WIHP Content Management System
Giving Hoteliers the ability to easily manage their website content.
Client
WIHP Hotels
Role
Design Lead
User Experience
Since its creation in 1999, WIHP has been focused on helping hotels improve direct bookings through their websites. In 2005, to better serve Hoteliers, WIHP developed and built a custom content management system. The CMS was robust for its time and gave hoteliers the ability to manage their website content easily and efficiently. New features and functions were added over time, but after more than 15 years the CMS was in desperate need of an overall. Having used the product for over 10 years, my role as Design Lead was strategic and imperative on the project.
Product Evaluation
Along with the rest of the WIHP team, I have been a long-term user of the CMS, therefore relevant user data was readily available. During our initial product evaluation, we compiled a list of existing pain points and functional limitations. I conducted stakeholder interviews to gain a better understanding of how Hoteliers currently use the CMS and search for opportunities to improve the user experience.
A list of user requirements was gained by evaluating the outdated CMS screens (shown above) and conducting stakeholder interviews.
Design Strategy
Based on our product evaluation we realized that the outdated gallery functions held the highest amount of pain points. Not only was the gallery preventing our end-users from properly managing their media, it was also slowing down the development process for our engineers. It was imperative that we tackled the Media Gallery first.
Crafting a User Flow for the new Media section allowed me to visualize the breadth of the user experience, from uploading images to creating folders, and editing image settings. This portion of the project was vital in building the foundation for the next steps in the design phase.
Visual Design
Within the old CMS, the user lacked the ability to manage all the images that had been uploaded to the website, this was the main problem that needed to be solved. The new design features a Media Library section that allows users to easily manage the website’s imagery.
New Media Library design and Upload sequence.
The new UI gives the user the ability to select multiple images and edit them, add them to a folder, or delete them from the Library. All of these features were high-priority items from our list of user requirements. Now, users are able to better organize the Media Library, which reduces the time spent searching for that perfect image.
Results
The new CMS redesign was welcomed with open arms by all of WIHP’s Clients. Giving users the ability to better manage their website content has increased Client retention and added value for prospective clients.
Credits: Design Lead: Kelli Lambiase, Lead Engineer: Matt Wild, Lead Developer: Thomas Griggs, Account Manager: Marjorie Theisen