Product Design - TRIUMF House

In this project, my responsibility was to redesign the website to improve the guest experience and align it with their new branding.

Timeline: 3 months
Team: in-house team of four
Skills: UX/UI design, branding, stakeholder management,

Results:

This project was recognized with an In-house Design award by the Registered Association of Graphic Designers in Canada in 2024. The rebuilt website also resulted in increased operational efficiency due to a reduction in hotel staff time spent on troubleshooting bookings with users.

What is TRIUMF house?

TRIUMF House, a boutique guesthouse, is a proudly owned and operated by TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre. Serving local students and welcoming TRIUMF’s national and international visitors, the hotel exclusively uses its website as the sole online channel for bookings and information.

problem

The existing TRIUMF house website had not been reflecting the quality of the experience at the boutique hotel. The site needed an updated visual design and a better guest experience to prevent issues with room bookings, wayfinding, and service requests.

Approach

I initiated this project by identifying the challenges experienced by both guests and management staff. Despite the completion of the branding exercise years ago, its implementation had been deferred. I convened meetings with all stakeholders to understand the reasons for the project’s stagnation and devise a streamlined and lean approach to kick-start it.

Roadmap

I collaborated with the hotel manager to determine the gaps in guest information and inefficiencies stemming from the existing website. Together, we devised a long-term strategy to integrate the website into the broader TRIUMF-hosted ecosystem. We opted for a swift WordPress solution that aligns with the newly approved branding, ensuring a modern interpretation. This process encompassed designing new pages and mapping out the guest user journey, incorporating local amenities, resources, and refreshed imagery.
map on TRIUMF house website
Illustrated map of surrounding area

Results & Next steps

Initially, we encountered resistance from stakeholders who were hesitant about change and concerned about resource limitations. However, after a strategizing session we found that by changing the builder and pointing to accessibility issues we could alleviate their concerns and emphasize the need for a new website. The revamped website represented a significant enhancement, alleviating the frustration experienced by guests who previously struggled to navigate and locate the hotel due to the confusing layout of the old site. Additionally, we received positive qualitative feedback indicating that the refined branding encouraged employees to refer others to the hotel website and instilled greater confidence in future design updates across TRIUMF.