In today's digital landscape, consistency is key. This was certainly the case for Premier Inn, a leading budget hotel chain in the UK. Prior to my involvement, their digital presence lacked a unified voice. Different teams used varying styles and components, resulting in a confusing and disjointed user experience for guests. This inconsistency also posed a challenge internally, making updates and feature iterations a slow and cumbersome process.
My three-year journey at Premier Inn (from 2021 to 2024) centered around tackling this very issue. I led the creation of a design system, put together a comprehensive set of reusable components and guidelines that would ensure a cohesive brand experience across all digital touchpoints and also created page templates for replatforming the whole Premier Inn system from Bart to Opera.
The initial stage involved a deep dive into research. Understanding the inconsistencies, guest needs and pain points across the website, mobile app and the booking engine was crucial to create a unified brand language.
I started assessing the current design elements and the brand language to list all the discrepancies and the essential points that the brand is missing.
Competitor analysis allowed me to identify the best practices in brand language and find solutions for potential gaps Premier Inn had. Not only we looked at PI competitors and the industry of hospitality, but also looked at industry standard brands in general.
Working closely with marketing, development, and content teams, we established core design principles. These principles emphasized usability, accessibility, and most importantly, brand alignment. With these guiding lights in place, the system itself could begin to take shape.
Building the design system involved meticulous construction. A core library of reusable UI components was established, encompassing everything from buttons and forms to icons and navigation elements and ultimately leading to the creation of page templates. Each component came with clear design specifications and code snippets, ensuring seamless integration into the development process.
Implementation and adoption were the final hurdles. Working hand-in-hand with development teams, we ensured the design system became an integral part of their workflow. To maintain consistency, a detailed documentation was created to educate designers and developers on its usage.
This project wasn't without its challenges. Gaining buy-in from different departments required a focus on demonstrating the system's benefits tirelessly. Balancing consistency with flexibility for different platforms was another hurdle, Premier Inn was replatforming itself from Bart to Opera, and it required careful consideration of platform-specific business needs.
