UX DESIGNER AND STRATEGIST
AIRBNB FEATURE INTEGRATION
Airbnb is famous for its accommodations, and has recently moved into the realm of restaurants and experiences. In this exploratory project, our team designed a feature to allow users to book venues via the popular app.
THE TEAM
Lexi Malouta
Erika Friend
Pablo Papasidero
Manan Shah
IMPETUS
To allow users to easily book venues through Airbnb
MY ROLES
Researcher
Interviewer
Tester
Prototyper
Drafter
PROBLEM
People planning events are busy and usually search for venues online or get recommendations from people they know. Users find the event planning process time-consuming and stressful.
GOAL
Help users to efficiently find and book event-appropriate venues
RESEARCH
Our team surveyed 99 people, and chose participants from that pool to interview for further insights.
We narrowed our interview subjects to survey respondents who had experience with Airbnb or similar services, and who had thrown events at venues.
“It just felt right, it was beautiful, we saw the photos and sent people on our behalf, and it all kinda clicked, and like I said the price was pretty good.”
"Location matters most. I think it’s important for people to be able to get somewhere easily and not have to navigate confusing directions."
"I've used Google and Yelp to find venues before. Layout and pricing were key criteria. I called and met in person to book and go over logistics."
SYNTHESIS
We compiled the data we gathered from our interviews and surveys, and gleaned insights. We performed affinity mapping, grouping similar and related pieces of information into categories that would inform our designs.
INSIGHT
Users cared a lot about the event appropriateness of the venue; price and location were also important.
PERSONAS
PRIMARY PERSONA: RACHEL
SECONDARY PERSONA: NANCY
APP DESIGN PLANNING
DESIGN STUDIO
Rapid ideation on basic features that best meet user needs
MOSCOW METHOD
Prioritization of most important features to include in design (must, should, could, and won't include)
DESIGN
It was important for our professional persona Rachel to be able to visualize a space without having to visit it, and our personal event persona Nancy wanted to be able to find the right vibe without hassle. We agreed that media and events on the homepage were essential, and searching by attribute and a map would be important as well.
NEXT STEPS
In future iterations, I would love for this feature to include more functionality, and to address more user needs that we had to de-prioritize for this iteration. I hope to conduct more tests to increase the efficacy of venue advertising, hitting the sweet spot between user desires and company bottom line.
If you have any further questions, please contact me!