AirbnbMe — Closing Airbnb’s Loop
About a year ago, in my final year of design school, I decided to enter the D&AD New Blood Awards. Each year there are a selection of briefs to choose from, the one that piqued my interest was from Airbnb.
Today I noticed that Airbnb are releasing a new product that encourages you to ‘Live There’. I couldn’t help but notice a few similarities to the execution I produced. By no means am I trying to accuse them of copying. I highly doubt anyone in their office stumbled onto my portfolio site and plotted against me, as flattering as that would be. If anything it’s good to see my insights weren’t completely bullshit. I just thought this would be an apt time to reflect on my own fictional product design for a complementary Airbnb platform to enhance every stage of the customer’s journey as they plan, explore, and reflect on their trip.
The essence of the D&AD brief was to create something (could be anything from an app, to an advertising campaign) to enable Airbnb’s customers to “Belong Anywhere”.
Nothing like a broad brief to get your head spinning. I also had jumped on the competition bandwagon a bit late and had about two weeks to complete the project. Luckily for me, I had recently booked a trip to San Francisco to Airbnb for a month in Mission. I was going to cut some serious corners and solve my own problem (I know, I know, the designer is not the customer, but sometimes you are too). The problem was that I felt overwhelmed with the amount of stuff to do, see, and eat in San Francisco. My bookmarks folder was exploding. I’m confident that I’m not the only one with that problem.
To find some insights into the ‘users’ that look beyond any demographic, I looked at the process a traveller goes through. From there I identified three key users, each at a different stage, and continually evolving.
The Excited Planner
This person has either already booked their trip, or is still choosing where their next destination will be. They love browsing blogs, Pinterest, and reading reviews. They strive to be as In-the-Know as they can before leaving. They love hearing inside tips from their friends who have been to the same place, or finding out what the locals love.
The Busy Explorer
After lots of time spent planning, they are finally doing it. There is so much they want to do and experience. Fitting it all in, and keeping a record of it for themselves and to share is almost too much. They are loving just being in the moment, and experiencing the place they are in, rather than looking down at a device the whole time.
The In-the-Know Local
This person either lives in the destination, or has just deeply experienced it, and would love to share their tips and inside knowledge. This person is always asked by their friends where the best spots in town are. Becoming an In-the-Know Local is a rewarding experience, they want to keep growing their deep knowledge of other places.
AirbnbMe creates a seamless experience, bridging the exciting but different stages of travelling; planning, discovering, and reflecting.
By drawing on the extensive collective community knowledge, and their own friends’ insights, users can make the most out of their planning. These ‘Must-Dos’ are saved into a Pinterest-style board.
Once users are actually travelling, AirbnbMe helps users keep on top of recording and sharing their experiences. As each Must-Do is ticked off users can create a mini-blog posts. This means they have great journal of experiences from their trip and their friends are kept in the loop while they are away.
By the end of their trip, users have created their very own travel guide. This is then shared with the rest of the Airbnb community, as well as their friends, creating a transformative and sustained experience.
My Execution
New Airbnb App
My Execution
The Journal acts as a cross between a personal blog, a review platform, and a destination guide. Users gradually add posts as they experience their ‘Must Dos’, meaning it’s no longer an interruption to their busy schedule to keep it up to date. Adding a Journal post is simple. Details like the name, photos and location pre-populate, making it easier for the user to add their own photos, comments, tags and a rating.
By the end of the trip, the user is left with a deeply personal record of their trip, that they can refer back to. This is also perfect for friends and other Airbnb users to help plan their next trip.
As each user completes Journals, they create resources to share with the Airbnb community.
Users can favourite particular Journals they are interested in, as well as follow the travels of other community members. This helps give depth and personality to the online presence of the Airbnb community.
Seamless integration with the existing Airbnb website would mean that clicking on a user’s profile would give a much deeper insight into a person and their interests, rather than just a name and location.
By creating a network that can interact no matter where they are, or where they are travelling to, community members feel encouraged to share their local knowledge, as well as broaden it by travelling to new destinations.
Airbnb’s App
My Execution
The cycle that each user goes through (Excited Planner, Busy Traveller, and In-the-Know Local), means that this is a rewarding and fun experience. Each user is gaining new experiences, that they can reflect on and share with others.
Not only is it transformative, but it is sustained, as it encourages users to come back and plan more potential trips with Airbnb, and then go through the same rewarding process again.
By being transformed from an Excited Planner to a In-the-Know Local, users can truly feel a sense of belonging, as they explore and unearth the best of each destination, with the same curiosity and determination as a local.
Its hard to comment more precisely on this new Airbnb release, but my main challenge to Airbnb is to enhance each stage of their customer’s journey. Simply leaving a review when you leave doesn’t quite satisfy that desire to share the little details and discoveries of your trip. Further reading: Hooked. Rather than hosts being the only source of information, what if previous visitors who “Lived There” could tell you about that basement bar that has an amazing wine menu?
In short; let’s design for people at different stages (whether that be travelling or even learning a skill) and help them go from overwhelmed, to an expert who can help others.
No matter what it looks like, if you achieve that, that is ‘good design’.
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