A brand for every traveler
Marriott International became the largest hotel company in the world when it purchased Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 2017. With now over 30 unique brands, it serves and caters to their guests on a very personalized level.
Following the Starwood merger, the core aim was to unify under one platform while preserving 31 distinct brand identities. Each brand had its unique tone, vision, mission, and visual identity.
Our task was to craft a connected design system that enables full brand expression atop a shared template. This involved an extensive overhaul of digital touchpoints, particularly the mobile web and app experience for each brand's hotel.
My Role
Design Manager + Lead Designer
The Team
Systems Design, Brand Design, Engineering, A11y
Company
Marriott International
The Challenge
Revamping the entire platform for 30 distinct brand identities posed multifaceted challenges.
Synchronizing Brand Leaders and Product Design, harmonizing diverse brand layouts on a common foundation, managing individual brand colors, and ensuring accessibility and compliance across all 31 brands.
Focus + Leadership
Alignment & Collaboration
Facilitating coordination between Brand Leaders and Product Design teams to ensure the essence of each brand was retained within the new design.
Differentiating Brand Layouts
Balancing the need for a unified foundation while giving each brand a visually distinct presence proved to be a creative and technical challenge.
Managing Color Themes
Each brand required its own color theme, the challenge was to build and maintain individual brand colors while preserving a cohesive overall design
Differentiating Brands
Translating physical to digital
Our journey began with on-site visits to diverse hotel brand locations. These visits provided insights into how each brand manifested its identity physically. We observed distinct architectural styles, furniture arrangements, sensory elements like sound and scent, and tactile experiences that uniquely characterized each brand.
Diversifying Through Layouts
Enriching differentiation
We initiated the creation of numerous theme and layout iterations. Throughout this process, the demand for modularity within the system became apparent. To retain the template while accommodating brand diversity, we realized the potential to enhance our design system. This enhancement allowed shape and color to emerge distinctly, infusing each brand with significant visual impact.
A Spectrum of Themes
We reimagined foundational components, bending them to evoke brand essence. Allowing system expression of brand color, typography, iconography, and shape enhanced brand fidelity. By focusing on color, typography, iconography, and shape, we tailored components to authentically mirror brand tone. Here are a few examples of those libraries.
“Ashley has a knack for visual problem solving that is second to none. Her design sensibilities are tool agnostic, allowing her to gracefully adapt to the workflow around her. During her time at Marriott, I witnessed her thrive in the face of challenging technical, brand, and usability dilemmas unique to ecosystems as large and diverse as Marriott Digital.”
— Design Technologist, Marriott
Bringing it all together
The final output of restructuring and redesigning all 30+ brands within our ecosystem meant that each brand had it’s own individual style guide, template, typography and pattern library. Here are a couple examples of final visual designs for W Hotels and The Luxury Collection.
Results
Increased Bookings by 32%
Marriott.com and Marriott mobile accounted for 32% of nights booked in the third quarter, which was over 400 basis points higher year over year.
Book Direct Success
Over the same period, the company reported, online travel agent (OTA) bookings declined nearly 100 basis points year over year.
Unified Diversity
The platform elegantly merged 30 unique brand identities into a cohesive user experience while allowing each brand's individuality to shine through.
Efficient Collaboration
The collaborative framework established a strong bridge between Brand Leaders and Product Design teams, enhancing the overall project efficiency.
Visual Distinction
The adaptive design approach struck a balance between brand differentiation and maintaining a unified visual language, resulting in a striking and consistent design.
Inclusive Experience
Rigorous accessibility measures ensured that all users, regardless of abilities, could interact with the platform seamlessly, underscoring the commitment to an inclusive digital environment.