New Wyndham Website: feedback on pros/cons for formal submission to Wyndham

[rickandcindy23]

Every upgrade is worse than the last one. I cannot see one of my accounts at all. We have two platinum accounts, converted with former PAHIO weeks. Our first account has been very difficult to access with the upgrade of four years ago, and now it's worse. If they won't let me access my points, why am I paying MF's? Ridiculous.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Enhancement #5, I'm not a fan of this since unless it's via a box check option.

Change made to the item in scope.

Enhancement #9. Add something about WorldMark. Don't tell us to call unless a unit is truly available. It might be part of another con, but, it merits a separate con. All the clutter requires a lot of scrolling. This is a HIGH for 2 reason, eliminates all the clutter and unnecessary scrolling plus it lets us know that calling won't be a futile exercise.

WorldMark added to the list as a distinct item.

I know that they designed this to be more mobile friendly, you've made that very clear. But, there are many users that prefer a laptop for a variety of reasons, ie, arthiritis, eye conditions, while chilling in the recliner, ease of flipping between wyndham and non-wyndham websites, while at work on a corporate machine, etc. etc. etc. We really don't need more people searching for vacations in the car while driving!!! You and I will forever disagree on this, I find multitasking easier on a laptop. Most people sitting in offices still use laptops. I've had a cell phone for 25 years +/- and had a smartphone for roughly half that time. I was a IT person, as well, I just don't practice that type of work anymore. I still prefer my laptop except when on the go. And, I'm certain that while I may not be part of your future, I am part of Wyndhams today. Laptop users should be considered.

Understood - we can agree to disagree. That said, I never said laptops/desktops should not be considered - I said in a cloud first mobile first world - development will be prioritized toward touch devices - as it should be - and laptop/desktop will be prioritized as secondary from a problem/resolution perspective. In other words - fixes will come for smartphones and tablets first - and desktops/laptops down the line.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I tried that at the Grand Desert and the option was not available. I booked a 2 bedroom with 2 bedroom lockoff and Presidential available. There was no upgrade options to either one of them. then I called in to see and they said it was only better view and larger room which to them meant more bedrooms. I was very excited about the Better Suite option when I saw it but it does not populate what it says it does.

I haven't seen "category upgrades" work either. I tried this at National Harbor a few times - choosing a 2 bedroom when I saw that a 2 bedroom PR was available at the same time - no upgrade offered when attempting to book.

 

[HitchHiker71]

For whatever reason the layout on my iPad is different. I never see three horizontal lines. The header doesn’t change when I’m in different areas.
So I touch the search function. It will bring up a list of resorts when a few letters are used. I make a selection. Then the results bring up the same results. Then I have to touch on Margaritaville Rio Mar again to actually go to the Margaritaville Rio Mar Resort page. Then you could search for availability. It’s functional but a heck of a lot of touching-clicking. I’ll stick to the booking function on the dashboard.
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So you don’t see the three lines at the top left of your iPad Safari browser? Screenshot for reference:

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rolltydr]

I tried that at the Grand Desert and the option was not available. I booked a 2 bedroom with 2 bedroom lockoff and Presidential available. There was no upgrade options to either one of them. then I called in to see and they said it was only better view and larger room which to them meant more bedrooms. I was very excited about the Better Suite option when I saw it but it does not populate what it says it does.

Thanks for the update on your phone call. Smdh! Why would they change how the term upgrade is defined on the website but then not make any real operational change? It defies logic.

 

[Cyrus24]

laptop/desktop will be prioritized as secondary

I just have a hard time accepting this given the average age of a Wyndham owner. Many have shoulder, wrist, elbow disabilities not to mention eye issues when dealing with a 5 inch screen. AND, they made all these changes to make it mobile friendly, but it still takes DOZENS of clicks and DOZENS of scrolls to manually build an Availability Calendar list of options??? If that is what mobile friendly means, I'm going back to calling someone for help. If your focus is more the mobile user needs being upgraded before we fix general use and Laptop user issues, you need to FULLY disclose that on everything you write, it's not just about you.

I always appreciate your feedback and comments, but, on this topic of Laptop users being prioritized as secondary, you are really missing the mark. There is one thing that needs to be fixed, the Availability Calendar for mobile AND laptop users. IMHO, Everything else is secondary.

 

[HitchHiker71]

If I want to search for a resort I would expect to click the menu header called "resorts." When I do that, I get options "explore resorts," "featured destinations," and "resort news." It sure sounds like a resort search is "explore resorts" and when I do that, it gives me the map search which only really searches place names (so, only resorts if their name incidentally happens to contain the place name or I happen to remember that I need to start the name with "Club Wyndham" and then it might come up). If they intended for the resort search to be the website search that comes up with the magnifying glass (on the desktop version, it appears on the right-hand side near my account name), then they should put that type of search bar under the menu header "resorts" --> "explore resorts" instead of the map search. Note that when I do the map search under resorts, I am not searching availability - I can click right through and view the resort info page from those search results.

Addressed under Regression item 11.


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[HitchHiker71]

I just have a hard time accepting this given the average age of a Wyndham owner. Many have shoulder, wrist, elbow disabilities not to mention eye issues when dealing with a 5 inch screen. AND, they made all these changes to make it mobile friendly, but it still takes DOZENS of clicks and DOZENS of scrolls to manually build an Availability Calendar list of options??? If that is what mobile friendly means, I'm going back to calling someone for help. If your focus is more the mobile user needs being upgraded before we fix general use and Laptop user issues, you need to FULLY disclose that on everything you write, it's not just about you.

I always appreciate your feedback and comments, but, on this topic of Laptop users being prioritized as secondary, you are really missing the mark. There is one thing that needs to be fixed, the Availability Calendar for mobile AND laptop users. IMHO, Everything else is secondary.

Agree 100% that the AC needs to be brought back - the table clearly shows this as job one. I'm sending this feedback to my Wyndham contacts today. On the rest, we will agree to disagree.

 

[Eric B]

I just have a hard time accepting this given the average age of a Wyndham owner. Many have shoulder, wrist, elbow disabilities not to mention eye issues when dealing with a 5 inch screen. AND, they made all these changes to make it mobile friendly, but it still takes DOZENS of clicks and DOZENS of scrolls to manually build an Availability Calendar list of options??? If that is what mobile friendly means, I'm going back to calling someone for help. If your focus is more the mobile user needs being upgraded before we fix general use and Laptop user issues, you need to FULLY disclose that on everything you write, it's not just about you.

I always appreciate your feedback and comments, but, on this topic of Laptop users being prioritized as secondary, you are really missing the mark. There is one thing that needs to be fixed, the Availability Calendar for mobile AND laptop users. IMHO, Everything else is secondary.

Agree 100% that the AC needs to be brought back - the table clearly shows this as job one. I'm sending this feedback to my Wyndham contacts today. On the rest, we will agree to disagree.

Is there any data available on the proportion of users of the owners' side of Club Wyndham accessing using mobile as opposed to laptop or desktop interfaces? I'd rather not just agree to disagree, but instead would urge making a data-based decision on these types of things. After all, if the budget supporting "upgrading" or maybe more appropriately changing the software is derived from the program fees paid by current owners, it seems to me that it might possibly be appropriate for the new interface to be useable by those current owners. That's how I would interpret the comments made by @Cyrus24. If the desire is to make the interface useable by non-owners in an effort to market to a new segment that prefers a mobile interface over a laptop- or desktop-oriented one, that's an understandable desire and should be paid for out of a marketing budget and not effect the ability of the current owners to use the system. I hope that we can agree that we should get what we pay for....

 

[HitchHiker71]

Is there any data available on the proportion of users of the owners' side of Club Wyndham accessing using mobile as opposed to laptop or desktop interfaces? I'd rather not just agree to disagree, but instead would urge making a data-based decision on these types of things. After all, if the budget supporting "upgrading" or maybe more appropriately changing the software is derived from the program fees paid by current owners, it seems to me that it might possibly be appropriate for the new interface to be useable by those current owners. That's how I would interpret the comments made by @Cyrus24. If the desire is to make the interface useable by non-owners in an effort to market to a new segment that prefers a mobile interface over a laptop- or desktop-oriented one, that's an understandable desire and should be paid for out of a marketing budget and not effect the ability of the current owners to use the system. I hope that we can agree that we should get what we pay for....

I don't want this thread to get too far off-topic - I want it to stay focused on identifying regressions, bugs and enhancement, i.e. actual website improvements and iterating on the table data. If we want to have a debate about website development best practices and supporting metrics, and why Wyndham is doing what they are doing - I'd rather take this offline outside of this thread. Feel free to start another thread - or let's transfer this over to the more generic Wyndham Website thread perhaps.

Specific to Wyndham specific supporting metrics - I don't have visibility at this time - but will make the ask and see what if anything I get back.

 

[Braindead]

So you don’t see the three lines at the top left of your iPad Safari browser? Screenshot for reference:

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No I don’t have the 3 lines on my iPad. Nothing left of “Club Wyndham”. I’m using Safari like you. I do have the lines on my iPhone

 

[erniecrews]

Try it in portrait mode, mine doesn't show in landscape

No I don’t have the 3 lines. Nothing left of “Club Wyndham”. I’m using Safari like you. I do have the lines on my iPhone
View attachment 20509

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[HitchHiker71]

Try it in portrait mode, mine doesn't show in landscape.

I see the hamburger in both portrait and landscope mode on my iPad 6th gen using Safari browser. Could be a generational issue of some kind. This is why it's next to impossible to test across various devices, OS versions, etc.

 

[paxsarah]

I haven't spent a lot of time trying to see if there are exceptions to this, but it appears the top banner with the COVID message only shows up on my phone and not my laptop. Otherwise, I don't see an obvious link to the COVID information on the homepage - it looks like you have to go to Owner Guide --> Resources to get to the COVID info (but at least you can drill down and get to it).

 

[Braindead]

Try it in portrait mode, mine doesn't show in landscape.

That worked. If I want to see the three lines I have to abandon my key pad & stand my iPad up, makes perfect sense! lol

 

[Braindead]

I haven't spent a lot of time trying to see if there are exceptions to this, but it appears the top banner with the COVID message only shows up on my phone and not my laptop. Otherwise, I don't see an obvious link to the COVID information on the homepage - it looks like you have to go to Owner Guide --> Resources to get to the COVID info (but at least you can drill down and get to it).

The COVID banner just showed up on my iPad for the first time.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I haven't spent a lot of time trying to see if there are exceptions to this, but it appears the top banner with the COVID message only shows up on my phone and not my laptop. Otherwise, I don't see an obvious link to the COVID information on the homepage - it looks like you have to go to Owner Guide --> Resources to get to the COVID info (but at least you can drill down and get to it).

I don't see a banner notification via my laptop either. That said, if you search using keyword "COVID" via the website search bar - it comes right up as the first hit. One of the big changes this website has implemented is to encourage search vs browse. This is somewhat hindered by the fact that the availability search boxes don't work particularly well - while the website search boxes work very well from what I've seen to date. Long story short - use the topline search bar to find what you're looking for - it seems to be the best option we have for now.

 

[Rolltydr]

That worked. If I want to see the three lines I have to abandon my key pad & stand my iPad up, makes perfect sense! lol

Modern version of when we used to have to wrap the antenna in aluminum foil and turn it to just the right position to get the local uhf channel!

 

[HitchHiker71]

I have formally submitted the itemized list to Wyndham today - will keep everyone posted on updates.


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[HitchHiker71]

https://www.facebook.com/384367218281960/posts/3183420198376634

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[kaljor]

WOW.. That was fast!

Thank you, HitchHiker

 

[comicbookman]

yes Thank you. If they pull off that time frame, then i will stop complaining and start suggesting. Now if they would just fix the arp and point deposit functions....

 

[HitchHiker71]

Is there any data available on the proportion of users of the owners' side of Club Wyndham accessing using mobile as opposed to laptop or desktop interfaces? I'd rather not just agree to disagree, but instead would urge making a data-based decision on these types of things. After all, if the budget supporting "upgrading" or maybe more appropriately changing the software is derived from the program fees paid by current owners, it seems to me that it might possibly be appropriate for the new interface to be useable by those current owners. That's how I would interpret the comments made by @Cyrus24. If the desire is to make the interface useable by non-owners in an effort to market to a new segment that prefers a mobile interface over a laptop- or desktop-oriented one, that's an understandable desire and should be paid for out of a marketing budget and not effect the ability of the current owners to use the system. I hope that we can agree that we should get what we pay for....

@Eric B @Cyrus24 sorry for the delay in response. I have received formal feedback on our asks. I'm not permitted to share the actual data sources - but I can share general stats that are worth mentioning here. The data has come back with a mixture of all of our assertions - which is good news - it means that the truth is somewhere in the middle - which is the most likely outcome when it comes to human sentiments IME.

ClubWyndham Login website usage by device type:

• ~50% smartphones
• ~5% tablets
• ~45% desktop/laptop

I'm awaiting stats on a few more specific queries. I can tell you that the majority of actual reservations processed (not logins - but actual bookings - majority desktop/laptop still), so while browsing indicates a growing preference toward mobile devices - actual bookings - still advantage laptop/desktop as far as the numbers go). The trend on smartphones has risen significantly over the past three years especially. Wyndham is developing with the trend, not against the trend. That said, the system they are using adapts the content display based upon screen real estate dynamically - this can easily be demonstrated by shrinking the format of your desktop browser to mimic a smartphone screen in size - notice how the website dynamically adapts based upon the real estate available - so while understanding the device type is certainly important from a strategic perspective - the fact that the underlying platform automatically adapts to the device type means it's less important overall to Wyndham from a core website content development perspective. I can also confirm that this website upgrade involved a complete back end migration using a cloud first mobile first strategy, and using MVP as I've said elsewhere. This accounts for the considerably improved search performance we're seeing overall. The back end migration also gives Wyndham many options that Voyager - which was basically just a window over top of the back end itself - never had.

From a web dev standpoint, Wyndham is using two week agile/scrum sprint release cycles - the next two release cycles are scheduled for late May and early June - subject to change of course. The updated availability calendar may make it into the early June release - TBD. We will keep you all posted.

We have a specific ask from the VP we're working with at Wyndham on these improvements - continue to update our regressions/bugs/enhancements list and submit to him on a regular basis for review. We're also meeting with a PDM (Product Development Manager) sometime next week (best estimate) to review our list in detail - and to establish a cadence on list updates and how to collaborate moving forward.

Lastly, I was also able to validate that both website logins and reservations have been at or near historic lows over the past two months during their acceleration phases, which is why they accelerated the back end platform migration and the website releases to May timeframe. The good news overall is that the digital transformation team that performed these updates is willing to work with us directly - and has grown significantly within Wyndham over the past two years - so please keep the feedback coming - both here and via the feedback mechanism on the website itself. What we are doing here is working and will pay real dividends moving forward.

 

[paxsarah]

The good news overall is that the digital transformation team that performed these updates is willing to work with us directly - and has grown significantly within Wyndham over the past two years - so please keep the feedback coming - both here and via the feedback mechanism on the website itself. What we are doing here is working and will pay real dividends moving forward.

I will say that the responsiveness of Wyndham to owner suggestions - both in speed and substance - is vastly improved over the same situation three years ago. I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[Eric B]

@Eric B @Cyrus24 sorry for the delay in response. I have received formal feedback on our asks. I'm not permitted to share the actual data sources - but I can share general stats that are worth mentioning here. The data has come back with a mixture of all of our assertions - which is good news - it means that the truth is somewhere in the middle - which is the most likely outcome when it comes to human sentiments IME.

ClubWyndham Login website usage by device type:

• ~50% smartphones
• ~5% tablets
• ~45% desktop/laptop

I'm awaiting stats on a few more specific queries. I can tell you that the majority of actual reservations processed (not logins - but actual bookings - majority desktop/laptop still), so while browsing indicates a growing preference toward mobile devices - actual bookings - still advantage laptop/desktop as far as the numbers go). The trend on smartphones has risen significantly over the past three years especially. Wyndham is developing with the trend, not against the trend. That said, the system they are using adapts the content display based upon screen real estate dynamically - this can easily be demonstrated by shrinking the format of your desktop browser to mimic a smartphone screen in size - notice how the website dynamically adapts based upon the real estate available - so while understanding the device type is certainly important from a strategic perspective - the fact that the underlying platform automatically adapts to the device type means it's less important overall to Wyndham from a core website content development perspective. I can also confirm that this website upgrade involved a complete back end migration using a cloud first mobile first strategy, and using MVP as I've said elsewhere. This accounts for the considerably improved search performance we're seeing overall. The back end migration also gives Wyndham many options that Voyager - which was basically just a window over top of the back end itself - never had.

From a web dev standpoint, Wyndham is using two week agile/scrum sprint release cycles - the next two release cycles are scheduled for late May and early June - subject to change of course. The updated availability calendar may make it into the early June release - TBD. We will keep you all posted.

We have a specific ask from the VP we're working with at Wyndham on these improvements - continue to update our regressions/bugs/enhancements list and submit to him on a regular basis for review. We're also meeting with a PDM (Product Development Manager) sometime next week (best estimate) to review our list in detail - and to establish a cadence on list updates and how to collaborate moving forward.

Lastly, I was also able to validate that both website logins and reservations have been at or near historic lows over the past two months during their acceleration phases, which is why they accelerated the back end platform migration and the website releases to May timeframe. The good news overall is that the digital transformation team that performed these updates is willing to work with us directly - and has grown significantly within Wyndham over the past two years - so please keep the feedback coming - both here and via the feedback mechanism on the website itself. What we are doing here is working and will pay real dividends moving forward.

Thanks for the great feedback. Nice to know someone with connections.