Role: UX Designer
Span: 5 weeks
Tools:
- Figma
- Figjam
- Google Forms
Skills:
- User research
- Wireframing
- Prototyping
- Usability testing
- Collaborative Skills
Role: UX Designer
Span: 5 weeks
Tools:
Skills:
The Airbnb experience can be tricky for a number of reasons, for both hosts and guests. This case study is a redesign for the Airbnb mobile app to enhance customer satisfaction through improved communication and greater quality control.
Booking an Airbnb as a guest can be a daunting task, especially when considering uncertainties about quality control or being able to communicate sufficiently with the host. Likewise, poor communication can cause problems for hosts when it comes to being able to provide a positive hosting experience.
How might we improve communication between the relationship of the host and guest in order to lower the amount of complaints within the business?
Our solution was a redesign of the mobile app that focused on improving the guest-host relationship by implementing the following features: more easily accessible support with real-time messaging and tutorial-style instructional videos for guests to teach proper guest etiquette.
We began by creating behavioral archetypes for two user groups: the host and the guest. This is where we pinpointed the user need for an effective means of communication in the case of an emergency. In order to validate these assumptions, we conducted 7 one-on-one user interviews and a survey, which received 18 responses.
Behavioral Archetype for User A: Airbnb Guest
Behavioral Archetype for User B: Airbnb Host
In our user interviews, we asked users about their behaviors and habits, previous experiences, and thoughts and emotions. The following list includes some of the open-ended questions that we centered on:
In our survey, we aimed to identify the greatest pain points for users by asking participants to rank their frustrations and worries when booking an Airbnb.
From our user interviews and survey, we found the following common pain points:
Using the information gathered from these user interviews and survey, we iterated on the previous behavioral archetypes to reflect these findings.
Iterated Behavioral Archetype for User A: Airbnb Guest
Iterated Behavioral Archetype for User B: Airbnb Host
How might we improve communication between the relationship of the host and guest in order to lower the amount of complaints within the business?
As a team, we each brainstormed various ideas to target the pain points we identified during the research phase. We were able to settle on including more easily accessible support and tutorial-style instructional videos for guests to teach proper guest etiquette.
Our prototyping phase began with low-fidelity wireframes, where we started to incorporate some of the proposed solutions based on our previous ideation session, while keeping most of the existing key features of the Airbnb app the same.
In our low-fidelity wireframe, we added a support page directly to the nav bar, where users can go to receive appropriate help for their issue depending on the severity, ranging from standard to urgent emergencies.
We also implemented a section on the “Booking Page” with a button that leads to a separate page for a tutorial style instructional video for guests, which would include subsections for making reports or for frequently asked questions regarding a stay.
Mid-fi Wireframes
Mid-fi Wireframes (continued)
Even as someone who does not frequently use the Airbnb app, I had a fun time working on this case study. Working within a group enabled me to learn about my interest in wireframing and prototyping, as well as learn how to communicate more effectively.
If I had more time to work on this project, I would be interested in exploring how the mobile redesign might test among a wider range of users.
