I'm Shira.
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I love talking to users and solving their hard, weird, and pesky problems. I can do both qualitative and quantitative analysis. I can write. I can use most prototyping tools and make pretty things, but I’m just as interested in the process of writing the brief as executing it.
I have a degree in math, experience in operations and in journalism, and I'm working towards a master's in UX Design.
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Also, I'm looking for work in the Baltimore/DC area, or remotely.
I'm Shira.
​
I love talking to users and solving their hard, weird, and pesky problems. I can do both qualitative and quantitative analysis. I can write. I can use most prototyping tools and make pretty things, but I’m just as interested in the process of writing the brief as executing it.
I have a degree in math, experience in operations and in journalism, and I'm working towards a master's in UX Design.
​
Also, I'm looking for work in the Baltimore/DC area, or remotely.
Airbnb: An Approach for Reducing Decision Friction in Groups
Goal: design a feature (other than splitting payments) for Airbnb's mobile app that would make booking group travel easier.
Quantitative Research
To start getting a sense of why, when, where, how, and with whom people use Airbnb in groups, I polled 92 people via a Google form that I posted on Reddit. The full results of the survey and demographics of those surveyed can be viewed here.
Note that the last question, which collected email addresses and phone numbers, was intentionally omitted here.
Key Insights
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(1) People use Airbnb more often to plan stays with friends rather than relatives. 60% said they have stayed at an Airbnb together with 3 or more friends, while only 35% said they’ve stayed at an Airbnb with 3 or more relatives.
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(2) The most likely context of a group booking on Airbnb is celebrating particular occasions with friends. Participants were asked to choose from a list of options any situations in which they are likely to stay at an Airbnb with a group of more than 3 people. 74% selected “Vacation/trip with friends to celebrate a particular occasion (birthday, wedding or wedding-related event, etc)”.
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(3) When booking group travel, deciding on the best place to stay is the most challenging task. Participants who have used Airbnb for group accommodations were asked to choose from a list of options any activities that presented a challenge either before, during, or after their trip. 60% selected “deciding on the best place to stay”.
Qualitative Research
For a deeper look at user needs and motivations, I interviewed five of the survey respondents about their experience using Airbnb to book group travel. These individuals were selected because of their extensive experience using Airbnb specifically for planning group trips.
Interview Highlights
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Q: Why do you like traveling with a group?
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"It tends to be cheaper if you’re splitting with a group."
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“Traveling together makes it more of an experience.”
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"It’s nice to spend time with your friends in a new setting and do things we wouldn’t normally do.”
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Q: How do your groups typically coordinate the logistics of travel?
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“People mostly rely on me to let them know when/ where they have to be.”
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“Facebook messenger and real life conversation. Sometimes, if I’m organizing a more complex trip, I email everyone an itinerary.”
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“Typically one person books the place we are staying and we reimburse, and all others book their own airfare etc if necessary.”
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Q: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the Airbnb mobile app?
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“I do wish you could split costs at time of booking- and the ability to share a list of options.”
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“Their ‘Saved/Favorites’ option is really frustrating – every place I star gets sorted by default into its own category and it’s a pain to sort.”
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“I would add a group-messenger.”
Takeaways from Interviews
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In a group, there is usually one person who takes on the role of organizer: facilitating communication, making decisions, and moving the process along.
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Group travel is motivated both by cost-savings and the desire to create a more special experience together.
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Currently, much of the activity necessary to make a group booking happens outside of the Airbnb app.
Customer Persona & Journey Map
With the insights from my research, I created a persona: Kylie Evans, a savvy Airbnb user who has planned and organized plenty of group trips.
With a solid idea of Kylie's background, personality, wants, and needs, I set my eyes on what her current process and experience are like. I created a journey map for an applicable scenario: a trip to a friend's wedding.
The point of a journey map is to identify pain points that present opportunities to improve the user's experience.
Opportunities
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(1) Ease the process of reaching consensus with several people regarding accommodations and allow groups to shortlist and then individually rate potential accommodations.
(2) Let users create lists not just for a specific location, but rather for a particular trip (i.e. for a location, date range, # of people, and other filters), to make it easier to keep track of multiple options without having to navigate back and forth between them in the app, or worse - in a third party service like Facebook chat, text messages, or email.
Articulating A Solution
It was obvious from the research as well as the customer journey that users who plan a trip together would benefit from having a single place for information regarding their trip - this includes both potential accommodations as well as everyone's opinions on them.
Therefore the Group Trip Dashboard was born. This solution addresses the issue of deciding where to stay when traveling in a group by allowing users to collaborate on a list of accommodations options, as well as give a score to each option.
The Prototype
Airbnb offers a variety of filters for narrowing down accommodation options already (e.g. “entire house” vs “private room”). In 2017, a “Work Trip” filter was added to serve business travelers. In my solution, the “Work trip” filter is broadened to “Trip Type”. This allows users to identify their trip as a work trip, a group trip, or both.
Creating a Group Trip
If the group trip filter is selected, a “Group Trip Dashboard” link appears. Users can then create groups, add options to a shared list, give a score for each option, and view average scores.
Adding a Listing to the Group Trip
A plus sign icon appears next to the heart on the top right of each search result, allowing users to add options to their shared list of potential accommodations.
Scoring a Listing
When the user clicks "Score", they are taken to the listing's page, where they can give it a score from 1 to 10, which will be shared with the rest of the group members.
The Group Trip Dashboard
A user who was invited to a group trip receives a notification. She can now access the trip dashboard and view the listings that have been added by other group members. She can also add more listings to be considered by the group.
Shared List of Potential Accommodations
