WEBSITE & VIDEO

Expanding Airbnb's Platform & Experience

In an effort to strengthen Airbnb’s product offering and improve the host/guest experience, we conceptualized integrating a shop component into Airbnb's current framework. I lead the initial ideating workshop with the design team and continued as the sole designer working on everything from user flows to the final design. In collaboration with Elevated Studio, we created a promotional video to visualize the Airbnb Shop experience from both the guest's and the host's perspective.

Role
Discovery, User Flows, Prototyping, Visual Design, Storyboarding, Art Direction

Client
Sprout Studios

Team
Graphic Designers
Videographers
Models

/ The problem

Uncertainty over what products to stock your space with in order to increase and improve guest satisfaction

Through conversations with five Airbnb hosts, we found that listing your space on the platform is fairly easy but figuring out what essential products to stock your space is not as straightforward. Although Airbnb gives you basic recommendations, the host still has to do a lot of deciding between whether to buy based on their personal preference or attempt to predict guest preference.

/ research

Looking deeper into market demand and current solutions

I started the research by looking into Airbnb's community forum to understand if this was an issue shared by other hosts. I found numerous comments asking for a curated online store to guide hosts on the products to buy. Turns out we weren't the first ones looking to tackle this problem, there were several companies targeting this specific pain point. In fact, there was one website other hosts were recommending called "airbnbshop.com" (they were later forced to change their name to Good Host Shop).

/ ideation

Sticking stickies

As I researched more into the problem I kept thinking of several ideas that went beyond an essential online store. There were a lot of potential ideas that could further enhance the Airbnb experience. I gathered the team and held a brainstorming session to see what opportunities we could find collectively.

/ goals

Seamless integration with Airbnb's ecosystem to benefit all parties involved

Reducing host decision-making
This was the main point of focus, our solution needed to make it easier for the host to stock their space in a way that minimized the guesswork and instilled confidence in the product choice.

Airbnb's product offering
Our business goal was to find solutions to compliment and/or enhance current product offerings and Airbnb's holistic approach to trips and vacations.

The guest experience
Although we are targeting a host-related problem, it's all about the guests' comfort and satisfaction. We wanted to focus on additional ways to improve the guest's stay.

/ host flow

Mapping out the current flows of an Airbnb host

Not being familiar with how to list your place or what the dashboard looked like on the hosts' side, I began by studying the different host interactions, from listing a place to editing an existing listing.

One thing I learned the hard way, Airbnb DOES NOT take fake listings lightly, understandably, even if they're unpublished and for research purposes only. I was banned, indefinitely, from Airbnb (please take me back, I miss you). On the bright side, I was able to experience the flow of listing a place and noting potential ways to integrate a solution.

/ lean personas

Hosting the guest

To have an accurate idea of the host and guest journey, I created personas based on insights gathered from user interviews.

The host

Justin owns two apartments in the city where he lives that he normally rents out through Airbnb. He has a full-time job which makes it difficult to stay on top of his listings but keeps at it with the goal of becoming a super host.

The guest

Maria loves to travel to different places around the world. Her trips typically consist of long days sightseeing and although she doesn't spend much time in the Airbnb rental, she is often willing to pay more for extra comfort.

/ user flows

Plotting ideas into the current flow

With the research and ideas we gathered, I moved forward with creating user flows for both the guest and the host to find connections between ideas and determine which ones integrated seamlessly with the current experience.

/ shop as a host

Introducing Airbnb Shop for hosts.

In addition to incorporating the shop feature into the listing of a new product where it would recommend products based on your space, a host could also access the shop from their dashboard. In order to keep everything in one place for the host, I added the shop as an additional section of the dashboard allowing hosts to shop for their current listings.

So what can you shop for? Anything from basic supplies like paper towels and napkins, to essential items such as bedsheets and decorating products. There were ideas to expand the catalog to furniture and food items but further research would be needed to evaluate host demand and logistic solutions.

/ host shop dashboard

Shop by listing

Instead of just taking you to a product listing page, the shop section shows your current listings and what products, if any, you bought for that specific space. I used Airbnb's primary action buttons to highlight the two most important actions for each listing. Keeping track of what supplies are running out can be difficult, by leveraging Airbnb's booking info, the platform can roughly calculate consumption per guest and alert you when it detects supplies may be low depending on your latest bookings.

/ the shop page

In order to avoid any confusion the selected listing is shown again at the top of the page and features the ability to easily change between listings. In addition to category filtering, the host can shop by items recommended for this specific space or by popular items.

/ supply levels

Supplies replenishment

Currently, when a guest checks out, the host receives an email notification. I incorporated supply levels into this email in order to notify the host if they need to re-stock. The replenishment screen uses progressive disclosure to only show the items that are low in stock but gives the host the ability to view the rest through an accordion module. The listing dropdown field at the top of the page facilitates switching between listings without having to leave the page.

/ guests shop too

Guest product interaction

Choosing what information is needed and when it's needed

The shop experience was extended to the guest by labeling products with a QR code that could easily be scanned with a smartphone. As a physical alternative, each stay would have a shop catalog binder that could be kept up-to-date by the host.

/ guest purchase

Hassle-free shopping

Purchasing a product is as quick and easy as scanning and buying. A sticky bar was introduced to allow the user to quickly purchase the product upon making a decision, no matter how far they may have scrolled. The sticky bar is intentionally placed at the bottom of the screen to help the reach of those thumbs.

The back "Shop" button takes the guest to a general shop page with the products from the current listing at the top of the page. By doing so, the guest is able to discover other products from their current stay that they may have not noticed.

/ Landing page

Everybody is welcome

You don't have to be a guest or a host to shop, this page welcomes non-Airbnb customers to buy as well. By doing so, it brings brand awareness and diversifies Airbnb's customer base. If you are a guest or a host not familiar with Airbnb Shop, I included a section to inform of the additional features that they have as Airbnb customers. The Featured Spaces section encourages hosts to shop through the Airbnb platform for a chance to be featured.

/ storyboarding

How to tell the story

In addition to the user interface, we made a promotional video to highlight the main features and show the host's and the guest's interaction with Airbnb Shop. I wrote the story for the video and the key elements to call out bringing it all together with a detailed storyboard in preparation for the video.

/ Airbnb shop video

From stickies to video

I art directed the production and collaborated with Elevated Studio as they shot and edited the video. It was a rigorous one day shoot with editing taking about a month to complete, all culminating with the video below.

Model: Christine P.

/ retrospective

Looking back and looking ahead

Guest focus
I spent a good portion of the time researching the host side of things and I think I may have missed out on some pain points by not talking to more guests. After the project was done, I kept thinking of random areas of interest that I wanted to hear about from guests. The one area that I think could be crucial is health-related products. For instance, over 50 million Americans suffer from sleep-related disorders, how can Airbnb Shop provide products, either in the form of rental or purchase, that ensures that all guests have the most pleasant trip/vacation experience.

Additional Features
There were a number of ideas that didn't make it to design that with more time I would like to explore further. One of those ideas was shopping for materials for your upcoming Airbnb experience. This aligns perfectly with Airbnb's position to provide a complete trip/vacation experience and it also opens the door for guests to repeat buy the materials for them to do things on their own.

Do not make fake listings
In case you didn't read it above, I will reiterate Airbnb does not like it when you make fake listings, no matter if they're unpublished. Some advice from experience, if Airbnb emails you asking for a photo of your driver's license...you're about to get banned...indefinitely.

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