Overview
The study “Customer-Centered Design Competence in the Hotel Industry”, conducted by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in collaboration with Design Journey Studio and 14 Swiss hotels, explores how customer-centered design capabilities drive value creation in hospitality. The central premise is that business success depends not only on operational excellence but equally on the conscious design of guest experiences. Using the Customer Impact Score (CI-Score) and the Customer Centricity Score (CC-Score), more than 1,000 hotel guests and numerous employees were surveyed to assess how perceptions of customer centricity and design relate to organizational performance.
Findings show that Swiss hotels perform strongly in guest satisfaction and sense-making but demonstrate room for improvement in guest emotional engagement. High CI-Scores correlate significantly with consistent design, authentic brand expression, and coherent guest experiences. Hotels whose guests rate design and “look & feel” as key booking criteria achieve substantially higher impact scores and recommendation rates. These results underline that design is not a decorative add-on but a strategic driver of value creation.
By comparing guest and employee perspectives, the study highlights that customer centricity must be understood as a cultural mindset rather than a set of operational processes. The project establishes a methodological foundation for measuring and developing design competence and will inform a practical “training toolbox” to help hoteliers connect design and brand decisions with meaningful guest experiences. In doing so, it contributes to the professionalization of design management in Swiss hospitality and emphasizes the pivotal role of strategically anchored design culture for sustainable business success.
