Accor is a hospitality group with over 45 brands and 5,600 hotels.
Users who manage individual hotels.
Users who oversee the performance of multiple hotels that fall under the same brand or region.
We collected user feedback via a short survey to discover existing user pain points. I also conducted a heuristic audit with the goal of simplifying the dashboard for low-tech users. Based on the research, we discovered the following painpoints:
In the older dashboard, all users, regardless of responsibilities shared the same view. However, not all metrics were equally important to different types of users.
Some hotel managers, especially those less familiar with technology, found the dashboard difficult to navigate. Their feedback revealed confusion about where to look and what key actions to complete.
The ability to filter the dashboard view was scattered across different modules. Each module had its own filtering dropdown (hotel vs. country vs. brand), navigating the scope of data was extremely difficult.
There are over hundreds of fields that positively impact a hotel’s ranking in search engines. A field can be as specific as whether a hotel has vending machines. Since some fields are more impactful than others (private beach vs. vending machines), users wanted to know which ones to prioritize.
End users were hotel experts but are not SEO experts. They wanted to know how to interpret the information and how it impacted their hotel’s performance.
The field grouping offered a high-level overview of fields. Within each category, user still needed to scan a long list of seemingly-random fields.
For users to access the information they needed quickly, we explored alternative ways to group and filter metrics on the dashboard.
To help users scan the fields and find the desired ones more quickly, we revamped the field grouping and introduced additional sub-categories to support more granular mental models.
To promote further actions by the hotel managers to improve hotel's digital performance, we added a net-new "Next Step" module.
To help users know which fields will have the most impact on their hotel performance, we developed a visual system to communicate different impact levels. We explored three concepts and ultimately chose the second option for its clear messaging, best use of colors, and conciseness.
The option is straightforward but doesn't visually distinguish the levels from each other.
We picked this option for its clear messaging, best use of colors, and conciseness.
Dots alone don’t convey enough meaning, but adding text labels introduces visual clutter.
To help hoteliers better understand how their completion rate, we added a tooltip to establish benchmarks for hotel managers.
There are dedicated modules for each distinct type of metric. Filters are consolidated at the top of the dashboard. Users can customize their dashboard view using the filters based on their role and goals all at once.
Carefully crafted tooltips are seen throughout the dashboard to help educate users on what they are looking at and why it is important for them.
Next-step suggestions are provided to guide the users towards impactful actions and improve hotels' online presence.
Fields are reorganized and meticulously grouped into sub-categories to help users find the field are looking for more quickly.
The impact level of each field on their digital performance is added. The color-coded labels help users prioritize which fields to complete.
The initial phase of the project is complete, with positive feedback from end users highlighting its value.
— Laurance
— Maamar
Among the feedback, however, we also recieved request to further enhance the dashboard. These feedback will be addressed in the upcoming product iteractions.
User feedback revealed that they want to understand the data in the analytic modules, interpret visualizations, and know what actions to take next. Users also expressed interest in seeing more dynamic data and being able to compare changes across longer time periods.
With the improved filtering experience, users are now requesting even more flexibility, such as the ability to manually select a custom subset of hotels to view aggregated performance.
