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OHSM (short for Online Hospitality Solutions Management) is a hospitality-focused SaaS company that builds digital tools and platforms for hotels, restaurants, and other service-based businesses.
Role:
Designer
Industry:
Travel
Duration:
16 weeks
Challenges
Building OHSM from the ground up came with a unique set of design and product challenges that required balancing user needs, technical constraints, and scalability:
🧩 1. Defining Clear User Flows Without Existing References
Since this was a new product, there were no previous versions or data points to rely on. I had to understand how hotel operations worked in real scenarios and translate them into clear, intuitive digital workflows for property management, reservations, and POS systems.
👥 2. Designing for Multiple User Types
The product was used by front-desk staff, managers, and administrators, each with different goals and technical comfort levels. Designing an interface that worked well for everyone — from a first-time user to an experienced operator — was a key challenge.
⚙️ 3. Balancing Feature Depth and Simplicity
Hospitality operations involve complex, interconnected tasks. The challenge was to design a system rich in functionality while keeping the interface clean, non-intimidating, and easy to navigate.
🎨 4. Establishing a Design System from Scratch
With no existing design foundation, I had to create a scalable design system — defining color tokens, typography, spacing, and reusable components to maintain consistency across modules and future updates.
🤝 5. Aligning Design with Technical Feasibility
As the product evolved, certain technical limitations required constant collaboration with developers to ensure that the design vision remained feasible without compromising usability.
⏱️ 6. Managing Timelines and Iterations
Since the product was under continuous development, there was a need to design, test, and iterate quickly while ensuring that each new release maintained quality and consistency.
My Approach
🔍 Discovery Phase
I began by collaborating closely with the product and business teams to define the core goals of the platform and understand the daily workflows of hotel staff, managers, and admins.
Through competitor benchmarking and workflow mapping, I identified the essential use cases that would shape the product’s foundation — from property management to POS and reservations.
🧠 Outcome: A clear understanding of user journeys and functional requirements, which guided the product structure and feature prioritization.
🎨 Design & Development
With the problem space defined, I moved into translating insights into structure — creating information architecture, low-fidelity wireframes, and interactive prototypes in Figma.
I focused on designing a clean, intuitive interface that minimized cognitive load for users with varying tech familiarity.
To ensure scalability, I established a modular design system — defining typography, color tokens, components, and interaction patterns that could evolve with the product.
⚙️ Outcome: A consistent and scalable visual language that supported faster iterations and seamless developer collaboration.
🔁 Testing & Iteration
Once the core flows were ready, I collaborated with the internal QA and pilot hotel teams to conduct early usability testing.
User feedback helped refine task flows, button placements, and navigation patterns for real-world hospitality environments.
Each iteration was validated with the product and engineering teams to ensure both usability and technical feasibility.
🔄 Outcome: A validated, user-friendly platform that met business objectives while ensuring a smooth first-time user experience.
Results
The OHSM platform successfully transformed the idea into a fully functional hospitality management system, built around real user needs and operational efficiency.
🏨 A user-friendly, scalable product designed specifically for hotel operations, POS management, and reservations.
🎯 Clear and intuitive workflows that helped staff adapt quickly without formal training.
🎨 A unified design system created from the ground up — ensuring visual consistency and faster future development.
⚙️ Smooth collaboration between design, product, and engineering teams, reducing turnaround time from concept to prototype.
📈 Positive initial adoption feedback from pilot hotels, validating the design direction and usability decisions.
Future Plans
Continuous Improvement: Plan regular updates based on user feedback and evolving industry trends to enhance app functionality and user satisfaction.
Expansion: Explore partnerships and integrations with wearable devices and fitness equipment to provide a holistic fitness experience.
Conclusion
Designing OHSM from the ground up was an opportunity to build a product that redefines how hospitality operations are managed digitally.
Through continuous collaboration with stakeholders, developers, and pilot users, I was able to shape an experience that balanced functionality, clarity, and scalability.
This project strengthened my ability to:
Translate complex real-world workflows into intuitive digital systems.
Build and maintain a design system from scratch that supports future scalability.
Collaborate effectively across teams to ensure alignment between design intent and technical feasibility.
The result was a user-centered, visually cohesive, and reliable SaaS platform that empowers hotels to manage daily operations effortlessly while setting a strong foundation for OHSM’s future growth.
