Introduction
Imagine starting fresh with a blank slate—a new company focused on automating staff workflows. That's exactly what I did as one of the initial hires and sole design lead at Goki. Our mission was ambitious: streamline hotel operations by creating a platform that could handle diverse tasks seamlessly. Let me take you through the journey—full of challenges and triumphs—that shaped Goki into what it is today.
Discovery & Definition
Our research revealed that hotels and hostels had unique needs. Based on findings, we pinpointed essential features:
- Automation Integration: Seamless integration with existing systems.
- Task Management: Efficient handling of multiple tasks simultaneously.
- User Experience: Easy-to-use interfaces accessible on various devices.
- Customization Options: Tailored solutions for different property management styles. By focusing on these elements, we aimed to make automation intuitive and efficient for everyone involved.
Development & Delivery
Through the mock sessions, we identified critical functional and environmental needs, We understood that any time spend figuring out how to use tools or finding information took time away from serving their guests; our goal was to maximize staff time efficiency.
Learnings
- It is essential for the automation to work flawlessly with their correct integrations. To facilitate this, we incorporated features that allow staff to trigger actions based on third-party integrations.
- We optimized the workspace for small screens and included a dedicated section for contextual help and support.
- I designed an interactions that automatically show the output of the automation.
As we progressed from concept to vision, I used wireframes to help the team concentrate on the content and user experience. This approach enabled us to enhance the design and clarify our vision as we gained a deeper understanding of our product.
High-fidelity
As the design process advanced and our product vision became clearer, I focused on creating high-fidelity designs and prototypes. At this stage, I used my skills to develop a functional prototype that highlighted the product's key features and user experience. This helped us gain a better understanding of how the product would work in real-life situations and identify areas for improvement.
The homestretch
As we gained more confidence in our final approach, we shifted from design and prototyping to development to create a complete product experience, including engineering design, during this time, we made a fully-functional application that we rigorously tested over several weeks before shipping; the focus shifted to refining interactions and usability, which we did in code.
A significant challenge during this project was designing a UI to cater to all user group, access level, technical knowledge. To overcome this, I focused on developing a clear and concise interface with easy-to-understand interactions and symbol, aiming to create an interface that was easy to intuit and required minimal training for all users.
Impact
This release was a significant milestone for both us and the product roadmap. Personally, it has been quite a ride. Our business partner received it well. We were especially inspired and fulfilled when we heard the story of how a property managed their guests' management remotely during COVID-19. In terms of business, we experienced a 23% increase in sales for new customers and a 15% increase in customer satisfaction. A survey conducted among 175 staff members revealed that 86% found this release to be very helpful. Moving forward, we need to continue monitoring data and numbers for future iterations and improvements.