Airbnb
User Research
rOLE
USER RESEARCHER
tIMELINE
4 WEEKS
METHODS
GENERATIVE AND EVALUATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECT OVERVIEW
For my user research class at the School of Visual Concepts in January 2019, we were to imagine that we had been hired by a company that is planning a redesign of their site. We were to pick this company and then create 2-3 research goals. I chose Airbnb and I was the sole User Researcher of this project.
Airbnb is an online platform that provides hosts the opportunity to connect with guests through short term travel rentals or experiences. Guests can search for private rooms, entire houses, and other memorable places all over the world.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
As a frequent user, I picked Airbnb to understand ways it can improve from already being a great site. My main goal was to first develop a deeper understanding of the user group and why they are deciding to book accommodations with Airbnb—to understand what individuals or groups are seeking and how they use the booking platform.
I asked the following questions to frame my research:
How are users searching for an accommodation for their dates of travel and destination?
When users find an accommodation, do they involve others in their decision process or book the accommodation on their own?
What are users considering when they are looking for an accommodation?
Is Airbnb the user’s preferred booking site for travel accommodations? Why or why not?
APPROACH
I crafted my interview questions around my research objectives. I paid careful attention to avoid leading questions and kept other researcher biases in check when interviewing users. I found that my previous experience as a reporter helped balance building rapport with the users while also maintaining objectivity.
After reviewing my notes for themes or patterns in the interviews, I formed my survey questions.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Upon analyzing the research, I saw a pain point common across all the interviews with the survey validating these findings.
Users of Airbnb find it tedious and overwhelming when planning a multi-destination trip.
They were often sharing possible spots to book with people online or in-person, were overwhelmed by the number of pictures, and found the overall process tedious.
When there were multiple reservations to be made, it took users on average a week to map out their different properties, often referring to more than three travel sites. For travelers who were doing longer trips or needing to check in with other travelers, this process was extended.
If the accommodations they found were gone — the whole search cycle started again.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Usability test of the current search for multiple places and dates
Consider multi-destination planning tool
Do a competitive analysis of other travel sites to see if they have a multi-destination tool
Consider a calendar that contains all trips when over multiple days and locations
Consider standardizing the number of pictures to help ease the cognitive load for users
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
I noticed something new in Airbnb’s interface over the last few months of using it. Now when there are multiple reservations for one time period, the interface shows these multiple bookings. When that is clicked on, I can tab through all of my bookings on those dates.
This is validating to me as this tells me my research findings and recommendations were in the right direction.
DO IT DIFFERENTLY?
With more time than the five-week class allowed, I would conduct a usability test of Airbnb’s site at the time and build designs based on my recommendations, test those, and then iterate on these designs.