Timeline

Platform

Role

Client

Research & UX/UI

Personal Solo Project

Figma
Hi-fi Prototype is here

10 days

Background

Airbnb has become a leading platform in the global travel industry, boasting $9.9 billion in revenue and 7.7 million listings in 2023—a number that continues to grow annually. Despite its success, users often struggle to choose the best accommodation.

Research shows that UK travellers compare an average of 10.9 rooms before deciding, making the selection process the most time-consuming aspect of the booking. During this phase, they spend 160 minutes on OTAs and 95 minutes on hotel sites. This highlights a need for more efficient ways to compare listings directly on Airbnb.

Challenge & Opportunity

While Airbnb offers a wide range of properties and a user-friendly interface, it lacks a feature for easily comparing multiple listings, making the decision-making process time-consuming and frustrating. Since many travellers rely on other platforms to compare options, Airbnb risks losing bookings to competitors.

The challenge is introducing a comparison feature that makes it easier for users to evaluate different listings, simplifies the room selection process, reduces decision fatigue, and enhances the overall user experience on Airbnb. This will help users find the perfect place to stay with ease and confidence.

RESEARCH

01.

Desk Research

People spend a tremendous amount of time booking their holiday accommodation.

#1. 39 days of planning time

Travelers spend over a month planning their trips, whether for holiday rentals, flights, or accommodations. This shows how crucial it is for them to have all the right information to make well-informed decisions.

#2. Higher content consumption

Holiday rental guests(Airbnb target users) spend about 511 minutes looking at travel content, 116% more than other travellers. Travellers are spending 160 minutes on OTAs and 95 minutes on hotel websites.

#3. Time-Consuming Comparison

U.K. travellers usually compare about 10.9 rooms before choosing. 45% of Japanese travellers answered that selecting accommodation is the most time-consuming part of holiday planning.

Product Review

*Reference:

https://partner.expediagroup.com/en-us/resources/research-insights/path-to-purchase
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000144.000017857.html

The user reviews highlighted the need of room comparison tool on the Airbnb.

User Interview

Users face time-consuming and error-prone room comparisons, along with challenges in balancing preferences for group travel decisions.

- Interview Goals

- Analysing Interview

- Quotes

- User pains

- User Needs

Competitive research

Improving comparison and group decision-making helps Airbnb stand out from competitors and better serve its users.

- Findings & Opportunities

#1. Lack of decision-making support

None of the competitors offers decision-making support on the wishlist. Expedia has a comparison tool, but it's on the search page, so users unable to compare their favourite rooms.

Airbnb has a significant opportunity to introduce a comparison tool to stand out from the competition, address a common user need and foster decision-making.

#2 Needs of further support for group travel

Airbnb and Expedia include voting features, but my user interviews revealed that the existing voting features don’t provide enough support for group decision-making.

Enhancing Group Travel Support beyond basic voting features provides more comprehensive tools that facilitate smoother and more influential group decision-making.

DEFINE

02.

Defining the problems

Created 2 “How Might We?” statements for ideating solutions effectively.

User Persona

My persona, “Mina”, is a detail-oriented and cautious traveller who values making well-informed decisions.

StoryBoard

Here is Mina’s current hasslefull processes of booking accommodation for her holiday.

IDEATE

03.

Ideating Ideas

Explored solutions and ideated 9 ideas through Crazy 8 and brainstorming sessions.

Evaluating Ideas

Selected two high-impact solutions and planned concept testing with wireframes.

Two Potential Solutions for Concept testing

Solution 1: Side by side Comparison+Percentage

Solution 2: A vs B Comparison

Lo-fi Testing

04.

Lo-fi testing

A vs B Comparison was preferred by users and was adopted as a main comparison feature.

- Goals

- Analysing results

- Insights

A vs B Comparison was preferred by user for its simplicity, fun and easy decision-making with confidence.

HI-FI PROTOTYPING

05.

USABILITY TEST & ITERATION-1

06.

Test Tasks

Results

I received positive feedback, but with a 67% task success rate (2 errors), there's room to improve usability.

Iteration

#1. Start Comparison

#2. Selecting User Type

#3. Invitation Flow

USABILITY TEST & ITERATION-2

07.

2nd Test Results

While task completion rates improved by about 50%, I found 4 areas that need further development.

2nd Iteration