Overview
Our team was tasked with designing a one-of-a-kind mobile app that that was equally informative as it was entertaining. It needed to showcase everything the resorts had to offer, making it easier for decision makers to plan and book a stay with Great Wolf Lodge. The resulting app proved to be a great tool to increase bookings and serve as a high-level learning entry point for the booking funnel on the greatwolf.com website.
My Team and Role
Team
Project Manager, UX Designer, QA Tester, 3rd party developers, and Interactive Designer (Me)
My Role
My Role
As Great Wolf's Interactive Designer, I had ownership of the following UI UX and visual design tasks:
• Competitor Analysis Research
• Guest Research (Internal and external reviews / discussion threads)
• Translate existing user research
• Info Architecture
• User Flow
• Low Fidelity Screens and design iteration
• High Fidelity Mockups
• Micro Interactions and Prototypes
• Art Direction
• Logo Design
• 2D User Interface design, production and management
• Collaboration with offsite 3rd party dev team, 3D artists
• QA and usability testing assistance
• Competitor Analysis Research
• Guest Research (Internal and external reviews / discussion threads)
• Translate existing user research
• Info Architecture
• User Flow
• Low Fidelity Screens and design iteration
• High Fidelity Mockups
• Micro Interactions and Prototypes
• Art Direction
• Logo Design
• 2D User Interface design, production and management
• Collaboration with offsite 3rd party dev team, 3D artists
• QA and usability testing assistance
Primary Tools
• Adobe XD
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
Challenges & Customer Pain Points
Challenge 01
It's difficult to estimate the size and scope of the resort by pictures alone. To help realize the true scale of the lodge and waterpark, we paired creative copy, 360 degree tours, and immersive 3D explorable environments that helped drive home just how huge and expansive Great Wolf Lodge is.
Challenge 02
Without the right education, would-be guests complain of the high expense to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge resort. We needed to convey the true cost savings and value guests get by clearly detailing out everything that is included with your stay, including free water park passes for each guest, and all the scheduled daily family activities held throughout the resort.
Without the right education, would-be guests complain of the high expense to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge resort. We needed to convey the true cost savings and value guests get by clearly detailing out everything that is included with your stay, including free water park passes for each guest, and all the scheduled daily family activities held throughout the resort.
Challenge 03
For guests and families that have never been to Great Wolf Lodge, there is so much to "soak in" about the brand including resort amenities, activities, themed suites, restaurants, arcades, kid and adult spas, character mascots, and of course the massive indoor waterpark! The app needed to target the needs of two very different audiences. 1) Informing the adult booking decision makers for planning their stay and 2) Young guests exploring the resort in an entertaining way before, during and after their stay at Great Wolf Lodge.
For guests and families that have never been to Great Wolf Lodge, there is so much to "soak in" about the brand including resort amenities, activities, themed suites, restaurants, arcades, kid and adult spas, character mascots, and of course the massive indoor waterpark! The app needed to target the needs of two very different audiences. 1) Informing the adult booking decision makers for planning their stay and 2) Young guests exploring the resort in an entertaining way before, during and after their stay at Great Wolf Lodge.
Planning Phase
High-Level Requirements
• Wow the user to entice and increase brand loyalty and following
• Interactive 3D tour of each available lodge and its indoor and outdoor water parks
• Let users slide down a few of the most exciting virtual water slides in the water parks
• Interactive 3D tour of the Grand Lobby and Great Clock Tower
• View photos and details of the activities available at each lodge
• View photos and 360 degree tours of all amenities including restaurants and shopping
• View photos and 360 degree tours of all available rooms
• Highlight resort-exclusive activities like MagiQuest and Kid Spa "Scooops"
• Include guest reviews throughout entire experience for validation
• Build unique content for the 6 most popular resort locations
• Allow users to navigate from room details to website booking funnel
• Highlight benefits and value (waterpark passes included in stay)
Research Dissemination
I was still responsible for disseminating and translating user research to make informed design decisions based on
• Filterable guest reviews from the greatwolf.com website
• 3rd-party website reviews
• Website data
• Business analyst team research
Target Audience and User Personas
Primary Target 1
First time resort visitor adults, parents, or grandparent who act as booking decision makers, and are looking for information about resort features, lodging options, and need better understanding of the value proposition
First time resort visitor adults, parents, or grandparent who act as booking decision makers, and are looking for information about resort features, lodging options, and need better understanding of the value proposition
Primary Target 2
Children, 7-13 years old, familiar with technology, enjoys games and explorative media
Children, 7-13 years old, familiar with technology, enjoys games and explorative media
Info Architecture & User Flow
I worked on deriving and refining the information architecture we include on the greatwolf.com website. Below is a recreation of the site map and basic user flow I developed.
Design Phase
Visual Content Acquisition
• Sourced all visual content including photos, videos, logos, 360 tours and more
• Established a highly organized asset management structure
• Established sensible file naming convention to keep everything tidy for all teams
LIDAR 3D Captures
The Floating Point FX development team used LIDAR scanning technology to obtain accurate 3D models of the waterparks and select resort features that would later be turned into virtual fly-throughs and 3D animated content that would even allow users to slide down their favorite waterpark slides right inside the app! So cool!
The resulting 3D models turned out amazing and incredibly accurate, something the user's were sure to be impressed with as they explore the resort in the app.
The resulting 3D models turned out amazing and incredibly accurate, something the user's were sure to be impressed with as they explore the resort in the app.
2D User Interface Design
I began design and interaction exploration for the 2D user interface. See the breakdown of the primary elements that made up the UI below.
Filling the gaps & adding polish
Adding finishing touches and polish to the app design was essential for delivering a seamless user experience. At this time I made sure the typography, color were accurately represented, interactions were functioning as envisioned, dynamic content was being loaded where it needed to, and screens that glued the rest of the designs together were put in place. It was exciting seeing all our hard work come together.
Finally, I created a logo that we all agreed did a great job of representing the explorative nature of the product, making a nod to the compass style navigation element used throughout the app.
After a few more rounds of QA, Floating Point FX merged the final 3D content, animations, 2D user interface, and launched to the iOS store. In addition to the iOS version, we made a web-based version that could be viewed without a mobile device and Android friendly. See below for the results.
Reviews are in...
"If you’re thinking of visiting one of the Great Wolf Lodges with your family this year then before you go, be sure to check out this free iPhone and iPad app that gives you a full rundown of exactly what kind of fun you can expect when you arrive."
"I would very strongly recommend having a look over the content because at the very least, it’ll get you and the kids psyched for your upcoming visit."
"Great Wolf Lodge Explorer gives you everything you need before leaving for your visit to one of the lodges, including an interactive 3D tour of each lodge and its indoor and outdoor water parks. This should give you a clear idea of what each lodge has to offer."
"You can check out pictures and even read guest reviews and details of the amenities available in each suite, so you should easily be able to figure out which is the right option for your family."
"There is nothing negative to say about this app. Great Wolf Lodge Explorer is a great iPhone and iPad app which definitely receives my recommendation."
MarkBangs
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