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Mobile technology adapts to the device and the user

Hotel companies are growing and enhancing their mobile websites and apps at a rapidly increasing pace, tweaking designs to mirror not just specific types of devices, but different kinds of users, too. The idea is to ensure that whether guests are scrolling through their smartphones or tablets — or even their watches — what those guests see will look great on the screen and engage them.

Mobile website evolution is an ongoing extension of the concept broadly known as “responsive design,” which encompasses the far-ranging goal of tailoring sites to specific uses for a given device as well as the unique needs of each user.

“I think there’s been a big leap forward,” said Michael Schubach, an independent hotel tech consultant based in Atlanta. “Earlier attempts at mobility were all ‘pick a device, pick a size,’ but now the idea of sizing and presentation and logical flow has been accepted both by the design community and by the users. They’re intuitively understanding what they have to do in order to respond to what they’re seeing, across different devices.”

That means evolving mobile web as well as complimentary apps to offer users content and resources fine-tuned to each user’s demands. That can include everything from destination information to directions from the airport to the hotel to listings of late-night restaurants.

“You really need to look at who, what, when, where, how and why,” said Robert Cole, founder and CEO of RockCheetah, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “A lot of people will just immediately jump to the ‘what’ or the ‘where’ and they don’t look at the others. What you really need to start with is the ‘who’ and the ‘why.’ I always tell folks that they need to look at these personas and be as specific as possible.”

Hotel companies respond

Hotel companies are listening. Johan Michelson, Scandic Hotels’ vice president of brand and marketing, said the company is currently changing its entire e-commerce platform and will be featuring new responsive designs. According to Michelson, the key driver for the company’s latest emphasis on responsive design is to enhance user-friendliness by allowing contextual marketing in the mobile space, where content is adapted to the situation and the device and thus becomes more relevant.

“To engage and create relevant content requires a new way of working, focusing on relationship marketing, understanding the customer and their needs,” Michelson said.

Michelson noted that Scandic will also place extra focus on developing content and services linked to the actual stay at the hotel with relevant pre-arrival information and the ability to select rooms and check in as well as in-hotel services before arrival. To drive loyalty, some services will only be available to customers booking through Scandic’s direct channels.

In the United States, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is currently employing a multi-device strategy based on unique content and functionality per device type. For example, the company’s smartphone app has the mobile traveler in mind, so it’s easy to use with just one eye and one thumb while walking through an airport or at the destination. The design may be different for other devices, like tablets, based upon their perceived primary uses.

Starwood’s mobile app for smartphones and watches is designed for in-moment guest needs like directions or hotel phone numbers.
Starwood’s mobile app for smartphones and watches is designed for in-moment guest needs like directions or hotel phone numbers.

“Our iPad apps are much more for dreaming and planning — a lot more descriptive content is there to help a guest or customer really think about their trip three months from now,” explained Julie Atkinson, senior vice president of global digital for Starwood. “Even our Apple Watch app is designed for in-moment guest needs like directions, hotel phone number or other in-stay needs. The content really varies by how we’re thinking about the traveler and the customer segment.”

Atkinson added that after a guest leaves a Starwood hotel, a whole new set of communications occur. In the post-stay realm, the company uses a multi-device strategy to ensure the guest is engaged through at least one channel.

“When we reach out post-stay, we want people to engage with our reviews engine, so we’ll push solicitations around submitting reviews, we’ll have social check-ins, and they do that on any device,” Atkinson said. “Once you’re back from a trip, it can be via mobile apps, but also through our mobile web and even our guest app.”

Hilton Worldwide is hard at work tweaking its mobile apps, too. The company recently redesigned its HHonors app home screen to be more contextual, featuring any upcoming trips front-and-center, and has since seen a 50% increase in user engagement. It is also steering users to direct channels by offering a host of new features.

“For example, our Bid-By-Flight tool connects travelers whose flights have been canceled with nearby hotels by automatically increasing our ad buys in markets where flight cancellations are especially heavy,” said Dana Shefsky, director of brand and guest technology for Hilton Worldwide. “If your flight was cancelled and you’re looking for a hotel, a quick search will show the nearby and available Hilton properties.”

There is also plenty of room for growth and change, as experts admit the constant evolution of the mobile space means branded apps will also need to adapt over time. Starwood has already embraced the new Apple Watch by offering a Starwood app tailored specifically for the device. Today’s tech luxury could very well become tomorrow’s necessity.

“We definitely are designing on the fly as new mediums emerge,” Atkinson said. “The Apple Watch app is a great example of that. We designed for the Apple Watch taking into consideration the different screen size and guests with much different needs than when they’re carrying around their phone. We did some usability testing on our apps a couple of weeks ago, and someone showed up with the Apple Watch and said, ‘I just opened a door via my Apple Watch, and I loved it. It was great.’ So we’re definitely seeing it used, and it’s exciting. Is it as popular as the phone? No. But will it be? Maybe.”

Contributed by Brendan Manley

Editor’s note: For more about the latest trends in mobile technology, check out the July/August issue of HOTELS.

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