Airbnb
Area of Interest Filter Problem:
Travelling has never been easier as there are many apps and sites availible for use. With such a crowded market, Airbnb stands out as one of the fastest growing and one of the most well regarded in helping users find short stays while traveling. However, there was a clear demographic of people that would appreciate a new feature on the mobile app which would allow for more context on the surrounding areas of interest for a listing. The implementation of a filter feature would allow for an increase in user exploration and improved acess to travel information.
How might we increase usability within the app?
How might we make it easier for users to see what’s around the area?
Me and my group members decided to curate some questions for an interview that would help me better understand how to serve this demographic. I ended up intervieweing a coworker of mine, who loved to travel, that was in their early 30s. The millenial generation have grown up with technology and have the money to afford to travel. It also is the main demographic age range of Airbnb.
Key Interview QnA’s:
Q: “What factors have the most influence when searching and choosing travel accommodations?”
A: “Location is the most important factor I consider when travelling”
Q: “If you could change anything about the booking process at AirBnB, what would it be?”
A: “I wish there was more consistency in the booking process, I would want AirBnB to make its hosts give a full rundown of the neighborhood and what is near”
Q: “What do you typically use AirBnB for?”
A: “I use AirBnB to travel, typically with my family or friends.”
After setting up an interview and collecting qualitative data. It made sense that a new feature on the app would focus on discoverabilty. Some of the pain points from the user interview listed in discoverability include...
- Personalization
- Lack of attractions showcased near properties in a consistent manner from case to case
- Lack of features on map when property is chosen
The demographic that I ended up targeting were users that valued the neighborhood they would stay in. Details such as a detailed view of what was nearby the rental would help users with trip planning.
I decided that there had needed to be a filtration system/feature that would be added to the “exploration” tab on the airbnb mobile app. This UI rework would also mean that the areas of interest would not be tucked away in a short blurb like how it originally was in the AirBnB app.
The feature would eliminate the need for the host to manually put areas of interest around the property. Therefore bias and user workload is reduced while efficiency on both the host and renter’s end increases.
Two new buttons are added on the listing tab
One will serve as a way for the user to get to a filtration tab of areas of interest. These are split in two categories, Transportation + Refuel and Landmarks (”Landmarks” will later on be changed to attractions in the final deliverable)
The other serves as a way for the user to expand how much they can see of what areas of interest are nearby on another tab.
Distance is now measured in the amount of minutes it will take to walk or drive to a certain area from the listing’s location.
On the initial Explore page, the area of interest will give hierarchy to the nearest airport, then the nearest landmark, and then the nearest Transportation/Refuel spot. This can be changed with the filtration system.
- “Landmarks” was changed to “Attractions”
- Created and used more iconography that was offered on the AirBnB UI dev kit
- Established buttons, indicators, dividers, and tick markers
- Closely followed AirBnB’s mobile design langauge
Outcome:
After presenting this idea to my fellow peers, I was met with praise for how well the UI elements meshed with Airbnb’s design langauge. Simplicity was also a point of praise as going for a filtration feature to help users narrow down options was the most successful part of my solution.
This project was great learning experience for curating questions to be asked during interviews, gathering qualitative data to form a design solution, visualizing user workflow throughout low/fi mockups, and sticking close to a comapany’s design language.
Project Information