ENTERPRISE-SCALE PROJECT

Marriott-Starwood merger

Combined 30+ hotel brands, 5,500+ properties, 110M+ loyalty members across three loyalty programs into one unified digital ecosystem.
Role: Lead UX Loyalty Designer, responsible for the digital loyalty experience, coordinating strategy and execution across enterprise-level departments

30 HOTEL BRANDS

3 LOYALTY PROGRAMS

GOAL HIGHLIGHTS

  • Unify the Loyalty Ecosystem by successfully merging Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest into one combined program.

  • Enable Seamless Consolidation through designing error-free digital workflows for merging member accounts.

  • Educate members in a two-year evolving rewards structure

  • Generate excitement for and alleviate fears of the new program

  • Establish brand presence to the new program

  • Retain trust & loyalty throughout the transition

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The core challenge was the imminent legal requirement to launch an integrated loyalty program for all members by a specific date. We needed to make sure every Marriott Rewards and SPG member could access their loyalty records in the combined program. Missing the deadline would have led to a loss of customer trust, widespread confusion, and significant legal and financial penalties.

CHALLENGES

  • Large-scale loyalty programs made it difficult to educate members on changes in benefits and rewards

  • Enterprise website required comprehensive attention to include all touchpoints, large and small

  • Corporate structure required coordinating with multiple departments to align goals, workflows, and approvals

  • Legal deadlines necessitated thoroughly vetted upfront designs and documentation along with a swimlane workflow to ensure rapid turnarounds (Waterfall)

  • Team dynamics were a sensitive, everyday priority

Combining member benefits was one part of the massive undertaking.

DESIGN PROCESS

Discover

Define

Design

Ideate

TWO-YEAR PROCESS

Over the span of two years, the programs and rewards systems were merged, starting with account management.

User education, consistency, and intuitive flows were key to avoid customer service calls and to maintain member confidence.

A design evolution strategy was needed to help users navigate through changes as benefits and rewards were merged, updated, added, or phased out.

ACCOUNT MERGE HIGHLIGHTS

  • The first step was to excite and inform members on what to expect and how to prepare.

  • Reassuring members that the merger would be positive was a top priority in order to retain loyalty.

  • Effective wording created a positive experience for users.

  • Teams would gather in one ballroom so that cross-collaboration would be more efficient.

  • Sapient’s on site team took over development at headquarters, working through tight deadlines in limited space, electric fans were used to keep the air circulating.

  • Certain digital loyalty decisions were communicated to the Operations team to prevent customer confusion on property.

  • Some rewards extended beyond the company’s loyalty program and required cross-company collaboration

  • Conducted user research and user testing with a dedicated User Researcher.

  • Brand guidelines were combined in a roll-out fashion.

  • Members were provided many educational opportunities prior to linking to ensure they understood everything and felt confident.

  • Stepper forms were limited to five bullets to make the process feel simpler, despite having more than five steps.

  • Common unhappy paths were integrated into the merge flow to preserve a streamlined process.

  • Edge cases were not integrated in the flow. Clear messaging was strategically placed in the process to minimize confusion for the happy paths.

  • Some complex awards took months to finalize, and members needed to be guided on what they were, where to find them, and how to use them.

Project management

Agile & Waterfall to the Test

For legal reasons, the first stage of the Marriott-Starwood digital rollout had to be completed by a fixed deadline, or the company would face substantial fines.

At the time, Marriott teams were using Agile, but when Sapien took over, we switched to Waterfall because development wasn’t progressing quickly enough. Efficiency was critical and was achieved through thoroughly vetted upfront requirements and a swimlane workflow.

Team Dynamics to the Test

Even the best documentation and best design lose value due to stress. During the tense times of the Marriott-Starwood merger, everyone was trying to help each other during stressful situations, and I contributed by being strategic about when and which features I advocated for, supporting users while maintaining positive working relationships.

One potential shortcoming of Waterfall is a factory feel and a sense lack of ownership. Team morale came in celebrating wins on how fast Post-it Notes were moving over lines on a whiteboard.

PRESS MENTIONS

”The [account linking] process is very simple”
- The Points Guy, 1.8M followers

RESULTS

  • Positive recognition by travel influencers for ease of use

  • Seamless transition with no reported issues or change requests

  • Scalable design foundation that supported ongoing enhancements and future loyalty updates

  • Legal deadlines were successfully met

  • Team dynamics were maintained or strengthened

  • Marriott Bonvoy is thriving as the world’s largest hotel loyalty program with 250M+ members