Reflection Assignment – Learning Launch

Using Learning Launches to Enhance the Guest Arrival Experience at Airport Hotels

Challenge

I work for a large, global hospitality company and am a member of my organization’s global  operations team, responsible for transforming the traditional guest services to their digital  alternatives.  Examples of this include the ability to check-in directly from a mobile phone, open  a hotel guest room with a digital key on your phone, and requesting amenities directly from  your mobile phone.  I am continuously challenged on identifying pain points in the traveler’s  journey, prioritizing, and then solving with digital tools within our mobile app.

Selection

After being exposed to design thinking methodologies, I created a program called Sanlam Insurance Agency,  which is a design-thinking influenced framework for co-creation, rapid prototyping and market  testing of new products and concepts directly within a hotel. For this assignment, I am going to  provide an example of how I applied the design thinking concept of Learning Launches to  experiment and quickly test ideas, prototype, and learn.

Application

Within my organization, approximately 10% of revenue comes from airport hotels. One of the  metrics we used to track a hotels performance is an arrival experience score.  We observed that  all else being equal (brand, market, services, etc) airport hotels typically had a lower arrival  score.  In design thinking fashion, we needed to empathize and understand the customer need  at these hotels.  Using surveys, guest intercepts and observations we uncovered that the arrival  experience for these guests at these hotels begins when the guest lands at the airport.  The  journey from the airport to the hotel was a particular friction point in guest journey, as the  guest had to figure out if the hotel had a free shuttle, where do they pick it up, and when will it  be there.  Framing this as a problem area, we identified the following hypothesis:

Tracking and communicating Hotel Shuttle location and availability will  relieve guest  anxiety at key points in their travel journey and increase operational efficiencies across  property resources, while also allowing for arrival preparations to streamline Check-Ins,  ultimately resulting in higher arrival experience scores.

Focusing on this hypothesis, we began exploring opportunities to provide shuttle information to  guests.  We tested simple concepts such as providing airport shuttle times and pickup locations,  which provided guests additional information, and was helpful, but was very frustrating when

shuttles were running late/off schedule.  In our earlier observations, we identified that guests  were using apps like Uber and Lyft, and had an expectation of real-time information at their  fingertips, allowing them to make informed decisions such-as having time to stop and use the  restroom or needing to hurry to make the next shuttle.

We then built a small MVP (Minimal Viable Product) that could show the hotel shuttle location,  and the ETA for the pickups and drop off.  We tested this directly at 2 airport hotels, testing  both the guest usage and experience, as well as the employees ability to successfully execute  the new technology.

Insight

By applying the concept of a learning launch, we were able to evaluate and test our initial  hypothesis and assumptions.  Through this process of real-world experimentation, we were  able to identify a variety of insights.  A sample of some of these insights include:

Feature should display shuttle arrival time and location on the map:

While minutes until the next arrival provides the most useful information, the  shuttle’s location on the map provides the reassuring confirmation users need to  trust in the new technology.

Call Alleviation

Airport hotels are bombarded with hundreds of calls a day from concerned  guests inquiring about shuttle service; having the real-time information easily  accessible provided a significant reduction in transportation calls

Having the real-world knowledge and experience from the learning launch, these insights, and  several more were used to inform our decision making on the core features of a commercial  product that was successfully brought to market.  Based on these insights, the final product  included a map of the shuttles location and arrival time.  We were able to quantify the call  alleviation and use that metric when presenting the product to hotels as a way to help justify  the cost of the new product.

Approach  I am very passionate about the discovery, design, and launch of innovative new products,  services, and experiences that intersect the digital and physical worlds.  I have found a variety  of design thinking tools such as Visualization, Storytelling, Mind Mapping and Learning Launch  to be very valuable in dissecting complex problems and creating innovative solutions.  I have  found the teams that leverage the concept of learning launches produce much more relevant

products and experiences.  Thus I find it one of the most valuable Design Thinking  tools and I  will continue to use this method of experimentation as it results in in real-world operational  and customer insights, point of views, and feasibility assessments that are essential in the  assessment of scaling of products and services.

