Refreshing the website of the beautiful boutique guesthouse The Hudson Milliner was a great pleasure. The previous site was almost a decade old and had no direct booking capabilities. It also had a clunky user experience with pop-up windows instead of separate pages. The goal of the new site was to offer a streamlined direct booking experience while channeling the Milliner’s unique charm and sense of eclectic luxury.
What I did:
- Content architecture, wireframes & sitemap
- Content strategy
- Brand voice & copy
- Creative direction
- Booking engine implementation
- Photography art direction & styling
The website before:
Confusing navigation, manual booking process, and a photo that doesn’t show the property.
The website after:
Clean navigation, a direct booking link, and a hero image and caption that convey a sense of place.
Creating an enjoyable user experience
The strategy was to create a site that catered to guests who wanted to quickly and expediently make a booking as well as those who wanted to spend more time on the site to explore the space. Booking links are placed front and center on the navigation bar and lead directly to a customized page on the booking engine platform. The other pages (About, Events, Guest Rooms) combine factual information with whimsical touches and storytelling.
Creating a vibe
Allowing bright and airy photographs and close-ups of custom-made fixtures breathe on the page seduces the viewer to linger and keep scrolling.
Guests can explore photo galleries and 3D tours of each guest suite before going to the suite’s customized and extremely detailed direct booking engine page.
Telling the story
The Hudson Milliner is owned by two artists who have lovingly restored and created the property as an extension of their home. It was important to convey how personal the space is, as it enhances the guest experience and sets it apart. When styling the images I emphasized details and objects with meaning and history.
I also wanted to give space to the meticulous restoration they toiled on for a few years.
