dib Hotels
Web App
Overview
In this project, I was tasked with creating an entirely new concept for booking luxury hotel accommodations at discounted rates during off-peak seasons. The stakeholders approached me with a unique idea: allowing users to submit bids for hotel rooms based on their travel needs and budgets, while hotels could respond with offers for unsold rooms. My responsibility was to bring this concept to life — from wireframing to full UI/UX design, branding, and illustrations. This case study will delve into my design process, the challenges I faced, and the lessons I learned along the way.
The Problem
Luxury hotel rooms often remain vacant during off-season periods, which represents a missed opportunity for both hotels and potential guests. Business travelers, in particular, need to stay within a certain budget, even when seeking higher-end accommodations. The challenge was to create an app that addressed both of these issues: increasing hotel occupancy during slow times while offering users affordable luxury accommodations.
However, the app needed to be more than just another booking platform. It needed to introduce a completely new concept: allowing users to bid on hotel rooms based on their needs and receive offers from hotels eager to fill rooms during off-peak seasons. The complexity and novelty of this concept posed significant challenges, particularly in terms of user experience and engagement.
My Role
I was deeply involved in every aspect of this project, from conceptualization to final design. After receiving the initial concept from stakeholders, I was responsible for:
Wireframing and Prototyping the entire platform for both the customer-facing side and the hotel portal.
UI/UX Design: Creating an intuitive, visually appealing experience that would work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices.
Landing Pages & Onboarding: Designing different landing pages tailored to specific user cohorts and a step-by-step onboarding process that guided users through this novel experience.
Branding and Illustrations: Building a cohesive visual identity for dib Hotels that matched the brand’s stylish, premium, yet accessible ethos.
Design Process
Wireframing
The first step was translating the core idea into a functional user experience. I started with wireframes, focusing on mapping out the user flow for both travelers and hotels. Given the complexity of the offer-based booking system, it was essential to ensure that the flow was intuitive.
Users had to input a lot of detailed information — destination, check-in and check-out dates, number of guests, star rating preferences, and most importantly, their budget. I iterated on the wireframes to refine these steps and make them as user-friendly as possible, while keeping in mind the business goals: helping hotels fill unsold rooms.
UI/UX Design
Once the wireframes were in place, I transitioned to designing the UI. I focused heavily on making the app visually appealing and easy to use. The target audience was business travelers, so the design needed to balance professionalism with a sense of style. A clean, minimalistic interface was essential for making the app feel premium, while clear CTAs and progress indicators were necessary for guiding users through the complex offer creation process.
Responsive Design
Another significant challenge was ensuring the design worked across devices. Business travelers are often on the go, meaning the mobile experience had to be just as polished as the desktop version. However, due to limited resources, I had to create a responsive design without an extensive overhaul for mobile. By leveraging flexible design systems and components, I ensured that the experience remained consistent and intuitive regardless of the device used.
Portal for Hotels
In addition to the customer-facing side, I also designed a portal for hotels. This was where hotels could view and respond to offers, manage their room availability, and communicate directly with users. The portal needed to be simple and functional, allowing hotel staff to manage offers efficiently without being bogged down by a cumbersome interface.
Landing Pages & Onboarding
One of my main goals was to ensure that users could understand and engage with this new concept quickly. I designed multiple landing pages for different user cohorts, such as first-time visitors, frequent business travelers, and those specifically looking for luxury accommodations. Each landing page featured tailored messaging and a clear, step-by-step onboarding process.
For example, I created a step-by-step onboarding flow that walked users through how the app worked — starting with entering travel details, setting their price, and receiving offers. This was crucial in helping users, many of whom would be unfamiliar with the concept, feel comfortable using the app.
Solutions Implemented
Offer Creation Process
The core feature of dib Hotels was the ability for users to create offers for hotel rooms. I designed a clear and intuitive offer creation process. Users would start by selecting their destination, entering check-in and check-out dates, selecting their preferred star rating, and then setting a price they were willing to pay.
On the offer creation screen, I introduced elements like:
Visual feedback on pricing: Users would see a probability meter that indicated the likelihood of their offer being accepted based on historical data, helping them make informed decisions.
Service Selection: Users could choose additional services and amenities, like breakfast or parking, which impacted the price of their offer.
Email Communication
Once users submitted an offer, the process didn’t end there. I designed stylish, branded email templates that were sent to users once their offers were either accepted, rejected, or counter-offered by a hotel. These emails were clean and simple, keeping the messaging straightforward while reinforcing the brand’s identity.
Challenges
One of the most significant challenges was designing for a completely new concept. There was no pre-existing model for an app where users bid on hotel rooms, so I had to think creatively and test multiple user flows to ensure the experience was both innovative and user-friendly.
Additionally, the lack of extensive resources meant that I had to make smart decisions in terms of prioritizing features and ensuring that the mobile responsive version of the site was functional without requiring a complete redesign.
Lessons Learned
The main lesson I learned from this project is that innovation, while risky, can pay off in a big way. Dib Hotels was a completely new concept in the market, and while there were challenges in creating a user experience that supported this novel idea, the end result proved that taking risks is sometimes necessary to create something truly unique.
Building something that no one had tried before was an exciting challenge, and the fact that dib Hotels continues to operate successfully today as part of dib Travel is a testament to the hard work and innovation that went into this project.
Conclusion
Working on dib Hotels was a fulfilling experience, from building out the initial wireframes to seeing the final branded app come to life. The opportunity to create an entirely new booking concept from scratch was both challenging and rewarding. By balancing innovation with usability, I was able to help design an app that increased hotel occupancy during off-seasons while offering business travelers affordable luxury accommodations.
This project reinforced the value of creative problem-solving and the importance of designing user experiences that break new ground. Ultimately, dib Hotels serves as an excellent case study of how taking a bold approach to design and user experience can result in a successful, long-lasting product.
