MLArc Micro-Hotel

Using the human-centered design process to design a micro-hotel concept for business-travelers in the San Francisco Bay Area

Interior Design | UX Design | Hotel Design

Project Overview

Role:

Project Manager

Team:

2 Project Managers + 6 Design Consultants

Duration:

4 months (August 2022 - December 2022)

Tools:

Figma, SketchUp, Lumion, Notion

Summary:

MLArc is an architecture firm based in California. One of their projects was a collaboration with hotel owners to design a micro-hotel for business-travelers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Using out-of-the-box creativity while balancing ergonomics and functionality, our team designed a final prototype that utilizes separation of space to create a balance of productivity and relaxation for business workers.

Design Process

We closely followed the human-centered design process to align with user needs and psychology. While we used this process as a framework when consulting our client, our design journey was continuously iterative.

The Problem

From initial conversations with our client, we scoped out the problem space and came up with a problem statement highlighting the perceived pain points.

Understand

We began by interviewing people from our target audience to learn about their work-life balance, understand how they plan for hotel stays, and identify living environment pain points when traveling for work.

User Research

After our interviews, we extracted key data points from our notes and organized them into an affinity diagram. Then, we found commonalities from the interviews and formed overarching interview insights.

Affinity Mapping and Insights

06

interviews

20

minutes

We had a lot of fun conversations with frequent business travelers!

User Personas

To better empathize with our users, we created 2 user personas for us to design the hotel space for—the Laptop Workaholic and the In-N-Out Camper!

Competitive Analysis

To understand the micro-hotel market, we also researched 2 key competitors — CitizenM and Muji Hotel. Through SWOT Analysis, we discovered how to differentiate ourselves based on gaps in the hotel industry.

Ideate

Moodboards and Inspiration

We looked to the internet to find inspirational photos that visualized possible solutions we each had in our heads. Everyone made mood boards with photos, drawings, and descriptions of elements they found noteworthy. As a larger team, this was super helpful for clear communication during our work sessions and client meetings.

  • Curved Walls

  • Platform Bed

  • Backlit Mirror

  • Framed Bed

  • Frosted Shower Glass

  • Recessed Lighting

  • Open Shower Space

Low-Fidelity Explorations

We started to explore possible room layouts for the 2 user personas.

After our team and client meetings, some key points we wanted to focus our design on were…

Requirements:

  • Utilizing lighting to create space💡

  • Creating a strong brand identity distinguishable against competitors💪

Constraints:

  • Refraining from in-wall or foldable furniture🪑

  • Ensuring designs and in-room technology do not increase maintenance duties of the hotel ⚒️

Some of the many iterations of room layouts we came up with!

Concept Ideation

To stay loyal to the needs of our users and to ensure intentional design thinking, we synthesized our ideas into 2 key concept statements.

💡These were essentially mission statements for our hotel room that we could stick by.

Concept #2: In-n-Out Camper 🏕️

An inviting and versatile room that separates public and private space while giving users freedom to choose how they want to use their space

Here, we focused on using shape-shifting furniture to allow our guests to achieve all of their goals while allowing them to move around efficiently.

Concept #1: Laptop Workaholic 💻

A rejuvenating and fresh room that helps guests to stay productive while designating space for comfort and relaxation

Design

Mid-Fidelity: Floorplans

The room is split into 3 areas: active space, bathroom space, and rest space. The design of this room allows for guests to truly immerse themselves in either a productive or peaceful area, and the bathroom will act as a transition space, where guests can cleanse themselves.

Mid-Fidelity: 3D Prototypes

The Idea

Because the bathroom space is in the middle of the room, we needed to consider the safety of guests when traveling between active and rest spaces.

How can we ensure guests’ safety? How can we address water concerns?

As we created medium fidelity 2D and 3D floorplans, we started to choose materials, patterns, and textures to help guests feel either productive, clean, or relaxed, and most importantly, comfortable.

Things to Think About

Using our two room concepts, we used SketchUp to create mid-fi floor plans. During this stage of the design process, we created feasibility & impact tables for the ideated room features to understand the psychological benefits and potential for success.

Concept #1. Laptop Workaholic Floorplan.
Concept #2. In-n-Out Camper Floorplan.

After consulting with our client, we decided to merge the 2 rooms together…

One room that enhances productivity and offers relaxation and peace through a separation of space and a shower transition area.

Final Prototype

Reflection

Lessons Learned

  • When in doubt, go back to the user research.

  • While reaching for the stars, it is also important to think about the feasibility. For example, folding desks was an initial idea, but we chose not to go with it due to excessive maintenance and operations.

  • The design process is iterative and we must be flexible, especially when following a tight timeline!

  • Giving out-of-the-box ideas a chance—rather than shooting an idea down, we said, “Okay, what are the blockers with this design, and how could we fix this problem to make the big crazy idea work?”

  • Maintaining an inclusive team culture with people with different backgrounds, such as Design Environmental Analysis, Hotel Administration, and Fine Arts, and as Project Manager I learned how to humbly and confidently lead work sessions to ensure that everyone’s ideas were listened to and treated with respect.

  • How to synthesize meeting takeaways and create next steps to drive the progress of the project.

This was both Design Consulting at Cornell and my first ever user experience project in an interior design context. It was definitely a challenge navigating through the HCD Process for a room model rather than a digital app screen. To really stay true to our users, we had to make sure we were backing up our design decisions with research rather than going off of personal preference. I was very excited to apply knowledge I learned in my Hotel School classes, but instead I was also opened to a whole new world of hotel design thinking.

It was also my first semester as a Project Manager for DCC, and a truly fulfilling one. From weekly meetings with clients and to engaging conversations with my co-PM, I learned how to navigate a high-level project in a new industry under a tight timeline with busy student consultants. We learned how to make the most of our time during work sessions by setting concrete goals, as well as empathetic listening to my client and consultants to better improve our team.

Thanks for reading!