Type

Team Project

3 Designers

Mobile App

My Role

UX Research, Competitive Analysis, Sketches, User Flows, Wireframes, Usability Testing

Tools

Figma & FigJam

Google Suite

Duration

3 Weeks

THE GOAL

The purpose of the project was to add a feature or benefit to an existing app and deliver a high fidelity interactive prototype on mobile.

THE APPROACH

In the realm of travel and tourism, Airbnb has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing the way people explore and experience the world. Founded in 2008, this innovative online marketplace for lodging and hospitality has made tremendous strides in connecting travelers with extraordinary accommodations in virtually every corner of the globe. With over 4 million hosts globally, Airbnb has proven to be the hotel industries biggest competitor.

The first thing we did as a team was open a calendar and start laying out deliverables by day and person. We aligned on any personal events we had going on and discussed weekends etc. Daily check-ins via Zoom or Slack helped us communicate status updates and challenges. We leaned on our individual strengths while staying flexible and supporting each other when needed.


RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

We focused the user interviews on people who have used Airbnb in the past and are also reward/loyalty members at multiple companies, regardless of industry. We wanted to understand what users liked about their favorite loyalty programs and how we could apply those learnings to the Airbnb app.

“The cleaning fees and service fees are out of control on Airbnb, it almost doubles the price for a short term stay”
Chris - Financial Services

“Hotels are like Starbucks, I know what I’m going to get… Airbnb’s have such different experiences each time”
Megan - UX Designer

“Reward me if I spend a lot of money at your company, almost everyone has a reward program now”
Greg - Retail Professional

“I’ll go out of my way for free stuff, it was difficult to sign-up for the loyalty program but it’s worth the pain”
Leah - UX Designer

After finishing the interviews and gathering all the data we grouped our observations on the affinity map, and we were able to refine our findings into the following:

Rewards Programs

“Good rewards and benefits will keep me coming back”

“I like simple rewards programs, don’t make it complicated”

Viewing Your Rewards

“Show me my rewards balance, I don’t want to search for it”

“Being able to track my rewards on the app makes everything easier”

The Money Topic

“I want to save money and avoid paying extra fees”

“Airbnb cleaning fees and service fees are getting out of control, it’s getting too expensive”

Once we synthesized our affinity map insights, we created our primary and secondary persona based on their goals and motivations.

USER PERSONAS

Primary Persona

Secondary Persona

THE PROBLEM

“The user needs a way to earn and use loyalty points on the Airbnb app in order to be more competitive with the hotel industry and to deepen loyalty to current Airbnb users”

THE SOLUTION

“Airbnb Rewards”

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Amtrak used a similar progress bar as IHG, but it wasn’t as easy to read or informative, IHG was proving to be the best visual design we saw during review

The IHG Hotel rewards page utilized a progress bar with lines to indicate where you are on the reward tier journey, we liked this direction more than Delta

We wanted to research and analyze not only the direct competitors to Airbnb (the hotel industry, Marriott being the largest) but we also wanted to look at how other companies with big loyalty programs were executing their designs and user journeys.

We found the Delta rewards page was complex and difficult to understand, we knew wanted to avoid this level of complexity and design direction. User interviews showed that people prefer progress bars over complex circular diagrams

We developed three user flows and each team member was responsible for the sketches, user flow diagrams, wireframes and prototype for that user flow. We did overlap often to help each other out due to bandwidth or a Figma challenge.

DEVELOP & SKETCH

WIREFRAMES

After rough sketching and studying the research and flows, we were able to create our initial wireframes

PROTOTYPE &

TEST

Finally it was here, the moment we’ve been waiting for - Prototyping. We created all of our interactions and then did some personal testing until we made enough edits and were ready for usability testing. In total we conducted 6 usability tests. Keep scrolling for the results.

Users thought the star icon affiliated with “reward benefits” closely resembled the star icon that is normally affiliated with reviews, so we updated the icon to a coin with a dollar sign and made the verbiage more literal by saying “membership points”

RESULTS &

ITERATIONS

While we tasked users with paying by points and they were able to select “shop by points” during the search process, the default checkout screen was set to “pay in full” meaning pay by credit card. We updated the checkout page to default to match the criteria selected during search.

During the location search process users were continuing to click into the search bar even though the keyboard was now visible and typing was supposed to begin. We solved this by adding a blinking cursor to the search bar to indicate that it’s waiting for you to type. This mirrors the real app.

Make a plan

The biggest factor that contributed to our teams success was the Master Plan that we built on day 1. We discussed calendar, weekend plans, and deliverables in which we assigned responsibilities and deadlines. We had daily check-ins where we assessed our progress and we communicated any challenges or road blocks. This was our blueprint for working as a team.

Over-Communicate

Aside from our Master Plan, we benefited from constant communication and open transparency. Had we not been honest with each other we would have only created more stress for everyone, ultimately creating more work for the entire team. We were open about our individual work styles and personal expectations on working nights or weekends. This allowed us to operate in a system of trust and transparency, eliminating the possibility for surprise situations.

LEARNINGS &

TAKEAWAYS

Prioritize

We spent a lot of time, way too much time in fact, discussing the business plan behind the rewards program. This consumed a lot of valuable time that would have allowed us to start faster on user interviews. Knowing where to focus your time, and how much, is an important factor when working under a deadline.