ux + ui, visual design
research
Illustratot, Photoshop,
Sketch, Principle
Zhanna Krupinina, Derek Tam
Tavan Sohi, Jimmy Hsu, Aron Chen
A collaboration between Generator and Pinterest for an implementation of a booking feature, which allows consumers who seek for an immersive travelling experience to directly book beds through the Pinterest platform.
Generator is a design-driven boutique hostel chain that creates a much higher end experience by incorporating local culture into each of their location. Generator customizes experiences from the design perspective in terms of interior design, food, music and events.
Fredrik Korallus, CEO Generator Hostels
Amsterdam, centrum, 10th - 14th March 2017
With Generator's global expansion into the U.S, there is the concern in which the American audience may have trouble embracing the idea of hostel due to cultural differences. Thus, the company strives to address this issue in order to establish itself within the American hospitality market as the premium hostel brand.
"different companies, different markets and different generations have different perspectives on what a hostel is. ... [And] one of our ambitions is to help the American consumer [to] understand it today".
Fredrik Korallus, CEO Generator Hostels
"[This] shows Americans' reluctance to use hostels while in the United States due to a lack of cultural acceptance".
Aaron Chaffee (2016), Vice President of Hostel Development at Hostelling International USA, May 25, 2016
How can we improve American's cultural acceptance to hostels and establish Generator as the go-to brand within the hospitality industry?
In spite of poor perception of hostels, the CSO of Generator, Josh Wyatt (2016) believes that the brand will have no problem in adapting to the new environment (North America). With the help of social media, Wyatt stated that "It may be a few years for the U.S. to fully embrace hostels, ... but there is momentum building."
"... it won't take long with social media for the word to spread about the experience".
Invesco's Crouch on Skift (2016)
1. Visula Appeal
We chose Pinterest because of its prominent nature in displaying photography which allows individual brands to position their product and service in a visually appealing way. Consumer then will be able to see Generator's hostel lifestyle that showcases the following: interior, events, people, food and beverages.
"[Human beings] are visual animals. Sight is the predominant way that we relate to the world around us".
Newbery and Farnham (2013)
2. Discoverability
According to a recent survey, 72% of Pinterest users have found a new brand through pinterest.
3. Travel Audience
Pinterest has more than 660 million pins within the travel category alone. Many people use Pinterest as a travel planning tool which helps in connecting Generator to the audiences that are looking to travel.
Dennis Schaal, Skift, 2013
Since Generator's unique selling proposition involves a wide range of categories/appeals, the company can also connect to the audiences outside of the travel category such as in food and art. This makes our proposal more unique to Generator, although other brands will also be able to participate as well.
We chose a mobile intervention because according to Pinterest, more than 75% of platform usage takes place on mobile devices. It makes it easier for them to discover content while they're on the go.
- Seekers
"We refer to our guests as the seekers seeking experience and social interaction, from art, music and culture to meeting people".
Fredrik Korallus, CEO Generator Hostels
Hana Morrison
As a fiction writer, Hanna is dedicated in creating compelling settings and relatable characters for her readers. In order to achieve this, she uses Pinterest Book to acquire authentic local experiences to form empathetic and inspiring stories.
push notifications + related content
giving the users what they need without them having to ask for it;
UX that learns and adapts to the user based on behavior
By providing a 360 view feature, we improve customers’ ability to access information, which also raises their engagement with what the brand has to offer
Drag and drop panels to compare different rooms side by side.
We used a calendar style for the duration of booking so that users can get a better sense of time, which reduces cognitive overhead.
