Tales from the Wild: The "Key" to Good Customer Experience

I have been traveling quite a bit lately and was looking forward to finally trying out the new "use your phone as a room key" functionality that many hotel chains have been deploying. I finally had the chance to try it out...and the experience was far from delightful.

My flight to Chicago was delayed...first at the gate, then on the taxiway out and again on the taxiway in (our gate was blocked by a literal traffic jam on the runway). Needless to say, at 11:15pm, I was not happy when our hotel shuttle was delayed as well. When it finally did arrive, it was packed with fellow weary travelers...all of whom would be rushing to check-in ahead of me when we arrived at the hotel.

Brilliantly (I thought) I will use the hotel's app to check-in from shuttle, get a digital key and avoid the line. I opened the app, found the check-in screen and proceeded to fill out the requisite fields. When I got to the "when would you like to check-in" field, given the short shuttle trip, I attempted to fill in 11:30...but it would not allow this. The earliest time it would take was 30 minutes in the future. At that rate, I would still have to wait after I arrived at the hotel.

Nonetheless, I accepted the 11:45 option. Then I noticed something about "Congratulations, your digital room key is being prepared!" In this modern world of instant gratification, that seemed odd, but OK....

When we finally arrived at the hotel...late...I checked my app. It appeared I was checked in, but the room key hadn't arrived yet. Frustrated, I got on the check-in line. When it was finally my turn, I explained the situation to the associate, showed her my app screen, etc and she said she would be happy to help...but could she see my ID and credit card. So much for already being checked in.

She handed me a physical room key and I trudged off to my room, disappointed in the entire experience.

When I got to my room, not only was the digital key still pending delivery...now it said I should go down to the front desk as there was a security issue that needed to be resolved. I ignored that and went off to bed. Finally.

After breakfast the next day, I noticed that my digital room key had finally arrived. As I returned to my room, I was anxious to give it a try. Nope, didn't work. Thank goodness I still had my plastic key.

As I checked out later that morning, I asked the front desk "Do these digital room keys work?"

"Oh, yes...of course!" And then he glanced at my phone and said "That is an iPhone, no?"

When I informed him, no, it's an Android he replied "Ah, no. No, they are not working yet" and showed some physical disdain for my choice of technology. Under my breath, I mumbled something like "but the app should know I am on an Android and tell me that" but decided to move on.

The following week, I was in a different city and again had the chance to try the key app. This time I did the hotel check-in on the tarmac before my flight departed and the app showed my key had arrived by the time we landed.

On the way to my hotel it occurred to me that I had no idea what room I had been assigned. I found all sorts of details about the type of bed and other amenities but try as I might, I could not find a room number. Disheartened, I once again headed to the front desk.

I explained my situation and the lovely associate showed me that if I activated the digital key...the feature that is supposed to be used to open the door...it would display the room number. 

Awed that the room number would be hidden in such an un-obvious location...and not wanting to get to my room only to find out the digital key wouldn't work...I asked "Do these really work?"

She looked at my phone and said "Of course! That is an iPhone, no?" When I explained that it wasn't she said "No, those don't work yet. Only iPhones" and she proceeded to prepare a physical key. "Could I please see some ID?"

When I finally got to my room, despite assurances to the contrary, I had to give the digital key another try. Much to my surprise, it worked.

While I am a huge advocate of new technology and innovation, there are some things that need to just work. Your hotel room key is one of those things. I have heard stories of people being told the digital key works only to have to return to the front desk to get a physical key. While I doubt many loyalty club members will turn in their Gold cards over this, it is decidedly not a good customer experience.

This is precisely why a service like Applause "in the wild testing" is necessary. Flying quality assurance staff to various locations around the globe to validate every deployment is simply not cost effective. But with testers already living in 200 countries/territories, Applause can perform this testing faster and eliminate unnecessary expenses. A fresh set of eyes from our UX experts can point out that what may seem obvious to you is literally hidden from unfamiliar users. Applause testers can give you feedback on potential staff readiness and training needs. And with access to over 2.5 million connected devices, we can help ensure everyone's phone works when they arrive groggy at their temporary doorstep.

If you want to learn more, visit the Applause website (www.applause.com)