Tackling the trust gap and integrating itinerary tools.
Overview
Problem Space
User research revealed misleading BNB pages that frustrated users, issues with the Reviews feature impacting usability and rating transparency, and too many steps required to access "Experiences" and the "Host Guidebook," leading to a complicated user flow.
Audience
This redesign focuses on enhancing the browsing experience for Airbnb guests by addressing usability challenges, improving navigation, and ensuring a more intuitive and seamless exploration of BNB features.
Solution
I redesigned the Reviews feature to improve rating transparency and build user trust. By streamlining access to the Experiences feature and increasing the visibility of the Host Guidebook, I enhanced Airbnb's functionality as a comprehensive itinerary planning tool.
Final Solutions
01. Experiences and Host Guidebook Integration
The new feature integration autoloads with the user's location, dates, and number of guest preferences to streamline access to nearby experiences. The Guidebook is highlighted in a central location on the Host Card making it easier to locate.
02. Reviews Transparency
The redesigned reviews feature clearly displays each user's BNB category rankings for cleanliness, accuracy, location, value, and host communication. Filter functionality was also added to view x-star rated reviews.
Research
To understand what aspects of the designs worked well for users, and identify opportunities for improvement, I examined Airbnb’s reviews on Apple's App Store and found:
Usability Testing
From the 5 usability tests conducted on the Airbnb website, users said:
User 1
"Check in and communication [categories] go hand in hand. I don't know why they have those separated."
User 3
"I would definitely look at the Host Guidebook if it was easier to find. Locals usually have the best recommendations for places I've never visited before."
User 4
"The path to accessing nearby experiences wasn't as accessible as I'd hoped. I had no idea Airbnb even offered this."
Ideate
Based on the pain points revealed through the usability test and app store reviews with the current design, I identified opportunities for improvement and created wireframes to test the designs.
User Flows
Based on user research and feedback from the usability tests, I developed the high fidelity prototype and updated user flows to key actions users take on the BNB page.
Solution Impact
I conducted a usability test on the final redesign with 5 participants to measure the success of the redesign.
01. Filter option expedites locating review
When purchasing a product online users reported searching for the lowest rated reviews first. The original design required 3 clicks for users to access the lowest rated reviews. The redesign optimizes the user flow, by allowing users to filter reviews based on number of star ratings (on 1 click).
80% of users entered an error path when searching for the lowest star reviews in the original design.
67% click reduction in the redesign to access lowest star reviews.
100% of users successfully entered the optimal path to find lowest star reviews in the redesign.
Before
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After
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02. Rating transparency to build user trust
The original design displayed the categories of "cleanliness, accuracy, check-in", etc. without reviews to justify the averages, leading to confusion and distrust of how these values were calculated. The redesign builds user trust through making these category ratings readily available to users.
Before
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After
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03. Integrate Experiences feature to expand functionality
Booking an Airbnb Experience close to the BNB, transforms Airbnb into a valuable itinerary tool. This redesign improves the user flow of accessing Experiences by loading the data used to search for the Airbnb (location, date, number of guests) into the Experiences search feature and displays the results directly on the BNB page.
Optimized user flow by 80% to access nearby Experiences
"I like that it's all on the same page, when you're booking your BNB all your data is already inputted, so now I can see things to do nearby."
- User 1 (usability study)
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04. Highlight Host Guidebook in host card redesign
Users showed interest in viewing Host Guidebooks for itinerary planning ideas. The redesign places the Guidebook on the host card, and is directly accessible from the BNB page, reducing the number of clicks from 3 to 1.
Optimized user flow by 67% to access Host Guidebook
Time taken to locate Host Guidebook reduced by 78%
Before
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After
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Reflections
Scalability of Rating Categories
I redesigned this feature operating under the assumption that each reviewer rated the BNB/host on each of the rating categories. If this isn’t the case, adding a “Learn more” section about how the ratings are calculated is another possible (and lower-cost) solution.
Measuring Success of Experiences Integration
As a conceptual project, I lacked access to Airbnb's internal insights. If these designs were to be implemented, some KPIs I would use to measure success include: Conversion Rate Optimization for the Experiences feature (post-integration bookings), and Total Revenue from Experiences.
More User & Market Research
With more time, I would analyze competitors like TripAdvisor, Expedia, and Booking.com and conduct user interviews to better understand the value of transforming Airbnb into a comprehensive itinerary tool through features like Nearby Experiences and the redesigned Host Guidebook flow.
More Work
