Luxury Concierge Experience
Luxury hotel guests expect their hotel to provide them with the best
experiences possible, yet concierge services have not advanced to
keep up with emerging technology. The traditional concierge
experience, according to our users, is standard and functional. Our
design showcases unique opportunities that only luxury hotels can
provide by putting exploration at the heart of the concierge experience.
We accomplish this by designing an inviting space for hotel guests to
meet with the concierge, showcasing local opportunities through
immersive projection videos, and putting guests in charge of the
curated city exploration through a tabletop interactive map.
Fall 2021 / Interactive Design Studio
Sponsored by Cognizant
Group Work, Service Design, User Testing, Adobe XD, Keyshot, Adobe InDesign
Problem Space Familiarization
Our group's initial research focused on these four areas:
In-Room Technology
What exists currently in hotel rooms? What is standard and what changes as the hotel becomes more prestigious? What technology goes too far and makes the experience impersonal?
Employee Interaction
How does service contribute to luxury experiences? At what point can human error detract from luxury? When is it beneficial to interact with employees?
Meaning of Luxury
What specifically do guests value? How can a luxury hotel make itself unique? How can you make guests feel welcome to exclusivity?
Future of Luxury
What role do luxury hotels play in a community? How has COVID changed guest values? Where is there room for innovation in luxury?
I was solely responsible for finding, reaching out to, and interviewing our subject matter experts. I conducted the interviews and contributed my findings to the group analysis.
Here is an example of my notes from an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution Food and Dining Editor.
Research Analysis
Utilizing Miro, our group organized all our research and analyzed it using a mind map, an affinity diagram, and a position map.
Technology Research
Technology Position Map
Affinity Diagram
Mind Map
Final Guiding Insights
Throughout our entire project, we looked to these insights to inform all of our decisions.
Focused Creativity
Each experience should be creative but have a clear focus. Differentiation is what makes hotels special.
Community Involvement
Luxury hotels are beginning to take on a unique purpose in their local communities because they have the means to create one-of-a-kind experiences.
Importance of Humanity
Staff interaction and appreciation is critical to the atmosphere of luxury hotels. Any integration of technology cannot feel cold or take away from human interaction.
Technology Integration
The integration of technology does not directly relate to the luxuriousness of the hotel. Many high end hotels utilize the same technology as standard hotels.
Concept Development
Based on our research findings, luxury hotels are leveraging their unique connections to the community to provide exclusive experiences to their guests. We are designing for couples and small groups aged 30-35 who are treating themselves to a luxury experience for the first time. They are traveling to a new city and want to learn about local culture. Utilizing the concierge, our concept will encourage guests to plan their trip with the hotel.
Currently, concierge services do not utilize technology and primarily communicate verbally with guests. Concierges do not have any tools to showcase local opportunities. We are designing an immersive physical space that will provide guests a place to explore opportunities and confidently plan experiences they will enjoy. We maintain human interaction by putting the concierge in charge of technology. This way, the integration of technology will not feel cold.
Our team will design a physical installation that can be located in the lobby, yet maintains its own specific environment. This immersive service experience will utilize projection mapping and curated content to give guests a taste of what the city will be like. We will design the sound experience to further immersion.
User Testing
Our team made appointments for seven different participants to test both
traditional and interactive concierge experiences.
Our goals in designing the tests were to find out
(1) should the concierge or the guest be in control of the interactive map,
(2) should the immersive projections utilize abstract or concrete visuals, and
(3) will guests gain a more comprehensive understanding of local opportunities through the interactive experience?
Each user test lasted 45 minutes and consisted of a traditional experience, an
immersive experience, comprehension tests, and an exit interview. All
participants are aged 19-25 with a variety of familiarity with industrial
design methods.
In order to simulate our interactive map, we used Wizard of Oz methods with
3 printed states of the map: general, close-up Little 5 Points, and close-up
Buckhead. The guest and concierge would manipulate the printed map as if it
was a screen, and another team member would change the state of the map by
replacing the printed page. Lastly, a third team member would then start the
immersive experiences (based on a click interaction on the map) manually from
their computer, simulating the seamless immersion.
User Test Results
We found that, in general, guests believed that the immersive concierge experience provided them a less biased way to learn about the city. They felt empowered to explore the map on their own and did not have to solely rely on concierge recommendations.
Participants preferred the stylized map because it demonstrated that the hotel had put in effort to curate opportunities around the city. The map felt personal, exciting, and engaging. Guests felt like they holistically understood the feeling of Atlanta environments through the immersive experience, and preferred this to having a list of recommendations. Finally, guests enjoyed the movement of the Little 5 Points video more than the Buckhead pictures. However, they really liked the specific callouts of experiences in the Buckhead content.
I put together word maps to illustrate our users' feelings about the traditional concierge experience, the interactive experience, and about the city of Atlanta in general.
Traditional Concierge Buzzwords
Interactive Concierge Buzzwords
City of Atlanta Buzzwords
Actionable Findings
These test results will guide us in the next iteration of our prototype.
Cohesion
All information available on the map needs a corresponding projection video.
Tracking Interests
Guests need a running list of which excursions the concierge has discussed with them.
After Appointment
Guests need clear instructions on
what is being reserved and what
they need to follow up on.
Concrete Visuals
The immersive experience should
showcase concrete visuals to place
guests in the virtual environment.
Final Design
Luxury hotel guests expect their hotel to provide them with the best experiences possible, yet concierge services have not advanced to keep up with emerging technology. The traditional concierge experience, according to our users, is standard and functional. Our design showcases unique opportunities that only luxury hotels can provide by putting exploration at the heart of the concierge experience. We accomplish this by designing an inviting space for hotel guests to meet with the concierge, showcasing local opportunities through immersive projection videos, and putting guests in charge of the curated city exploration through a tabletop interactive map.
This design extends the luxury hotel experience beyond the physical building, encouraging guests to interact with the local attractions based on hotel connections. The hotel curates all the content for the map and projection display, but gives guests control of their trip planning. When guests leave this concierge appointment, they carry with them an itinerary for their trip as well as the confidence that comes with knowing they will enjoy the activities booked for them.
In this video, I filmed all of the in-person views around Atlanta and the interactive map.
In this video, I filmed the interactive map and created all videos of the rendered space.
Final Prototype and Exhibition
In order to prove our concept, we designed our space to fit in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Atlanta, GA, and have designed a stylized map of Atlanta. If we continued development, every location shown on the map would be interactive and have a corresponding video to display. For the scope of our project and testing, we detailed out experiences in both Buckhead and Little Five Points. Along with our rendered model of the space, we constructed a mid-fidelity prototype space that includes two BENQ projectors and an EPSON Brightlink 485wi interactive projector. We set this up to demonstrate the interactivity of the map at the correct scale.
While I consulted my teammates at every step, I was ultimately responsible for the interactive map that we used in our final prototype. I completed the graphic design, made my own illustrations, and used Adobe XD to build the wireframe.
Click on either Buckhead or Little Five Points to start planning your itinerary.
At our school's Launchpad Exhibit, I set up an interactive table-top projection so viewers could interact with the map prototype.
