Challenge

Airbnb wants to make it easier for hosts to provide great experiences for guests.

Process

They've conducted some research to learn more about how they can make the experience better for hosts and hopefully, better for guests as well.

...But to be attentive to guests, hosts have indicated that they spend lots of time answering the same questions. How can I help airbnb hosts provide a better stay for guests, even when they aren't available to answer questions?

Defining Tasks and Key Actions

I focused on designing for the most common intent of guests asking users where they can find certain items in the house.

In a brainstorming session, I came up with an initial set of utterances, or different ways a user might ask to find an item in the house. For example, 

Where is the {item}?

Where can I find the {item}?

Is there {item} here?

Creating an Initial User Flow

Next, I created a simple user flow outlining the ideal path a user might take to locate an item using this “skill”.

Prototyping The Solution

Next, I created a simple user flow outlining the ideal path a user might take to locate an item.

After Thought and Next Steps

At the beginning, I struggled with how to approach my first case study. However, my journey turned out to be an enriching experience to understand users and solve common pain points.

• Fearless approach in times of ambiguity: I was overwhelmed with how to utilize my UX knowledge in addition to my limited experience with a conversational assistant and program. I discovered that it was most rewarding once I accepted mistakes and found ways to improve moving forward.

• Start simple: It is also important to outline your plan high-level before getting more complex. Start small and simple, identify your happy path, have conversations, and build little by little.

• Prioritization: Recognizing what to avoid is just as crucial as knowing what to pursue when working within tight time constraints. While my initial project is minimal, it is also a viable product that provides a foundation for continuous iteration and future planning.

Moving forward, I would like to incorporate additional features to enhance the overall user experience. For example:

• Explore deeper flows beyond the happy path and learn some other tools in Voiceflow.

• Creating new intents and utterances that cover other FAQ, such as local food recommendations or nearby attractions, check out/in times, ordering pizza/groceries.

• Implement user usability tests as there are many variables that I can't rely on assumptions.

Note: this project is not affiliated with Airbnb and used for practice purposes through Bitesize.