HOTEL CONFERENCES
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
I redesigned and rebuilt Perth Hotel Conferences – a platform connecting companies with conference hotels across Australia and New Zealand – to modernize its design, centralize hotel data, and automate the inquiry flow through a custom plugin that simplifies both customer journey and content management.
CASE STUDY
Creating conversions for Perth Hotel conferences: developing the inquiry flow
Perth Hotel Conferences is part of World Blue’s network of venue-booking websites, which connect companies with hotel conference spaces across Australia and New Zealand. The website had been live since 2015, but its design and functionality no longer supported modern user expectations or business goals.
MY ROLE
Product Designer and Developer
DURATION
3 months
THE OBJECTIVE
Increase qualified inquiries and reduce time-to-first-response by automating filtering and submission.
Research
The first stage of the research process was an one-on-one interview with a business owner and the head of the hotel conferences department. My goal was to map the current workflow and uncover existing issues alongside potential opportunities for automation and improvement. We walked through the old customer journey – from the moment customer is looking for a place to organize a conference until the deal is signed.
Then, I decided to conduct a user survey for the past customers of the company to learn about their behaviors, needs and goals. The results are as followed:
Customer survey
Finally, I decided to perform the comprehensive analysis of the competition to see how other companies handle customer journey.
Competitor analysis
Research outcome
IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS
- Company didn’t have a way to edit in bulk their database.
- Employees had to manually prepare the offer and contact customer .
- Company didn’t have a place where their would store their customer data and incoming inquiries.
There was no way to measure website success – no tracking of conversions nor collecting customer data.
Customers couldn’t tell whether World Blue had a hotel that met their conference needs.
- Customer didn’t have a way of performing an automatic enquiry.
Ideation
Based on the research insights, I focused on simplifying the inquiry process, reducing manual workload, and helping users quickly find relevant venues.
Crazy 8s
After exploring several concepts, I decided to proceed with Idea 6 – a familiar, filter-first inquiry flow that directly guides users toward submitting an inquiry. This approach aligns with user expectations, as most venue and booking platforms centralize their filtering in one clear, accessible place. It also supports the stakeholder’s requirement to add a sense of personality to the experience, introducing a dog character as a light, guiding element through the process. The design emphasizes simplicity and clarity – removing unnecessary complexity and ensuring users are naturally led toward making an inquiry.
New user flow
Design
Wireframe
Before implementing the design I decide to do these changes to the UI:
- I removed the arrow as it wasn’t a carousel – it was a form when one task had to be performed at the time. I pushed the BACK and RESTART buttons to the top while decreasing their size as there are undesired actions.
- The form at the end of the flow includes all the fields to remove user fatigue from clicking from one screen to another and therefore reduce drop outs.
After implementing the design in Figma, I asked the stakeholders and company employees for their feedback on the new solution. After three iterations, we managed to get the final (although no design is ever final ) version.
Final design
Impact
The project was a success — we successfully implemented a new, automated inquiry flow and introduced ways to measure website performance and conversion rates for the first time. Within the first three months after launch, the site recorded a 3% conversion rate, confirming that users were engaging with the new process effectively.
Looking back, I recognize several opportunities for further refinement. With more time and resources, I would have:
- conducted deeper interviews with past clients to better understand their behavior and motivations behind inquiry drop-offs.
- conducted more extensive pre-launch usability test could have provided earlier insights for fine-tuning the flow.
- prepare an alternative solution for the A/B testing