Responsibilities
User Flows
Sketches
Wireframes
Prototype
Team
Chris and Chelsea
Timeline
2 weeks
Goal
The goal of the case study was to add a new feature to an existing native application.
After contemplating an endless list of apps, Airbnb came to mind. “What’s a feature, within Airbnb’s scope, that doesn’t exist right now?” Event spaces! So our group built Airbnb Spaces where users can book a unique space according to their specific needs.
Problem
Users need a place that can accommodate their specific needs
Whether it’s a birthday party, work dinner, or photoshoot, users need a space to host their event.
Solution
Book a place with Airbnb Spaces!
Book a stay, experience, and now space all in the Airbnb app.
Interviews
Users want to streamline the booking experience and value amenities
We began user interviews and received great insights from 10 users. We were able to gain a better understanding of why people book event spaces and the pain points associated with that process.
Card Sorting
Users typically categorized spaces by activity type
With so many different types of spaces available, we conducted a card sort to give us a better idea of how users categorize them. We conducted an open card sort of 50 spaces and learned that most users categorized by activity type.
User Flows
Adding extra amenities to the user flow
From our user interviews we learned that amenities are important when booking spaces for an event. To address this, we added a new step to Airbnb’s user flow where users can add any additional amenities the host offers.
Sketches
Building new pages based off of Airbnb’s current flow
To begin our sketching process, our team came up with individual design ideas and then came together to discuss what worked and what didn’t. When creating my sketches, I tried to consider Airbnb’s current flow for booking stays, and apply it to our new feature.
Style Guide
Ensuring a seamless integration
Due to my love for building wireframes and interaction design, our team decided that I would take on the role of building the high fidelity prototype.
We wanted to make sure that integrating our new feature would be seamless and true to Airbnb’s current style; we hoped users would find Airbnb Spaces a natural update. To ensure this, their style guide became my new compass throughout the wireframe and prototype process.
Usability Testing
Users had a difficult time locating their booking information
Our final prototype had 17 testers and a 74% usability rate. Users were given a scenario and asked to do the following tasks:
Search for a photo studio
Book a photo studio
Locate their booking information
When reviewing our data, we learned that locating their booking information had the highest misclick rate (41%) out of all three tasks. From our feedback we learned that users didn’t know where to find this information.
Design Changes
A new “Trips” page and improved main navigation
Our usability testing results led us to the following changes:
-> Relabel “Trips” to “Bookings” in the bottom navigation
-> Consolidate all of Airbnb’s booking options into the “Bookings” page
Next Steps
How to continue Airbnb Spaces
-> Usability testing for design changes
The next step would be to test the design changes made to the bottom navigation and new Bookings page. While we believe this is a good solution based on our usability testing feedback, we won’t know for sure until we do another round of testing.
-> What about liabilities?
What happens if an accident occurs at the space? What about damages? It’ll be important to consider how the app can address these potential issues for hosts and customers.