Project Brief

About Radical Innovation and my goals

The Radical Innovation Annual Award Competition invites participants to develop groundbreaking products for the hospitality industry, focusing on hotel guestrooms, food and beverage offerings, or amenity spaces. The goal is to present an innovative concept that redefines the guest experience.

My goal with a taste of… is to localize the guest experience with a personalized curated gift box that brings local flavors and products to guest's hotel room, ultimately enhancing their connection to the city's culture.

Tools & Techniques

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Firefly; Figma; Laser Cutting & Engraving

Role

Experience Design, Brand Design and Execution, User Research, Radical Innovation

Timeline

June 2024 - July 2024

01 Research

What is missing within the hospitality industry?

By focusing on three key areas within hospitality—hotels, restaurants, and retail—I explored what defines good hospitality and where it fails to connect with guests by posing critical questions:

What defines good hospitality, and why is it essential?

Why are users dissatisfied with their experience?

How can we better connect people to hospitality?

Trend: Traveling

"92% of travelers expect to travel at least as much in 2024 as they did in the prior year. While a sizable 40% of respondents plan to travel more this year…" (Forbes)

"Travel is a top priority, especially for younger generations. Sixty-six percent of travelers we surveyed said they are more interested in travel now than before the COVID-19 pandemic." (Mckinsey.com)

"…Ninety-two percent of younger travelers were inspired by social media in some shape or form for their last trip" (Mckinsey.com)

People are traveling more than ever nowadays.

Emotional Journey Map

What is the journey for a traveler entering a new city?

Key Pain Points from the Journey Map

01 Overwhelmed from Planning

Travelers often feel overwhelmed planning their itineraries, unsure where to start exploring.

02 Feeling Lost in the Journey

This uncertainty can leave travelers feeling lost and diminish their overall experience.

03 Regret from Incomplete Exploration

Many travelers regret not fully exploring the city, feeling they missed out on key experiences.

04 FOMO from Missed Opportunities

Travelers often experience FOMO, realizing they missed certain spots, which fuels a desire to return.

So, what's the problem?

Hotel guests feel disconnected from the city’s local culture as standard hotel amenities and experiences fail to offer a genuine taste of the local flavor.

02 Improving the hotel experience

How might we create an in-room service that encourages guests to explore the city through local snacks, foods, and drinks?

Mapping a typical traveler's journey revealed that negative emotions can start right in the hotel room as they decide where to go. How many of us have felt stuck in a new city—excited, yet helpless in finding those unique, hidden gems that make the experience truly special?

Introducing: a taste of…

A curated gift box that brings the best local flavors and products right to your hotel room, enhancing your connection to the city and its unique culture.

Design Criteria

01 Designed for easy assembly across multiple locations

The product is designed for multiple locations and is easily packaged by staff.

02 Personalization

Personalized to each guests through a short questionnaire on the hotel booking site.

03 Customization

Hotels can request their own personal box aside from the standard boxes offered.

04 Sustainability

The box and packaging are all recyclable or compostable to minimize environmental impact.

Journey at a Glance

Pre visit

During visit

Post visit

Questionnaire

Booking site

03 How it works

Front-end versus back-end experience & infrastructure

Back-end experience

Who's involved: "a taste of…" service company, the hotel(s) and their staff, the local businesses, shipping, handling and delivery service

Hotel contacts “a taste of...”

Imagine the X Hotel is interested in making “a taste of” box and contacts begins their order process through the atasteof.com website.

"a taste of…" contacts local businesses

A Taste of... generates a list of businesses local to the hotel who would be willing to offer samples of their products in return of promoting their business.

Packing the box

Once the guest books a room at the Candler Hotel and fills out their “a taste of” questionnaire on the booking site, hotel staff will pack the guest’s a taste of box based on a generated preference list.

Front-end experience

Who's involved: guests and local businesses

Guest booking

Imagine a guest is booking a room at the X Hotel in Atlanta and fills out their preference questionnaire at the end of the booking site.

Guest arrival

Once the guest checks into their room, they are greeted by their personal gift box curated by their preference questionnaire.

Opening the box

The excited guest opens their hospitality gift box, samples their products and are hopeful about their upcoming adventure in the city.

Overwhelmed from Planning

Guests will no longer waste hours online finding where to go now that they have catered agenda of places to go to

Local City Gift: Savannah Bee Company honey

Drink #1: Scofflaw Brewery Beer

Drink #2: Ladybird Flower Power

Snack Section: Brash Coffee croissant, Sweet Inman’s Candy selection, Lucy’s Market snack bag and St. Julep appetizer

Specific City Discounts: Atlanta QR Code

Guest exploring

The guest will find a QR with discounts to begin their adventure and visit popular local businesses, some which they have already had “a taste of” from their box.

Feeling Lost in the Journey

QR code containing addresses with customer discounts to begin their exploration

Regret from Incomplete Exploration

Guests will be informed on popular locations and hidden gems to fulfill their explorations

Final thoughts

Once their exploration concludes, they reflect on the entirety of their trip, what they liked or disliked about their experience with “a taste of...”

FOMO from Missed Opportunities

Guests returns with a fulfilled exploration of the city and local gifts to cherish forever

Infrastructure

How does everything connect?

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04 Design Choices

How my service came to life

Brand Logo

When selecting my font, I initially considered a handwritten cursive but opted for Lorin Light instead to achieve a simpler, more modern look that could seamlessly fit any city and setting.

Brand Icon

I wanted to add an icon for "a taste of…" to distinguish it from regular hotel gifts. I experimented with the font letters and ultimately chose the blue location logo, which felt fitting since the brand centers around the concept of location.

Sleeve Design

I used Adobe Firefly to generate images of specific cities. I choses Tokyo, New York and Atlanta and the colors choices are based on those cities' flags.

Title Iterations

Finalized Sleeves

QR Code Design

The QR Code Card is designed as a vertical business card, offering discounts from local businesses to encourage in-person visits. Guests can take the card with them or simply scan the QR code to receive a list of promo codes directly on their phones.

Customization Options

To enhance my service, I introduced a custom box option specifically for independent hotels, allowing them to incorporate their own brand guidelines, logos, and preferred gifts.

For my project, I chose to do the Algonquin Hotel in New York.