The Venetian Resort Las Vegas  

Impact:

My research redefined The Venetian’s mobile app strategy, shifting the focus from a simple self-service tool to a powerful platform designed to augment the critical Host-Guest relationship. This pivot ensured the app would empower, not replace, the high-touch service that drives loyalty among high-value members. The final recommendations provided a clear, dual-focused roadmap for both Member and Host experiences, directly influencing the MVP feature set, technical requirements, and go-to-market strategy.

 

This strategic shift was driven by three core findings synthesized from both Member interviews and a follow-up Host Survey:

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• Members Desire Self-Service that Compliments the Host Relationship. While Members want the convenience of an app for routine tasks like checking points or making simple bookings, they view it as an extension of their Host, not a replacement. They want to handle minor tasks themselves to avoid "bothering" their Host, freeing up that relationship for more complex, high-value needs.

• Hosts Need to be Empowered, Not Bypassed. Hosts are currently burdened by time-consuming, manual tasks, with nearly half their time spent on routine inquiries like "what's available" (46%) and making dining reservations (42%). They see the app as a critical tool to offload these tasks, allowing them to reclaim time for the personalized, "white-glove" service that builds genuine relationships.

• Host Adoption Hinges on Preserving Their Value and Performance Metrics. Hosts expressed significant concern that if Guests book independently through the app, they would lose visibility and "credit" for that activity, negatively impacting their performance metrics and diminishing their perceived value. For the app to succeed, it must integrate with Host CRM systems to provide visibility and ensure they receive recognition for all Guest activity.

 

This holistic understanding was achieved through a multi-phased research approach: 10 in-depth, remote moderated interviews with mid-to-high tier Venetian Rewards Members, followed by a quantitative and qualitative survey of 86 internal Venetian Hosts.

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Context: The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, a premier luxury and gaming destination, initiated a strategic engagement to create a new, rewards-focused mobile application. The primary business goal was to deepen engagement with its most loyal members, increase on-property spend, and create operational efficiencies by providing a premium digital companion to their legendary hospitality.

 

Research Goal: My initial objective was to evaluate the MVP app concepts with mid-to-high tier Venetian Rewards Members. The goal was to validate the core value proposition, assess the usability and clarity of the rewards-focused features, and understand how the app would fit into their existing loyalty behaviors and on-property experiences.

 

My Role: As the sole Senior User Experience Researcher on the project, I led this 8-week research effort (August – October 2025). I was onboarded immediately following the initial strategy phase and partnered closely with the Experience Strategist to define the research plan, execute the studies, and synthesize the findings. I was responsible for delivering the final research readouts that informed the product roadmap and design direction.

 

Methodology: The research began with a series of 10 remote, moderated usability interviews with a mix of low-, mid-, and high-tier members. During the analysis of these sessions, a powerful and recurring theme emerged: the indispensable role of the casino Host. It became clear that any digital tool that failed to acknowledge and integrate this human relationship was destined to fail.

 

Recognizing this critical gap, I partnered with my Experience Strategist to propose and execute a "bonus" research effort. We quickly designed and deployed a survey to 86 internal Hosts and Telemarketers. This allowed us to gather crucial baseline data on their current workflows, their most time-consuming tasks, and their initial perceptions and concerns about the app's impact on their roles. By synthesizing the qualitative Member insights with the quantitative Host data, we created a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the service ecosystem.

 

Challenges & Learnings: The biggest challenge was also our greatest opportunity. The discovery of the Host's critical role represented a significant, un-scoped research need that emerged mid-project. Rather than noting it as a future consideration, we embraced the challenge of acting on it immediately. This required agility and resourcefulness. We leveraged our strong client partnership to quickly gain access to an internal employee audience, allowing us to conduct the follow-up survey rapidly and without a budget extension.

 

This experience reinforced a key lesson: true user research goes beyond validating a predefined solution. It's about uncovering the deeper human systems at play and having the courage to pivot your focus to address the most impactful problem. By expanding the scope, we delivered a far more valuable and strategically sound set of recommendations that de-risked the project and set it on a true path to success.

 

Industry: Gaming & Hospitality