Overview
Project type: Self-Initiated
Deliverables: User research, wireframes, visual design
Timeframe: 2 months
Since its inception,
Airbnb has revolutionized travel with its unique concept of home sharing, where people can share their homes with other people around the world. The concept of home sharing positions Airbnb as a more sustainable alternative to traditional hotel accommodations.
However, this case study focuses on the challenges faced by hosts who prioritize sustainability as a core value in their homes. When it comes to this segment of sustainable hosts, they often face a lack of recognition and support for their green efforts from guests:
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Green hosts often struggle to convey their sustainability commitment to guests.
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Green hosts often encounter challenges when hosting guests who do not prioritize eco-friendly living.
Therefore, addressing these issues can impact Airbnb in the following ways:
✅ Help Airbnb stay true to their North Star of belonging the world together by matching green hosts with their counterparts.
✅ Allow Airbnb to retain and grow their green host/ guest user base.
✅ Boost Airbnb's goal of contributing to achieve a stable climate.
✅ Reduce risk of green hosts abandoning the platform.
Research & discovery 🔎
Green Airbnb hosts struggle with irresponsible guest behavior
In their pursuit of sustainability, hosts who use their Airbnb to provide a respectable green experience for eco-minded guests, often, if not always, face challenges with guests who may not share the same values of sustainable living as they do.
Discovering the main pain points from the hosts' nest
The Airbnb Community Center (Host forum on Airbnb) offered valuable context into the challenges faced by green hosts. What stood out to me were the discussions about their sustainability efforts going unnoticed and unsupported by guests.
These are a few examples:
“I think my guests like that I work towards a greener outcome but I don't notice.. any desire to assist me in those efforts.”
“We are eco-friendly hosts.. I think that means something to less than 1/2 of the people we host.”
“My last guests arrived mid afternoon for one night, turned on all the heating (incl. A/C), all the lights and then left for a gathering nearby.”
I get sick at all the plastic and throw aways guests have.
Some hosts even disperse sustainability notes around their house, in front of their door entrance in hopes of guests reading them and adjusting their behavior accordingly:
“What I have done is leave a note near the entrance door is. ‘We are trying to be sustainable and we would appreciate your help’.. and hope they read it.”
While synthesizing green hosts' discussions, recurring patterns and themes started emerging. Their pain points fell into two common challenges which are:
So, how do green hosts find themselves in this position in the first place?
When it comes to eco-minded guests looking for sustainable listings:
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They can't effectively find or browse through eco-friendly listings.
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They can't recognize the hosts' sustainability practices inside listings.
Therefore, eco-friendly hosts frequently attract bookings from guests who:
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Might not fully comprehend the principles of sustainability.
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Might not prioritize eco-friendly living.
Drawing insights from the data collected from the Airbnb community center and how green hosts are able to showcase their practices, it became evident that the inconvenience experienced by green hosts is a consequence of a mismatching problem.
Let's dig deeper on how their listings often get mismatched and don't receive bookings from guests who value sustainability
Based on user input and my observations, the available methods of presenting information on Airbnb listings lack emphasis, making them ineffective for highlighting sustainability information.
These are the main methods accompanied by counter-arguments as to why they would fall short:
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💡 Communicating their sustainability via listing descriptions
😓 Descriptions are often overlooked and not read by guests, especially lengthy ones.
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💡 Highlighting their sustainability within the ‘Things to know’ section
😓 This section is positioned at the bottom and can easily be overlooked by guests.
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💡 Emphasizing their sustainability values in-person
😓 However, it's often too late to influence a change in guests' behavior.
As for the task of finding and searching for eco-friendly Airbnb listings, these are the available methods and why they're ineffective:
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💡 Using listing titles to highlight existence of sustainability practices
😓 Airbnb prioritizes location visibility over titles on listing cards.
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💡 Using the category labeled 'Earthen homes'
😓 This category only shows homes built with natural resources rather than their use of sustainability practices.
These observations provided me with great insight to come up with HMW statements to start exploring solutions
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🧠 How might we make sustainable listings easy to find and discover
🤝 To effectively reach eco-conscious guests
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🧠 How might we make clear the efforts of green hosts
🤝 To connect them with like-minded guests
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🧠 How might we offer ways for hosts to efficiently communicate their listing’s sustainable practices
🤝 To genuinely showcase their commitment to green living
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🧠 How might we help hosts set green expectations in their listings
🤝 To prevent unreasonable behavior
Exploring solutions 🔎
With a clear understanding of the problem space, in this section I aimed to explore solutions iteratively.
Given the constraint of lacking direct access to real hosts and guests, the goal was to determine which among these solutions would perform better based on logical reasoning, ease of use and familiarity.
First, I started exploring solutions to easily connect green hosts with their preferred guests
The first iteration was introducing an eco-friendly category. However:
❗️It would get lost in the many other categories and might get overlooked by eco-minded guests.
❗️The categories get shuffled daily, making it hard to locate it for returning eco-minded guests.
❗️It could also pose some challenges to eco-minded guests in a hurry to book.
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The second iteration could potentially work as it relies on filtering listings by eco-friendly practices, but:
❗️It adds a lot of options for guests to filter by which increases cognitive load.
❗️It would be appreciated by some eco-minded guests but to others, it might result in fatigue or even knowledge gaps for newly interested sustainable guests.
❗️Also, for guests in a hurry to book, it could be perceived as timely.
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This iteration is the ideal option as it combines the practices in category form to filter by which:
🟢 Offer less and more straightforward options to filter by, reducing cognitive load.
🟢 Cater to both inexperienced and experienced eco-conscious guests.
🟢 Is visually easy to recognize and consume with icons.
🟢 Is perfect for guests in a hurry because it requires fewer clicks and reduces Time-on-task.
Therefore, introducing an easily accessible filter for sustainability features will help green hosts attract more bookings from their intended audiences.
Second, I explored solutions for green hosts to effectively express their sustainability practices
A host that provides a chemical-free stay stated that the information in their description was overlooked which resulted in a huge inconvenience:
”We've had to cancel 10 guests in a row because they did not read the description of the place”
Therefore, the amenities section proves to be a great way for hosts to visually express their sustainability practices. So, I began iterating on how to integrate eco-friendly amenities into the existing Airbnb structure in a standout manner:
The 1st solution integrates an 'Eco-friendly category' with the other categories inside the ‘Show all amenities’ which:
❗️Makes the category somewhat hidden for eco-minded guests inside the overlay.
❗️Requires some effort to reach when scrolling, given the alphabetical arrangement of categories by Airbnb.
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The 2nd solution introduces a dedicated ‘Show Eco-friendly amenities’ button:
🟢 Easy to notice, access and tailored to eco-friendly guests.
🟢 It effortlessly indicates the existence of eco-friendly amenities, setting expectations for unaware guests.
🟢 It reduces Time-on-task to locate.
For green hosts investing in costly sustainability home features such as solar panels, they lack a clear visual representation to showcase them.
When Nanako Era, a lead inclusive researcher at Airbnb, did research on how people with disabilities search for and book Airbnb homes, it was revealed that people with disabilities actively sought images of accessibility features to validate their presence in the home.
Similarly, secondary research pointed out that 70% of green travelers articulated a strong desire to witness a genuine commitment to sustainability from travel options.
Therefore, adding a sustainability features section for green hosts to showcase their green efforts serves the following:
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Sets clear expectations for guests regarding the host's commitment to sustainability.
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Provides hosts with an authentic avenue to showcase their commitment to sustainability.
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Ensures these features don't become overshadowed within the amenities section.
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Attracts seasoned sustainable travelers looking for premium sustainable Airbnb stays.
However, making it easier to find and notice green listings and their practices remains insufficient for setting guests' expectations.
Following a discussion with a host who incorporates solar panels in their Airbnb, they expressed the frequent need to request guests to use energy responsibly:
“..we just need to ask to take showers that are not too long, and to turn off the lights when they leave a room,.. we sometimes have to insist and explain again”
As I pointed before, the 'Things to know' section inside listings doesn't give enough emphasis to hosts' preferences when it comes to staying at their Airbnb. Therefore, a more highlighted way of communicating their preferences is needed to set expectations for future guests.
I initially thought of including two solutions, but I had to compromise for the most effective one:
Things to avoid section can possibly reduce irresponsible guest behavior; however:
❗️I figured it won't scale because hosts will probably have a lot of things that they wouldn't appreciate in their listing.
❗️Plus, the idea of preventing guests of certain things might be perceived as rude and uninviting from certain guests.
Therefore, a FAQ section is a better solution for green hosts to articulate their sustainability and also set green behavior expectations by:
🟢 Articulating how they prefer guests to behave instead of just plain restrictions.
🟢 Making it a more inviting way of stating green hosts' preferences.
🟢 Reducing the volume of messages hosts receive from new guests unfamiliar with eco-living and seek clarification.
But how do we make the experience of running an eco-friendly Airbnb seamless for existing green hosts and non-confusing for other hosts?
To prevent confusion among hosts who are running a more traditional Airbnb and those who prioritize sustainability, a customized experience was needed. Therefore, I created a new selection called ‘Type of Airbnb’ which contains two types: Typical & Eco-friendly.
This will allow sustainable hosts to switch their Airbnb type to ‘Eco-friendly,’ granting them access to a customized experience for incorporating their eco-friendly amenities and sustainability features.
Solution exploration:
🟢 Makes sense to switch it from inside ‘Property type’ because all the information inside this section is related to the nature of a listing.
❗️Makes it hidden because it can’t be viewed or perceived there unless hosts click on ‘Property type’.
❗️Lacks extra details about each type and its function, potentially causing knowledge gaps among hosts.
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This solution works well because:
🟢 It’s easily discoverable and reduces Time-on-task with fewer clicks.
🟢 A dedicated section will prevent confusion from different hosts by demonstrating visually what each type means.
The two types of Airbnb listings can be identified and differentiated by badges on each listing card.
This makes it easy to manage for hosts who are hosting numerous different types of Airbnb listings.
Once green hosts switch their Airbnb type to Eco-friendly, they’ll have access to add eco-friendly amenities & sustainability features
Airbnb’s 2023 winter release introduced a new efficient way of adding amenities, categorizing them for easier navigation and reducing the effort and cognitive load associated with searching for specific types.
Thus, it was a logical decision to adopt and follow the same streamlined approach for adding Eco-friendly amenities, as shown below:
As for the sustainability features section, it enables green hosts to highlight their sustainability features visually, and it also follows the same pattern of the accessibility features on Airbnb for consistency.
Reducing the risk of losing new green hosts by creating a tailored onboarding experience for listing an eco-friendly Airbnb
So far, everything has revolved around existing green hosts. What about new green hosts who might’ve just heard about Airbnb?
The existing onboarding process for listing an Airbnb primarily caters to traditional stays and lacks dedicated steps for eco-friendly hosts to highlight their commitment to sustainability.
To approach this solution, I created two emotional journey maps (current & desired) to help me understand and share the emotions of new hosts looking to list an eco-friendly Airbnb:
On the one hand, the current emotional journey map helped me empathize with new eco-friendly hosts who want to list their place but don't find steps tailored to their sustainability efforts. This step revealed the potential discouragement that the segment of new eco-friendly hosts might feel when trying to list their Airbnb.
On the other hand, the desired emotional journey map served as a guidance to what the expected journey map that new green hosts would want in order to list their green Airbnb. It also aided in the development of additional screens that needed to be added to offer a tailored onboarding experience to their sustainability needs.
Therefore, I initiated an exploration of solutions to seamlessly integrate a new onboarding flow tailored to new eco-friendly guests inside Airbnb's structure
First, I explored where to integrate the type of Airbnb selection:
This solution lets green hosts select the type of Airbnb setup they want to list from the landing page before being taken to the onboarding flow. However:
❗️New green hosts could potentially overlook this selection, making them accidentally opt for a typical Airbnb setup without realizing the availability of an eco-friendly alternative.
❗️For hosts uninterested in hosting an eco-friendly Airbnb, this may result in confusion and a potential bounce rate.
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This iteration incorporates the selection within the onboarding setup which offers distinct advantages:
🟢 Reduces the bounce rate risk by not introducing the selection until hosts are inside the onboarding.
🟢 Even if hosts mistakenly choose the wrong type, they can effortlessly backtrack and make the switch within the onboarding interface, in contrast to the initial solution, which requires exiting and switching from the landing page.
Analyzing the existing onboarding flow to pinpoint where the additional screens tailored to green hosts should live
To ensure a systematic approach, I began by analyzing the existing onboarding flow of the normal Airbnb setup, understanding what each step represents. Afterwards, I designed the new onboarding flow, building upon the existing essential steps and incorporating additional screens tailored specifically to eco-friendly hosts.
The new onboarding flow keeps the foundational steps of the normal Airbnb setup while introducing a few carefully crafted new screens as well as altering existing ones to cater to the needs of eco-friendly hosts.
A look at the polished new and altered screens added to the new onboarding:
By introducing this new onboarding flow, Airbnb will:
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Attract more eco-friendly hosts to the platform.
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Paint Airbnb as a brand and a business that is serious about taking action towards climate change.
Key takeaways & reflections 📝
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The tricky part with behavior is that you can’t predict how a guest will act, regardless of what they say or agree to. Thus, these solutions will help reduce the inconvenience for green hosts but not eliminate it entirely, as achieving the latter would be impractical since their green listings will still be accessible to everyone.
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If I had direct access to green Airbnb hosts, I would’ve A/B tested the solutions with them for validation and iterated based on their feedback.
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I came to appreciate the skill of critical thinking and also relying on my intuition, especially when coming up with different iterations and evaluating each one based on its ease of use, effectiveness and usefulness for users.
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What stood out to me while interacting with Airbnb’s platform was their simple yet effective design language, which made it easy to balance between following the existing design patterns and introducing new structures that are adaptable. Moreover, their delightful user experience spoke volumes about their emphasis on design and the empathy they hold for their users.