The Grand design

In February 2017, VOLTAGE joined forces with the Grand America Hotel and Hint for a website redesign meant to catapult Grand America’s brand experience and create a cleaner user interface. VOLTAGE, Grand America, and Hint started to work on strategy for the new site. The plans included:

• A WordPress site
• Increased social functionality
• Better website visuals

Online experience and strategy

To get started, we looked into the site’s analytics and the audience that Grand America caters to. We found some great opportunities for improvement. Research indicated that visitors wanted a taste of the hotel experience when they browsed online.

To satisfy visitors’ content cravings, we made the Grand Stories page. It aggregates social media images with the hotel’s hashtag #MakeLifeGrand. The idea of sharing social stories perfectly aligned with the goal of improving social connections. Grand America keeps the content fresh and appealing by monitoring and controlling the social content that is on their site. They’re also able to add and edit content.

In addition to Grand America’s social content, we created a more unified Grand America brand experience. Some links on the old site sent visitors away from Grand America, which disrupted the brand experience and lost valuable eyeballs. We brought these tools back on-site, keeping a smooth and consistent Grand America experience.

Taking an even deeper plunge into Grand America’s web analytics, we saw a high number of clicks throughout the site. Too high, actually. In partnership with Hint, we created a simpler architecture and a clear “Reserve A Room” CTA at the top of each page for easy access. We also developed a streamlined user flow and intuitive navigation. Visitors can easily surf the site and take action whenever they wanted to.

Finally, using WordPress and third-party tools, we created an easy-to-use interface so the hotel’s staff can efficiently manage the site.

A great checkout

The luxurious and inviting website is getting great feedback. Hint’s visual images tell a true story about the hotel’s accommodations and features. The elegant design, organization, and copy creates an excellent UX for visitors. The hotel’s staff is comfortable managing the site with the new WordPress interface. They claim that it is the easiest they’ve ever used.

The whole project rolled out on time and on budget. Plus it was, and still is, a pleasant experience for everyone. Communication and organization is extremely smooth. Everyone had a great time and is happy to work together again.

For more information or a definition of UX call 303-664-1687 or email us at info@voltagead.com.