Service Design for Hotels: Creating Better Guest Experiences

In a world as competitive as today’s, where relevance and visibility are such difficult currencies to earn, a customer’s loyalty to a company is an increasingly valuable proposition. In the hotel sector, this is so evident that it is surprising more strategies are not developed and more resources devoted to achieving it. Among these potential strategies, one is proving to deliver excellent results for both hoteliers and guests: Service Design (SD). SD is a service ideation model drawing on the principles of design thinking. This means that its starting point—the origin of the end-to-end service design—is the guest, and more specifically, their needs. The guest becomes the focus of reflection not only at the end, but throughout the entire process, even participating in it. As a result, the service created offers highly specific and relevant value to them. There are several key elements in SD. On the one hand, it begins with identifying and defining a clear guest need that the service will meet by delivering clear value. In this case, we must recognise that, due to the very nature of the hotel product and the market we serve, it is not merely about meeting the need, but about doing so with excellence. On the other hand, an ideation process is developed in which elements such as error, refinement and testing are essential to defining a service of high value and relevance for both the guest and the hotelier. Prototyping therefore takes on clear importance and helps us define the best direction and development for our model. The process therefore does not begin with something already created or with an existing service; instead, it starts from scratch and opens up every possibility for reflection and ideation, so as not to rule out options or overlook answers. It is also essential to carry out comprehensive, 360-degree analyses that provide us with every possible variable relating to the model we are developing. An extremely interesting book, This Is Service Design Thinking, has recently been published, offering an in-depth description of this methodology and, for example, the following analytical tool. As can be seen, the tool in question enables a comprehensive examination of the service, both from an internal management and communications perspective, and from the standpoint of expectations, their management and their fulfilment. Aligning our models with guest needs and expectations must be more than an objective; it must be clearly reflected in the creation and management of our services. The greatest gift we can receive will be our guests’ loyalty and their voluntary transformation into our marketing ambassadors.

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Service Design for Hotels

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