{"id":1717,"date":"2019-07-02T05:47:27","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T05:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbintersection.com\/blog\/?p=1717"},"modified":"2019-08-22T18:19:05","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T18:19:05","slug":"co-creating-a-more-inclusive-customer-experiences-at-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbintersection.com\/blog\/co-creating-a-more-inclusive-customer-experiences-at-hotels\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-Creating More Inclusive Customer Experiences at Hotels"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Case Study: Design Thinking and Academic Collaboration with HTSI to Enhance Customer Experiences<\/h3>\n\n

The Project<\/h4>\n\n

In February and March, we united with the HTSI School of Tourism Management, professor\u00a0Daniela Freund<\/a>, and her colleagues to work on a project for the\u00a0AC Victoria Suites Barcelona Hotel by Marriott<\/a>. Our main focus was on giving HTSI students the necessary skills to create professional, creative business proposals that the hotel could use to enhance customer experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

HTSI\u2019s project<\/a> comprised students in the school\u2019s \u201cTourism for All\u201d course for bachelor students majoring in Tourism at the university. The goal of the participating HTSI students was to develop experiences, products, and services designed to improve the hotel experiences of families with children diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder).<\/p>\n\n

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\u00abTourism for All\u00bb design we did to represent the visual road map outlining the student\u00b4s innovative learning journey focused to work with a real project<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

What We Did<\/h4>\n\n

For this project, we facilitated a design thinking and visual tool workshop sessions with\u00a0HTSI hotel management<\/a> students. In addition, we helped develop visual tools and activities to help students to work through the process:<\/p>\n\n

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  1. For empathizing with client and customer needs and understanding their environment\u00a0and current interaction.<\/li>\n
  2. That ideate and envision new customer experiences.<\/li>\n
  3. To prototype the final solution based on previous observations and ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
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    Design Thinking facilitation in progress with a set of visual tools form our InnoDesignKITS collection and other creative tools such as legos, collage, textiles, post its and several recycled materials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n



    Visualizing and Empathizing with Client Needs<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n

    Alexandra Etel Rodriguez (CEO and Innovation Architect) led an ideation workshop at Factory 103. The workshop began with an icebreaking activity that required each student to draw a portrait of one other student. After everyone was engaged and comfortable with their new surroundings, Rodriguez taught the students how to utilize an empathy map that visually outlined the needs of both the customers (families) and the client (the hotel). As a result, students were able to see areas for improvement in customer experiences.<\/p>\n\n

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    Empathyzing with customer and client needs with an Empathy Map visual tool<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

    Creative Ideation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

    Once the students completed their empathy maps, they were then divided into groups of two. Rodriguez then told them to write down 10 ideas as to how the AC Victoria Suites could create a more inclusive environment for families with mentally disabled children. Finally, the pairs divided their ideas into different categories based on the different challenges they identified needed to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n

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    Ideation phase based on quantity in order to help participants to come up with lot of ideas ideas during a short period of time<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

    Promoting Lateral Thinking<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

    Lateral thinking is a creative technique in which a person solves a problem with an indirect, creative approach that visualizes and addresses the problem in a unique manner.\u00a0\u00a0In order to promote lateral thinking among HTSI students, Alexandra led a \u201cWhat if?\u201d activity. For this activity, the students were required to attack their recent ideas from different angles. Then, they brainstormed solutions for a variety of potential problems, scenarios, and questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

    After the \u201cWhat if?\u201d exercise was completed, the group took turns reviewing each pair\u2019s ideas. Next, they decided which of each pair\u2019s respective 10 ideas showed the most promise and feasibility for the hotel. Once each pair knew what their strongest idea was, they were then instructed to revisit the empathy maps that they had created earlier. They then tailored them to fit their best ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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    \"\"\n
    What if …? Cards with images related to tourism trends, allowed students to attack ideas from different angles and come up with creative solutions.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

    The Prototype<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

    For the third phase of the design thinking workshop, the students utilized all the activities completed prior and created a prototype and business proposal of their chosen ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n