Airbnb Group Trips
Overview
Airbnb's mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, and they are focused on creating an end-to-end travel platform that will handle every part of your trip. Although they have successfully. Despite the fact that Airbnb is successful at providing individual travel experiences, there is still room for improvement for users looking to plan trips with multiple people.
UX Design - discovery, user research, prototype and testing
80 hours
Research
Competitive Analysis
Booking
Strengths
- Search bookings and hotels
- Detailed map view
- Organize your likes
Weaknesses
- No recommendations
- Can't share trip board
- Alignment of UI is off
Wanderlog
Strengths
- Travel guides
- Can do road trips
- Creates itinerary
Weaknesses
- Paid for offline feature
- Subscription based
- Encountered some bugs
TripIt
Strengths
- Organized itinerary
- Recommendations
- Detailed map
Weaknesses
- $49/year subscription
- Can't manage cancellations
User Surveys
Key Findings:
92%
84%
9%
User Interviews
During the interviews I framed the narrative around the following topics:
- Trip planning process
- How the process differs if it's a group trip
- Their experience using Airbnb with group trips
- Challenges they face when planning group travel using any apps
Key Findings
- During group trip planning there is usually only 1 or 2 people that deal with all of the logistics (payments, bookings, creating itinerary)
- Group trip planning involves having to use multiple different platforms (i.e., Airbnb for bookings, Sheets/Excel for spreadsheet, Messaging apps)
- Users are frustrated by indecisiveness when planning group trips. Making sure everyone in the group's needs are met is difficult when only 1 or 2 people are involved in the booking process.
How might we help users facilitate group travel on Airbnb?
Persona
Based on my research the target user group would be 23 - 36 years old conscious about where they shop. They value sustainability, affordability and convenience when it comes to purchasing clothes.
Ideate
Task Analysis
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Explore Screen
By keeping the Airbnb's current home landing screen, I was able to give users that familiarity when using the app. Under the search bar I added a separate section that lets users know of the group travel feature with an easily accessible CTA button where they can learn more.
Group Trips Info Screen
It was important to highlight all of the features in this page so that users have a complete understanding of what it entails. A sticky CTA button is accessible as they scroll the page for information.
Trips Screen
For this page I decided on keeping the current layout and design of the Airbnb's page and added a CTA to the page so that users have additional way to navigate to group creation.
Group Screen
This page has all of the relevant information once a group has been created. Users will be able to access the group chat as well as look at any confirmed and shared bookings. A carousel showing recommended stays/adventures gives users some options straight from this page depending on their intended destination.
Hi-Fi Wireframes for Testing
The Group Trips information screen introduces users to the new feature. Large hero images and text makes it consistent with Airbnb's design.
A group chat feature has a voting option when there isn't a unanimous decision on stays or during early stages of planning. Users will be able to look at each listing up for vote and click on it for more information.
Once a booking has been made for the group trip, users have the option to split payment between the members. They can see how much per night will cost them and pay for their share so that the burden of the booking cost isn't on one person.
Testing
Usability Testing
Based on my usability test plan, I assumed 100% completion rate and 90% error-free rate. Out of 6 participants, 100% of them were able to complete the task with a 98% error-free rate. Observations of participants were categorized to determine areas for improvement.
Priority Revisions
Based on the usability testing and general feedback there were a few iterations made to the design
The Group landing page now displays list of all shared and suggested stays/adventures. This prevents users from having to go back and scroll through chat or look for the poll to see what people have suggested.
The poll results are a lot clearer now with colored bars representing the number of votes each option received. Also added text clarification that tapping on the options will allow them to view the stay and change vote if they would like to.
Reflection & Next Steps
Design system is key
Studying and working with Airbnb's design system was a lot of fun. Learning the intricacies of their design, such as color selection and typography, enhanced my understanding of what an effective design system looks like.
Based on user feedback, if given more time for the project there are some features, I'd like to implement.
- Integrating the Wishlist feature with Group Trips. Combining the 2 features would eliminate the redundancy.
- The ability to handle edits made to the group. For example, if a booking has been made and a user has to leave the group then it should automatically adjust the split payments.