Design Sojourn

So here I am in Hong Kong, sitting in my bath robe, and stuck indoors because of Typhoon Chanthu. As a result, I got an opportunity to reflect on my stay here at the Hyatt at Sha Tin. It was quite comfortable and the room service was tasty. However the total experience was not, in my mind, up to a 5 star standard. Perhaps I’m being nit-picky, but there were a few things that just did not add up.

1) A dip in the bed – I got a room with 2 single beds, and it was obvious which bed was the one more frequently used as there was an annoying sunken dip in the middle of the mattress. I’m not sure if house keeping was flipping the mattress in a timely manner.

2) The closet was difficult to open – It has a really nice seemless door design that, being flushed with the wall, was hell to use. I could imaging ladies breaking nails trying to pry the closet doors open. The stiff rollers did not help.

3) House keeping leaves a new clean cup the right side up on the counter top.

4) The shower does not drain properly – I’m drying up in about 2cm deep soapy water.

5) The shower door handle cum towel rack is too low – the bath towel I hang on it brushes the floor. Annoying especially if the floor is wet after a shower.

6) Waste bins are not cleared.

7) Complementary tea bags not refilled.

8) Daily newspaper was not delivered, but eventually turned up after 3 reminders.

9) Air condition vents directly facing the study table where I’m writing this post.

Update: 10) Killed a cockroach in the toilet at 12.16am.

As you can see, on its own, each of these points are not major problems. However when added together these small “irritation points” becomes big enough to impact the total experience. It does not really matter if it is a product or a service, experience design is tough as it requires a 360 degree holistic process when resolving the problem. Not only that, you need an attention to details and a deep understanding what motivates a consumer and what is important to them.

Related Posts You Might Find Interesting: