MY ROLE
UX Designer Intern
(Including UX research and UI design work)
CONTEXT
2024.11-12
Intern Project
3 Designers (2 Senior Designers + Me)
TOOLS USED
Figma
COMPANY & BUSINESS PROFILE
Hennessy, a world-renowned luxury cognac brand, aims to elevate its membership experience by introducing new brand interactions within travel scenarios, fostering deeper emotional connections, and strengthening brand recognition. This strategy focuses on providing diverse touchpoints tailored to mainland Chinese consumers, addressing the growing demand for experiential consumption in emerging markets.
To support this initiative, the Global Chinese Consumer (GCC) Center will be developed as a standalone hub within Hennessy’s Le Club membership mini-program. In the long term, the GCC Center will play a pivotal role in driving Hennessy’s experience-focused customer engagement strategy by offering exclusive member benefits such as personalized gifts, check-in points, and other travel-related privileges, effectively enhancing brand perception and loyalty.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
How might we design a global travel hub page that seamlessly balances efficiency with engagement, enabling users to quickly find the content they need while also encouraging exploration and enjoyment?
SOLUTION
USER JOURNEY
The user journey is divided into three key stages: before, during, and after the trip. In the second stage, “during the trip,” user interactions with benefits can be categorized into three core behaviors: checking, receiving, and redemption.
Building on this framework, we have prioritized the information-checking phase (Stage 2.1) as the starting point for the global travel hub design. This approach ensures that users can effortlessly access and explore available benefits at the onset of their journey.
Design
CURRENT USER FLOW
HUB PAGE BRAINSTORM
After alignment for module-positioning, we at first delivered our own draft for this hub page.
The client identified a key challenge in the hub page’s information architecture:
Uncertain whether the content classification should be based on benefit redemption location or attraction scale?
Our client’s feedback prompted our design team to revisit and refine the information architecture of the hub page. A thorough evaluation of membership benefits is essential to ensure a more comprehensive and strategic approach
LOW-FI
To achieve this, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the benefit attributes, as illustrated in the provided chart. The analysis focused on three key aspects:
Attraction: Assessing the scale of benefits and their appeal to users.
Accessibility: Evaluating service availability across cities, the number of locations per city, and transportation convenience.
Business Considerations: Reviewing the verification process and operational feasibility.
Following the establishment of scoring standards, the results clearly revealed traits of each benefit.
With numerous benefit attributes serving as categorization criteria, identifying the right starting point became increasingly challenging.
I realized it was time to step back and refocus on user personas and their core needs, seeking valuable insights from fundamental information.
Based on the differences in our users’ travel schedules, we initially decided to organize benefits into two sections: duty-free stores and cities, serving as the most suitable “containers” for presenting benefits.
Structuring the primary information architecture around these locations—duty-free stores and cities—offers two key advantages:
It effectively addresses two critical factors: user time sensitivity and benefits appeal, aligning with real-world travel scenarios to enhance usability and convenience. Duty-free stores, located primarily in airports, provide easy access for all travelers, regardless of whether they have tight schedules or ample leisure time. In contrast, partner restaurants and flagship stores are scattered throughout the city, making them more suitable for time-flexible travelers who can explore and enjoy benefits at their leisure.
It leverages existing store detail pages within the travel mini-program, ensuring efficient implementation and timely project completion within tight deadlines.
The information presentation style can remain flat for the city section; however, applying the same approach to the duty-free store section would be ineffective. Thus, duty-free stores are categorized into two groups based on the available benefits. The more important stores—those offering member gifts or limited-time check-in points—are prominently displayed in the carousel slides. The remaining stores, which hold lesser significance, are hidden within the list and can be accessed when users click “View All.”
But, currently, only 6 out of 26 check-in locations have direct and visible access points, while the remaining locations are distributed across two different sections, making it challenging for users to find them. Given that check-in is one of the simplest activities, requiring minimal effort and offering relatively small benefits, users may find the extra effort needed to locate access points frustrating, leading to a disappointing experience.
Thus, is it possible to optimize the information architecture to ensure all check-in locations are easily discoverable within relevant sections while minimizing redundancy and confusion?
Now, it was time to relook at the traits of these benefits again, I surprisedly found that check-in points are the only benefit that doesn’t require verification! Moreover, check-in activity is one of the most common activities, and users are already familiar with its rules, introducing a separate floating button for quick access can enhance the user experience by adhering to the shortest user path principle. This approach also helps clarify the hierarchy of benefit types, making the structure more intuitive.
Subsequently, through our collaboration and discussions with clients, we refined other aspects of the page to enhance the sense of benefits and brand identity. Additionally, we incorporated travel-related elements to optimize the UI, further emphasizing the hub’s travel theme.
Outcome
Reflection
DIFFICULTIES I MET & THINGS I LEARNED
Strategic Thinking Beyond Aesthetics
While I successfully introduced scenario-based and stylistic design elements to enhance the visual appeal and align with the travel theme, I recognized that ROI and operational scalability should also be integral considerations in design decisions. Early design concepts, though engaging, overlooked long-term content production and maintenance costs. This experience reinforced the importance of incorporating business strategy into the design process to ensure sustainable solutions.
Iterative Problem-Solving Through Collaboration
The project’s evolving nature, with frequent updates to membership benefits and participating cities, required continuous iteration and close collaboration with cross-functional teams. Adapting to these changes helped me develop a more agile approach, where ongoing user feedback and stakeholder input played a critical role in refining the information architecture and feature prioritization. This experience deepened my appreciation for the iterative nature of UX design in dynamic business environments.