By Ayo Onikoyi

As artificial intelligence continues to transform industries from education to logistics, one sector that’s quietly being reshaped is hospitality. In Nigeria, where infrastructure meets innovation, startups are deploying AI assistants to automate guest services and enhance travel experiences.

At the heart of one of these efforts is Benson Favour, a rising product designer whose work with a smart hospitality platform, is helping redefine how guests interact with AI and why trust might be the most important UX feature of all.

From Functional to Human

“When people think about AI, they often imagine complexity,” Benson says. “But good AI experiences should feel simple, even friendly. Especially in hospitality — it needs to feel like service, not software.”

Since joining the team in early 2024, Benson has led the redesign of the company’s AI concierge assistant, a virtual tool that allows hotel guests to request services, ask questions, and navigate their stay through a chatbot interface.

Her approach centered around humanising the assistant’s onboarding flow — from how it introduced itself, to the tone of its responses, and the structure of its help prompts.

The Results: Simpler Flows, Smarter Guests

The company reports a 40% increase in assistant engagement since Benson’s redesign, along with a measurable drop in support escalations. Guests were not only using the assistant more frequently, but reporting smoother, more confident interactions.

“It wasn’t about adding features,” she explains. “It was about removing friction. We tested small things — icon placement, progress animations, even how long it takes before the assistant responds. These micro-decisions made the entire product feel more alive and trustworthy.”

Collaborating Across Functions

While Benson led the design direction, she credits the product’s cross-functional approach for helping ground the experience in real guest behavior.

“We worked closely with engineers, guest support teams, and even front desk staff,” she says. “They helped surface pain points — like guests not knowing what to type, or getting stuck in loops. Those insights made the design more grounded.”

She built rapid prototypes in Figma, ran A/B tests with different prompt styles, and participated in onboarding walkthroughs to fine-tune interaction patterns.

Grounding AI in Real-World Constraints

Unlike larger markets, AI design in Nigeria isn’t always backed by perfect infrastructure.

“We had to consider spotty Wi-Fi, inconsistent screen sizes, and users who might be encountering AI for the first time,” Benson says. “That’s what makes product design here so demanding — and so rewarding.”

These constraints shaped her obsession with clarity, lightweight UI, and offline-aware flows. “If it doesn’t load fast, or make sense in 10 seconds, people bounce,” she adds. “That’s the bar.”

Designing for Trust and Ethics

Beyond usability, Benson sees trust and ethical transparency as central to AI design.

“We can’t just hand over control to algorithms without context,” she says. “Design is where power gets translated — or distorted. I take that responsibility seriously.”

She believes designers must play an active role in preventing bias, protecting user agency, and ensuring transparency in automation. “If people can’t tell what’s AI and what’s human, they start to lose confidence in the whole system,” she adds.

A Broader Philosophy

Benson’s work in hospitality is informed by earlier projects designing AI-driven learning tools for young Nigerians — including chatbots built to support first-time digital learners. The thread that connects her projects? Empathy.

“Whether it’s a hotel guest or a student, I’m designing for users who often feel left behind by tech,” she says. “My goal is always to make the product feel like it sees them, hears them, and works for them.”

Outside of her core work, she facilitated training sessions through She Code Africa, mentored young designers, and appeared on national platforms to speak about inclusive design and AI in Africa.

Looking Ahead

As AI continues to shape global user experiences, Benson is setting her sights on international ecosystems where her skills can contribute to ethical, human-centered innovation.

“I’m drawn to environments like the UK,” she says, “where there’s a serious effort to get AI right — not just fast. My background — building for real-world users with limited access and complex needs — brings a perspective that can help international teams think differently about inclusion.”

She hopes to work on tools that support public services, education, and hospitality, blending AI’s potential with thoughtful design principles that center human dignity.

“At the end of the day,” she says, “I’m not designing for screens. I’m designing for trust — and for the people on the other side of that interaction.”