Responses by Studio Mega.

Background: When crafting the online presence for KEX Portland, our goal was for it to feel just as rich and tangible as the space itself. The site is designed to be highly functional and yet unconventional at the same time.

Design core: One of the more expressive elements of the site is the landing page, which we designed as an interactive experience that encourages users to explore and discover at their own pace and direction. The result is something that captures and communicates the feeling and texture of the KEX experience. Mobile was always a priority since a lot of travelers in the target audience would be booking on the fly, so a big design and development challenge was to make sure the experience on mobile was just as functional—and expressive—as on the desktop.

Challenges: Overall, this program ran pretty smoothly. Fortunately for our team, we were already under the hood, having just refreshed KEX’s brand identity, so we translated the brand to the digital space pretty easily. Having said that, a lot of collaborators came together to make this happen, so that presented challenges aligning on the path forward. The biggest challenge was designing and solving for future variables, like what happens when KEX wants to open another property in another city.

Navigation: No-nonsense functionality was a priority from the beginning. Our ever-present navigation drawer ensures people can explore without getting lost. We knew from the beginning that conversions were super important, so we needed to make sure bookings were always just a click away. Our solution was a fun little sticky button that’s always there and expands with a playful wink.

Technology: We wanted to plan for a lot of future flexibility, so the team at 14four built the site on Craft with a client-friendly CMS. The third-party booking engine presented some challenges—given the various booking options with shared and private rooms—but ultimately, we were able to create something that avoided confusion and presorted user preferences before jumping out to complete the booking process.