Market Research

The Chequit offers boutique luxury with historic charm, personalized service, and a central location. It’s ideal for couples and families but has a higher price point, smaller property size, and lacks waterfront views.

T H E P R O B L E M

Chequit Hotel

Poor Navigation

The current Chequit Hotel website lacks user engagement due to poor navigation, limited responsiveness, and insufficient visuals. This redesign aims to create a user-friendly, responsive site that improves navigation, showcases the hotel’s offerings, and enhances the guest experience.

Website is not visuals appealing & showcasing hotel history

T H E S O L U T I O N

Redesign to improve aesthetics, navigation and UX

R E S E A R C H G O A L

Learn More About User Preferences and Behaviors

Building a digital presence that encapsulates the 1872 historic charm.

The Chequit Hotel, a historic treasure on Shelter Island, is known for its coastal charm, relaxed atmosphere, and a perfect mix of luxury and local flavor. Guests love its harbor views, rooms, and great dining experiences. But the current website doesn’t reflect any of that. It’s cluttered, hard to navigate, and doesn’t work well on mobile, making it tough for visitors to truly see what makes The Chequit so special.

  • Web Design

  • UX Research & UI Design

  • 6 weeks

Users find navigation confusing and unsure where to book rooms

O B J E C T I V E S

C O M P E T I T O R A N A L Y S I S

“CHEQUIT INN is a historic landmark, and the challenge in this research will be blend modern elements of user experience while keeping the historic charm of the place”

The primary goal of this research is to gather insights into user preferences, behaviors, and expectations for a modern, responsive hotel website. This includes understanding how potential and returning guests interact with hotel websites, what features they prioritize, and how they navigate through booking systems. Additionally, the research aims to identify best practices for showcasing hotel offerings through visual content and improving user engagement across social media platforms. These insights will help ensure the redesigned website meets user needs while reflecting the hotel’s charm and elegance.

The redesigned Chequit Hotel website will feature a modern, responsive design with improved navigation, high-quality visuals, and a secure, user-friendly booking system. It will showcase the hotel’s charm and amenities while connecting with social media to boost engagement. Prioritizing accessibility and brand consistency, the site will deliver an elegant, seamless experience, driving increased bookings, traffic, and user satisfaction.

The objectives of this research include analyzing competitors’ websites to identify strengths and gaps, conducting user surveys and interviews to gather feedback on navigation, design, and functionality, and testing design prototypes with real users for usability and satisfaction. Another key objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of social media integration and determine how high-quality visuals can drive traffic and engagement. The findings will guide the development of a website that boosts reservations, enhances user satisfaction, and strengthens The Chequit Hotel’s brand presence online.

The Sound View Hotel in Greenport offers a serene waterfront escape with luxurious accommodations, private beach access, and curated experiences, priced at $250–$500. The Ram’s Head Inn provides a traditional stay with expansive grounds and on-site seafood dining, ranging from $300–$450. The Pridwin Hotel & Cottages blends resort-style amenities with modern renovations at $200–$400 but faces event booking competition. Shelter Island House delivers boutique charm, modern comforts, and fine dining for $250–$400, though it offers limited on-site activities. Each property caters to diverse tastes, balancing luxury, history, and unique experiences.

Identify Strengths and Gaps

Restaurant information & reservation options are hard to find

The Ram’s Head Inn provides a relaxed, traditional stay with waterfront views, outdoor spaces, and seafood dining. However, its older rooms and distance from attractions may not appeal to all travelers.

The Pridwin blends modern amenities with resort-style charm, offering cottages, a pool, and waterfront access. It’s perfect for families and events but can be pricey and has limited availability.

Shelter Island House offers a cozy boutique experience with modern comforts, fine dining, and an outdoor pool. Its smaller size and limited activities suit intimate, relaxed stays.

I conducted 4 user interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including frequent travelers and professionals, to understand their experiences with The Chequit Hotel’s website and their overall expectations for booking accommodations online.

“If I can’t quickly find the details I need or easily book on my phone, I’ll look for another hotel. A smooth experience is key to my decision.”

Responsive Website Design

Getting to know users

U S E R R E S E A R C H

Rachel is a busy professional who frequently takes short trips to unwind from a hectic work schedule. When browsing for hotels, Rachel prioritizes efficiency and ease of use, especially when booking through mobile devices. Rachel appreciates visually appealing websites but values functionality and accessibility over style. With limited time to spare, Rachel expects a straightforward online experience that makes it easy to find deals, book efficiently, and access key information.

Goals: Users seek a website where they can quickly find deals and special offers without hassle. They value a streamlined booking process with minimal steps, ideally a one-click option, and smooth navigation across both desktop and mobile devices. High-quality visuals are essential to showcase the hotel’s ambiance and amenities, helping users make informed decisions. Additionally, accurate, accessible information, including contact details and language options, is crucial for meeting the needs of international travelers.

Pain Points: Users find visually appealing sites frustrating when navigation is unclear. Poor mobile responsiveness—slow loading, misaligned content, and difficult scrolling—disrupts the experience. A complex booking process, lacking clear call-to-action buttons, makes reservations challenging. Key details, like room information, pricing, and contact options, are often buried, making them difficult to find efficiently. These issues diminish trust and impact users’ willingness to book.

Meet Rachel, who love the east coast hospitality

Complete booking

U S E R F L O W S

Complete booking

F E A T U R E R O A D M A P

Redesign Nav Structure and Options

Incorporate high quality photos and better aesthetics

Simply restaurant exploration and reservation

Make booking process more visible

Integrate social to improve conversion

The low-fidelity wireframes for The Chequit’s website are thoughtfully designed to test and refine key user journeys, such as booking a stay, exploring guest rooms, and making dining reservations. These wireframes focus on layout, navigation, and functionality without detailed visuals, allowing for early-stage user feedback. By creating these simplified designs, we can quickly identify pain points and validate user expectations before moving to higher-fidelity versions. This approach ensures that the final website design aligns with user needs, offering a seamless and intuitive experience.

The high-fidelity mockups for The Chequit’s website incorporate solutions derived from user testing feedback, ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience. Navigation has been streamlined with consistent links and dropdown indicators, while key CTAs like “Book Your Stay” and “Reserve a Table” are now prominently displayed for easy access. Visual indicators and scroll prompts guide users intuitively through the pages, addressing earlier usability issues. Room and dining sections feature high-quality visuals and clearly displayed information like restaurant hours and cancellation policies. These polished designs align with user needs, combining functionality with the hotel’s charm to create a compelling online presence.

Initial Design

L O F I M O C K S

After Testing

The Chequit’s website booking flow is designed to make reservations easy. Users start by choosing to book a stay, selecting their dates, and checking availability. If a room is available, they pick one and complete their booking with payment. If not, they can change their dates and try again. This straightforward process helps users quickly and easily reserve their stay.

The prioritized features focus on delivering a seamless and user-friendly experience for The Chequit’s website. Responsive design ensures accessibility across devices, while improved navigation makes it easy for users to find essential information like rooms and dining options. High-quality visuals enhance engagement by showcasing the hotel’s charm, and a modern reservation system simplifies booking. These features directly address user needs, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable online experience.

H I F I M O C K S

I T E R A T I O N S

1. Adding more information about each drinking/dining spot

2. Added more tabs to description, amenities and price for each room

  • Learned how to balance modern design with keeping The Chequit’s historic charm alive.

  • Realized the importance of early user testing to find and fix navigation issues.

  • Gained experience in making designs work smoothly on both mobile and desktop devices.

  • Witnessed how good visuals can make a big difference in how users connect with the site.

  • Learned that listening to feedback and making changes is key to creating a successful design.

Learnings

R E F L E C T I O N S