How Airbnb designs product
Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, co-founders on how Airbnb designs product
Hello, I’m Felix! Welcome to this week’s ADPList’s Newsletter; 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒weekly advice column. Each week, we tackle design, building products, and accelerating careers. If you’re interested in sponsoring this fast-growing community, let’s chat today!
Happy New Year, fellow ADPList subscribers! 👋
Thank you for being a part of ADPList, and giving me this opportunity to serve you by democratizing mentorship for all. We’ve grown so much together and much more ahead together. Thank you for letting us live this dream. ❤️
I hope you continue to dream up with us on this journey!
Q: How Airbnb design amazing experiences
Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb, bet his whole company on the belief that people can trust each other enough to stay in one another’s homes. How did he overcome the stranger-danger bias? Through good design. Now, 1 billion hosted nights (and counting) later, Gebbia sets out his dream for a culture of sharing in which design helps foster community and connection instead of isolation and separation.
For Airbnb, trust is everything.
After all, Airbnb requires a leap of faith on both the guest and host sides. You are inviting a stranger under your roof or spending a night in someone else’s home!
This need for a leap of faith makes trust a cornerstone of Airbnb’s design process.
In this article, I’ll be sharing some observations on how Airbnb does it, which includes behind-the-scenes from Airbnb’s designer and Co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia.
🎁 FREE Masterclasses to Build a Successful Design Career!
Join these sessions as we interview world-class design, product leaders and career experts to uncover power-packed, actionable insights to help you build a successful career.
Laura Klein (Principal, Users Know & Author, UX for Lean Startups) — “Building Legendary products, Innovation and UX for Startups.” On Jan 18th 👉 Click here to register today!
Irene Au (Design Partner, Khosla Ventures) — “State of Design, Legendary Startups, Evolution of Product Building.” On Jan 24th 👉 Click here to register today!
Jesse Showalter (Designer & Educator, Good Fight Creative Co.) — “Self-Taught Designer, Personal Branding, Building Influence.” On Jan 31st 👉 Click here to register today!
🎁 FREE for the first 1,000 registrations!
Airbnb Designs Product (and win trust)
Design can build trust and overcome stranger-danger bias in the sharing economy, as demonstrated by the success of Airbnb and the importance of reputation over similarity in building trust among strangers.
Let’s learn from Airbnb’s Designer, Charlie Aufmann, about his Behind-the-scenes observations during his time at Airbnb.
Airbnb designs as the “mutual friend”
Imagine your friend invites you to a party, and you don’t know the host. Your friend hasn’t responded to your text. You’re due to meet her there in an hour. Questions run through your mind: Is this a dinner party, or should I eat something first? How many people will be there? Will I know anyone else? What should I wear? Should I bring anything? All of this uncertainty builds to anxiety before you’ve even arrived.
Now imagine you arrive before your friend. You wait outside, too nervous to knock on a stranger’s door. When your friend arrives, you walk in together, but you’re immediately separated. It’s just you, standing in a stranger’s home. You start to feel self-conscious, gazing around for a familiar face while trying to play it cool. “Don’t look desperate,” you tell yourself, just as you notice you’re overdressed. You glance around for a friendly face or a gap in a conversation wide enough to slip into. You switch to plan B, no longer looking for a friendly face, instead hoping for a vacant corner to retreat to.
This is what Airbnb feels like if they don’t do their job.
As product designers, we play the role of the mutual friend who invites you to the party.
“We set the stage, help make the introduction, then get out of the way. And like a good friend, we’re there for you when you need us.” — Airbnb’s Charlie Aufmann