Reinventing the citizenM app

citizenM is a bold hotel brand that mixes affordable luxury with smart design, tech-savvy service, and a strong personality.

citizenM had an app—but it didn’t feel like citizenM. It had to align better to a strategy change at citizenM, had to improve in performance and overall UX, and missed that signature brand playfulness.

Time for a re-think. They struggled getting it done, so that's where I came in.

Project type
UX/UI design

Keywords
Strategy
Concept designs
User validation
App designs (iOS & Android)
Product updates

Setting a new vision

We set a dot on the horizon: become the best-in-class hotel app. By aligning to citizenM's new 'Arrival Of The Future' business strategy, we had to make the guest experience feel more personal and seamlessly integrated in a hotel stay. While staying true to their bold and playful brand.

Research & strategy

To lay the groundwork, I interviewed stakeholders to understand the business goals, ran journey workshops to uncover real user needs, and carved out a clear app scope to keep the focus razor-sharp.

Back to the core

Turns out, the app had lost its way. So I brought it back to its core purpose: supporting guests and members during their stay. It had to be the go-to tool for hotel guests and members.

To do that we had to make booking and checking-in seamless, use smart funnels to offer upgrades and memberships and bring the brand vibe into every screen.

Concepting with wireframes

I sketched out every key use case: checking in with ease, picking your own room, using your phone as a key, signing up for membership, rebooking your next stay, and even returning to your favourite hotel with a one-minute check-in.

Everything was focused on making things fast, intuitive, and just more fun.

Bringing it to life with UI Design

With wireframes in hand, we broke everything down into bite-sized agile stories and translated each concept into detailed UI design. For example, we reimagined the check-in flow into a smooth, fun journey, where guest can select their own rooms by view (or try their luck with "room roulette").

Guerilla testing with real guests

Every new feature was prototyped and tested with actual hotel guests. Right in the lobby or hotel room. I worked closely with the BI team to track performance through A/B tests and made improvements based on real data and feedback.

Rolling it out

Finally, I joined the iOS and Android teams to roll out the new experience story by story. Bit by bit, the vision became reality—and the app finally felt like a true part of the citizenM world.