Vikramaditya Sharma
Product Design,
Innovation & Culture













OBEROI HOTELS Driving sales with a redesign that embodies the world's most luxurious hotel chain












0.0
SummaryProblem
The website failed to reflect Oberoi's "heartfelt luxury" brand, lacked key service highlights, and had UX issues in booking, leading to user drop-offs and reliance on third-party sites Goal

The goal was to increase both the number of bookings and the duration of stays through the website, while redesigning the visual language to better reflect the premium nature of the Oberoi brand

My Role

I worked in a team of 5 over the span of ~3+ months, leading testing and product design
Impact

User testing showed a 15% increase in bookings, with follow-up surveys revealing that over 60% of users felt the new website accurately reflected the Oberoi brand

Oberoi Hotels, 2021
View detailed case study below Or go to the next project: Concordance










Oberoi Hotels: Detailed Case Study

1.0BackgroundAs part of a brand-wide refresh, my team was engaged to redesign the Oberoi Hotels website, enhancing the digital experience for India’s top luxury hotel brand
Oberoi Hotels, India's premier luxury hotel chain, has repeatedly earned accolades as the world's best hotel brand, with its flagship property, Udaivilas, consistently recognized as the world's top hotel. Amid a brand-wide refresh led by Dentsu, my team was engaged to revamp the Oberoi website as a key component of this rebranding effort.

Oberoi Udavilas: Oberoi’s flagship property in Udaipur and winner of the world’s best hotel


2.0My RoleI led hands-on research and UX strategy and also helped design the new interface of the Oberoi website
I worked within a team of five, leading research efforts and facilitating workshops with Oberoi's business stakeholders, driving strategic UX decisions, and testing the redesigned site. I was deeply involved in designing the new web interface and helped establish the website's new design system. Additionally, I developed mood boards and creative guidelines to direct new image and video content for the revamped website.


3.0ProcessOur process combined in-depth research, user testing, and strategic design to revamp Oberoi's website, ensuring it aligned with the brand's luxury experience and future development needs
We began by conducting interviews, surveys, and analyzing the current website's analytics to understand Oberoi's customers and business stakeholders. Reviewing brand documentation and visiting the hotels provided a holistic view of the brand. A UX audit, benchmarking, and landscape mapping helped identify challenges and examine industry trends.

The redesign phase focused on creating a visual language true to Oberoi's brand. We used rapid prototyping and A/B testing to validate our solutions with users. Lastly, we delivered a comprehensive design system to support Oberoi's ongoing platform development.



4.0ResearchFormative customer research: Studying user analytics, conducting interviews and surveys
We began by conducting interviews, surveys, and analyzing the current website's analytics to understand Oberoi's customers and business stakeholders. Reviewing brand documentation and visiting the hotels provided a holistic view of the brand. A UX audit, benchmarking, and landscape mapping helped identify challenges and examine industry trends.
Business stakeholder research: In-depth interviews and workshops
We conducted interviews and workshops with business stakeholders to understand their challenges with the existing website and gather insights on potential improvements. These sessions also provided clarity on current and future service offerings, ensuring the website could effectively support upcoming changes.
We conducted a survey and 44 one-on-one interviews with customers and business stakeholders to identify challenges with the existing website

Analyzing Google Analytics provided valuable insights into user behavior, challenges, and drop-off points

We conducted a series of workshops, including SWOT analysis, empathy mapping, and user story prioritization, to gain a clear understanding of business stakeholders' objectives for the website redesign



5.0Research Findings1. Users and business stakeholders felt the website needed a visual refresh to convey Oberoi's "heartfelt luxury" brand
Customers perceived the website as less luxurious compared to competitors. In a comparative study, users rated the visual design of the Aman website highest, followed by Four Seasons, both seen as epitomes of luxury. Oberoi's business team emphasized that their brand represents "heartfelt luxury," a quality they felt was lacking in the site's imagery and content. They expressed a need for revised content to better reflect this brand essence.
2. The website's transactional approach lacked destination storytelling and brand legacy highlights, limiting its appeal for longer stays and international travelers
The website felt overly transactional, lacking compelling storytelling about destinations. Users were typically booking stays of just 1-2 nights, and stakeholders believed that offering richer destination narratives, recommendations, and unique experiences could encourage longer stays, boosting sales. Feedback from international travelers unfamiliar with the Oberoi brand also highlighted a need to showcase the brand’s legacy, history, awards, and significance to make it a standout choice among luxury hotels.
3. The website overlooked key offline services, like public restaurants and personalized experiences, failing to highlight or offer functionality for reservations and custom requests
Many offline services, such as public restaurants at city hotels and personalized experiences like private dining, were not well represented on the website. While these services were popular, the site failed to highlight restaurant menus or offer reservation functionality. Additionally, unique experiences, which customers valued for their personalization, were not mentioned, missing an opportunity to showcase Oberoi’s exceptional service.
4. Key UX issues in the checkout process, unclear pricing, and hidden best-rate messaging led users to abandon bookings or prefer third-party sites
The website faced several UX challenges, particularly in the checkout process. Users frequently dropped off during room and date selection due to unclear room availability and upfront pricing. Many preferred booking through online travel agents, believing they offered better rates. While Oberoi does provide the best rates for logged-in members, this messaging was too hidden, causing users to book on other platforms instead.

6.0Interface DesignOur goal was to create an elegant, inviting interface that embodies Oberoi's "heartfelt luxury" through warm colors, refined typefaces, and people + experience focused imagery
Our goal was to design a luxurious interface that showcased property photos while reflecting Oberoi's "heartfelt luxury" philosophy. We chose a warm, neutral color palette and a mix of traditional and contemporary typefaces to create a site that feels both elegant and inviting. Images were thoughtfully selected to highlight people, emphasizing Oberoi's service-centered hospitality.

Exerpts from an initial photo guidelines document we created. These images are taken from the Aman hotel website.

The design features a warm, light beige color palette, paired with traditional serif typography and contrasting sans-serif fonts for CTAs. Center-stage imagery, framed with soft, curved edges, creates an approachable feel


7.1.1
Problem 1The homepage's linear structure limited engagement beyond the first fold, preventing users from fully discovering Oberoi's brand, properties, and experiences

7.1.2Solution 1To encourage deeper engagement, we transformed the homepage from a rigid, linear structure to a dynamic mixed-content grid. This layout showcases offers, properties, and experiences at a glance, giving users an immediate sense of Oberoi's brand, culture, and destinations. To further inspire exploration, we introduced an infinite scroll with visually-driven storytelling, mirroring social media interfaces. This design encourages users to browse organically, discovering the hotel chain's history, unique properties, and inspiring destination stories.
The new design replaces the rigid grid with a dynamic layout, enabling Oberoi to showcase diverse content and adapt seamlessly to user behavior and needs




7.2.1

Problem 2Restaurants, particularly those in major city hotels, were significant revenue drivers, yet the website lacked effective promotion, menu visibility, and reservation functionality for these venues

7.2.2Solution 2We redesigned the restaurant pages to include rich storytelling that highlights regional and signature dishes, creating a more engaging experience. Additionally, we added menu displays and a reservation feature to make it easier for guests to explore and book dining options.
The previous restaurant page lacked storytelling and functionality. The redesigned page incorporates rich narratives, showcases menus, and enables users to make reservations seamlessly.



7.3.1

Problem 3The property interior page was packed with valuable content, yet poor UX—like hard-to-find gallery buttons and unclear content labels—kept users from fully exploring it. We needed a more effective way to showcase property highlights and destination stories to encourage longer bookings

7.3.2Solution 3The redesigned hotel interior page prominently features the property's gallery—a top priority for users, according to our research and testing. We streamlined the storytelling elements, reorganizing content to make it intuitive and easy to navigate. Written content was refined to be more user-friendly, and new imagery was added to highlight popular requests, such as room views, enhancing users' overall experience and engagement.

The property page emphasizes captivating imagery, with the gallery—a key feature identified during user testing—easily accessible. A reorganized menu streamlines navigation, helping users quickly find the information they need
The property page integrates rich storytelling, with various room options prominently showcased for easy exploration



7.4.1
Problem 4The booking journey lacked upfront room availability and pricing, requiring users to select dates before seeing options, resulting in high drop-offs. This, along with other UX issues, strained the experience and reduced bookings

7.4.2Solution 4We redesigned the calendar to display room availability and prices upfront. To address user confusion around room selection, we introduced clearly differentiated photos and a vertical scroll for easy comparison across room categories. Additionally, to encourage logins, we made Oberoi’s member discount more visible within the new UI, helping users understand the value of logging in.




The scrolling room comparison feature simplifies room selection, making it easier for users to find an option that best suits their needs

The calendar selection displays room availability and the best pricing options upfront, improving room booking completions


8.0ImpactUser testing confirmed a 60% brand alignment, with improved user experience and a 15% increase in bookings through the redesigned website
User testing revealed that 60% of participants felt the redesigned website accurately represented the Oberoi brand. Additionally, users reported a significantly improved experience, finding it much easier to locate the information they needed. Internal A/B testing showed a 15% increase in bookings through the revamped site.



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LinkedinInstagramVikramaditya Sharma is an Indian product designer based in San Francisco. With a Masters in Design Engineering from Harvard and a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design, he is passionate about leveraging design & tech to create innovations that positively shape society.