotels and Resorts customer experinces
Launch Date
Book Tab Results with Homes & Villas dynamic link
Webview Wrapper for Loading State
Book Tab Results with Homes & Villas dynamic link
Each frame is lively, dynamic and tailored to the user's personal experience over the past year. t’s not just about getting information out there but also about delivering it in an exciting, visually-stimulating manner that grabs people’s attention. Information is brought to life with animations, color, and custom design that is informative, consistent, and on-brand with a splash of boldness.
The year-end review communicates facts, figures, and trips data. Animations, micro-interactions, sizing, and styling choices make these main points stand out. We used large text, as well as fade-in effects that bring attention to the details about members travel habits.
It is concise and follows a logical flow that feels natural while meeting technical MVP constraints, such as no ability to share.
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