Food and beverage are an integral part of Marriott's core business. Empowering guests with the opportunity to browse and order food within the app, amplifies convenience and while diversifying sales.
In this new feature, guests have the convenience of browsing and ordering from hotel restaurants within the app. This capability is hosted by a vendor-resourced web app that is embedded into the app. As lead designer on the Marriott team, I was responsible for collaborating with the vendor designer to ensure the experience was seamless.
While the vendor designer was responsible for creating the end to end user flow of the web application, we worked in tandem to ensure the guest experience was optimal. Daily reviews of the work provided the designer with a gut check on usability and visual design decisions. This collaboration helped to ensure the end experience mirrored the look and feel of the Marriott app.
Mobile Dining launched at a few select properties, primarily offering Courtyard Bistro food selections. This soft launch gave us the opportunity to better understand where in the process guests found points of friction and delight.
Supporting the work of the vendor designer entailed identifying unique elements in the toolkit that would make the web application a seamless experience for the user.
In order for guests to exit the web app, we implemented the use of house icon. The icon symbolizes a return to the Marriott mobile app. What we learned is that the floating icon, impedes copy in error messages and creates a unique experience to the guest that may not be intuitive. Exploration of UI elements already present in toolkit may yield a better user experience.