Challenge

The Premier Inn service offering has been refined and upgraded over the past decade winning the loyalty of many budget travellers. However its price per night has increased along with its quality. This has effectively opened up a space at the sub-budget end of market where providers to compete for guest loyalty, yet no established brand is able to consistently win their trust.

Approach

After an introductory interview participants then spent the night in a functional prototype of the new room. During their stay they captured a number of short video diary entries expressing their thoughts on the ‘Pros and Cons’ of the in room experience. A final review interview was arranged in the morning to understand their experience overall, their likelihood to use such a service, and any design aspects which could be adjusted to make it a better fit for them.

Process

After an introductory interview participants thenspent the night in a functional prototype of the new room. During their stay they captured a number of short video diary entries expressing their thoughts on the ‘Pros and Cons’ of the in room experience. A final review interview was arranged in the morning to understand their experience overall, their likelihood to use such a service, and any design aspects which could be adjusted to make it a better fit for them.

Outcome

The outputs from the sessions were carefully analysed to evaluate each aspect of the proposed service. Specifically this enabled the confident identification of the room design variant which met most people’s needs on most stay occasions. The participant video diary clips were then collated and analysed to support a prioritisation of room design features which needed iteration and improvement in the next version of the prototype.