Increasing Retention by re-imagining the Hosting experience at Airbnb
Conversational User Interface
What
Conversational AI for Hosts
Why
This projects was a research work done at CMU to reimagine the future user experiences at Airbnb as we navigate into the next era of computing.
How
I started with defining the user group by studying the service blueprint, understanding the user flow and current experiences at Airbnb, finding new opportunity areas where Conversational AI can fit into. Simultaneously I researched to understand the technology & its limitations, to use voice as a design material & conducting iterative voice scripts and prototypes.
Company
Airbnb, Conceptual
Duration
2 months, 2022
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Contribution
User Research
Design Ideation
Physical Prototype
Journey Maps
Voice Prototype
in brief
Hosts can leverage Generative AI for easy listing & managing of their properties on the Airbnb Platform & get feedback.
Hosts need to list their properties on the Airbnb Platform using a long manual process. They are in rush & do not possess the marketing skills to do it in the best way possible. Generative AI makes it easy to do marketing & do listing in the best way possible.
"The listed rate for the property is $131/night, yet the Host asserts it should be $171/night. Upon contacting Airbnb Customer Service, they declared that it's Hosts responsibility to correctly list the amount" - Airbnb Guest
proposed design
A Conversational interface for Hosts
Generative AI to enhance the experience for Hosts, prototyped using VoiceFlow
context
Absence of Airbnb Hosts leads to confusion and dissatisfaction among Guests.
Hosting on Airbnb can be demanding, especially for hosts who manage multiple listings or have other personal or professional commitments. It requires time and effort to handle bookings, inquiries, guest interactions, cleaning, and overall management of the hosting process.
Major identified issues:
Property Listing
Hosts suffer from correctly listing & updating their preferences.
Hosting Experience
Some Guests need constant attention, especially in urgent situations.
Feedback
Hosts need regular feedback to know Guest's preferences.
approach
"The project was open ended and I defined a direction that I would take to find user problems to solve using this technology".
Understand the technology & its limitations.
Find key stakeholder's & their problems.
Map the User Journeys & business opportunities.
design thinking
What problems can Conversational AI solve ?
Rather than the traditional design process, I followed upside down process, where I investigated how Conversational AI technology can add value to the lives of Airbnb customers.
Image showcasing the upside down design process followed in the project.
identifying users
"To identify the key stakeholders, I decided to create a stakeholder map and their relationships"
Stakeholder Map helped us to identify 'Hosts' as the customer and its impact. My research dealt into looking into possibilities of engaging AI experiences for multiple stakeholders, To narrow down the scope, I decided to focus on the Guest & the Host experience.
journey mapping
"I mapped the AI opportunities at every touch point for Guests & Hosts"
To identify the seamless user experience, I created a journey map & mapped the opportunity at each touch point. Later, I decided to focus on the "Arriving & Staying" zone.
voice prototype
I tested multiple happy path edge cases with ChatGPT to map the conversations on VoiceFlow
