Mobile App
Mobile App
Mobile App
Travel & Hospitality
Travel & Hospitality
Travel & Hospitality
Airbnb
Airbnb’s group booking experience lacked built-in tools for splitting costs, making trip decisions, and organizing travel seamlessly. This project introduces a cost-splitting feature, a trip polling system, and a group creation flow to improve collaboration, reduce financial burden, and streamline the decision-making process. By integrating these features into Airbnb’s existing UI, the goal was to enhance user convenience and create a smoother, more intuitive booking experience.
Problem Statement
Booking an Airbnb as a group is inefficient, requiring one person to pay the full cost upfront and manually track repayments. This creates financial strain and increases the likelihood of miscommunication. Additionally, there is no built-in way for users to form a group, discuss options, and vote on accommodations before booking. Without a streamlined process for cost-splitting and group decision-making, users experience unnecessary friction, often leading to booking abandonment.
How I Solved It
• Cost-Splitting Feature: Allows users to divide the total cost upfront, eliminating the need for manual repayments and reducing financial strain on a single individual.
• Trip Polling System: Enables group members to vote on accommodation options, ensuring a collaborative and transparent decision-making process.
• Group Creation: Lets users create a group within Airbnb before booking, making trip planning smoother by centralizing discussions and decisions in one place.
Target Users
FRIENDS & SOCIAL GROUPS
From weekend getaways to big adventures, friends travelling can now split costs, vote on stays, and organize trips without hassle.
FAMILIES
Traveling with family means finding the perfect stay that suits everyone’s needs. This solution ensures shared expenses are handled effortlessly, so families can focus on enjoying their trip.
BUSINESS TEAMS
For work trips and team retreats, seamless coordination is key. This feature allows teams to split expenses fairly and collaborate efficiently on travel plans.
User Research
I started off by collecting data from our fellow Travellers. Collectively i conducted 8 in-person user interviews and a questionnaire. I asked them questions like...
• How often do u travel in groups?
• How do u typically split the cost of the accommodation within your group?
• What Factors influence your choice of accommodation?
• Have you used Airbnb for group trips before?
Synthesizing the Data
I found that
• Splitting costs manually is one of the biggest frustrations when booking an Airbnb as a group, often leading to delays or reliance on external apps.
• Over 80% of travelers have had to request or send payments manually after booking a group stay.
• Nearly 70% of respondents struggled with coordinating trip decisions due to differing preferences.
• More than 85% of users preferred a built-in cost-splitting feature over external payment apps.
Competitor Analysis
With these insights validated, I researched other platforms that facilitate group travel and shared payments to identify existing solutions and uncover potential gaps an these are the products i found:
Booking
Booking.com allows users to book accommodations for groups, but the process remains individual-focused. There is no built-in cost-splitting feature, meaning one person has to cover the full payment and manually request repayments. Additionally, there is no integrated tool for group decision-making, requiring users to coordinate externally before finalizing a booking.
Troupe
Troupe focuses on collaborative trip planning by allowing users to vote on accommodations. While this simplifies decision-making, it does not handle payments directly, meaning cost-splitting must still be managed outside the platform. Additionally, the lack of full booking integration results in a fragmented experience, requiring users to switch between different services to finalize their trip.
Key takeaways
• Existing platforms offer either group decision-making tools or booking services, but rarely both in a fully integrated way.
• Cost-splitting is often left to users to handle manually, creating extra steps in the booking process.
• A more seamless approach to group travel could improve collaboration, convenience, and overall user experience.
Challenges
Ensuring a Seamless Cost-Splitting Experience
• Challenge: The cost-splitting feature had to be intuitive and frictionless, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
• Solution: I simplified the UI, ensuring users could quickly divide payments without disrupting Airbnb’s existing booking flow.
Designing a Polling System That Encourages Engagement
• Challenge: Users needed an efficient way to vote on accommodations, but adding too many steps could create friction.
• Solution: I kept the polling feature lightweight, allowing users to vote with one tap while integrating seamlessly into the group chat.
Creating a Natural Group Formation Flow
• Challenge: Users typically form groups outside of Airbnb, so the new group creation feature had to feel essential, not forced.
• Solution: I designed a low-effort onboarding flow where users could quickly invite others and manage group details before booking.
Maintaining Airbnb’s Established UI Consistency
• Challenge: Integrating new features while maintaining Airbnb’s existing visual and interaction patterns.
• Solution: I stuck to Airbnb’s design system, ensuring new elements blended seamlessly with their UI without overwhelming the user.
Wireframes
I explored multiple ways to structure the group booking experience by sketching different layouts for cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation. I iterated on wireframes, refining the design to ensure clarity and ease of use. By analyzing different formats and user interactions, I determined which elements were essential for the MVP, balancing functionality with Airbnb’s existing design language.
Concluding Remarks
This project reimagines Airbnb’s group booking experience by introducing cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation to solve common challenges faced by travelers booking accommodations together. The goal was to streamline payment coordination, decision-making, and group organization, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience.
The cost-splitting feature eliminates the financial strain on one person by allowing payments to be divided upfront, reducing the need for external repayment tracking. The trip polling system simplifies group decision-making, enabling users to vote on accommodations within the platform. Additionally, the group creation flow helps travelers organize their trip before booking, centralizing discussions and reducing the reliance on third-party communication tools.
Through research, ideation, usability testing, and iterative design, the final solution aligns with Airbnb’s existing UI while introducing innovative features that enhance collaboration. These enhancements create a more efficient and engaging group booking process, increasing user confidence and reducing booking abandonment. By integrating these solutions, Airbnb can offer a frictionless experience that meets the evolving needs of group travelers while maintaining its reputation for intuitive and user-friendly design.
Creating a Group
Creating a Poll
Custom Split Payment
Problem Statement
Booking an Airbnb as a group is inefficient, requiring one person to pay the full cost upfront and manually track repayments. This creates financial strain and increases the likelihood of miscommunication. Additionally, there is no built-in way for users to form a group, discuss options, and vote on accommodations before booking. Without a streamlined process for cost-splitting and group decision-making, users experience unnecessary friction, often leading to booking abandonment.
How I Solved It
• Cost-Splitting Feature: Allows users to divide the total cost upfront, eliminating the need for manual repayments and reducing financial strain on a single individual.
• Trip Polling System: Enables group members to vote on accommodation options, ensuring a collaborative and transparent decision-making process.
• Group Creation: Lets users create a group within Airbnb before booking, making trip planning smoother by centralizing discussions and decisions in one place.
Target Users
User Research
I started off by collecting data from our fellow Travellers. Collectively i conducted 8 in-person user interviews and a questionnaire. I asked them questions like...
• How often do u travel in groups?
• How do u typically split the cost of the accommodation within your group?
• What Factors influence your choice of accommodation?
• Have you used Airbnb for group trips before?
Synthesizing the Data
I found that
• Splitting costs manually is one of the biggest frustrations when booking an Airbnb as a group, often leading to delays or reliance on external apps.
• Over 80% of travelers have had to request or send payments manually after booking a group stay.
• Nearly 70% of respondents struggled with coordinating trip decisions due to differing preferences.
• More than 85% of users preferred a built-in cost-splitting feature over external payment apps.
Competitor Analysis
With these insights validated, I researched other platforms that facilitate group travel and shared payments to identify existing solutions and uncover potential gaps an these are the products i found:
Booking
Booking.com allows users to book accommodations for groups, but the process remains individual-focused. There is no built-in cost-splitting feature, meaning one person has to cover the full payment and manually request repayments. Additionally, there is no integrated tool for group decision-making, requiring users to coordinate externally before finalizing a booking.
Troupe
Troupe focuses on collaborative trip planning by allowing users to vote on accommodations. While this simplifies decision-making, it does not handle payments directly, meaning cost-splitting must still be managed outside the platform. Additionally, the lack of full booking integration results in a fragmented experience, requiring users to switch between different services to finalize their trip.
Key takeaways
• Existing platforms offer either group decision-making tools or booking services, but rarely both in a fully integrated way.
• Cost-splitting is often left to users to handle manually, creating extra steps in the booking process.
• A more seamless approach to group travel could improve collaboration, convenience, and overall user experience.
Challenges
Ensuring a Seamless Cost-Splitting Experience
• Challenge: The cost-splitting feature had to be intuitive and frictionless, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
• Solution: I simplified the UI, ensuring users could quickly divide payments without disrupting Airbnb’s existing booking flow.
Designing a Polling System That Encourages Engagement
• Challenge: Users needed an efficient way to vote on accommodations, but adding too many steps could create friction.
• Solution: I kept the polling feature lightweight, allowing users to vote with one tap while integrating seamlessly into the group chat.
Creating a Natural Group Formation Flow
• Challenge: Users typically form groups outside of Airbnb, so the new group creation feature had to feel essential, not forced.
• Solution: I designed a low-effort onboarding flow where users could quickly invite others and manage group details before booking.
Maintaining Airbnb’s Established UI Consistency
• Challenge: Integrating new features while maintaining Airbnb’s existing visual and interaction patterns.
• Solution: I stuck to Airbnb’s design system, ensuring new elements blended seamlessly with their UI without overwhelming the user.
Wireframes
I explored multiple ways to structure the group booking experience by sketching different layouts for cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation. I iterated on wireframes, refining the design to ensure clarity and ease of use. By analyzing different formats and user interactions, I determined which elements were essential for the MVP, balancing functionality with Airbnb’s existing design language.
Concluding Remarks
This project reimagines Airbnb’s group booking experience by introducing cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation to solve common challenges faced by travelers booking accommodations together. The goal was to streamline payment coordination, decision-making, and group organization, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience.
The cost-splitting feature eliminates the financial strain on one person by allowing payments to be divided upfront, reducing the need for external repayment tracking. The trip polling system simplifies group decision-making, enabling users to vote on accommodations within the platform. Additionally, the group creation flow helps travelers organize their trip before booking, centralizing discussions and reducing the reliance on third-party communication tools.
Through research, ideation, usability testing, and iterative design, the final solution aligns with Airbnb’s existing UI while introducing innovative features that enhance collaboration. These enhancements create a more efficient and engaging group booking process, increasing user confidence and reducing booking abandonment. By integrating these solutions, Airbnb can offer a frictionless experience that meets the evolving needs of group travelers while maintaining its reputation for intuitive and user-friendly design.
Creating a Group
Creating a Poll
Custom Split Payment
Problem Statement
Booking an Airbnb as a group is inefficient, requiring one person to pay the full cost upfront and manually track repayments. This creates financial strain and increases the likelihood of miscommunication. Additionally, there is no built-in way for users to form a group, discuss options, and vote on accommodations before booking. Without a streamlined process for cost-splitting and group decision-making, users experience unnecessary friction, often leading to booking abandonment.
How I Solved It
• Cost-Splitting Feature: Allows users to divide the total cost upfront, eliminating the need for manual repayments and reducing financial strain on a single individual.
• Trip Polling System: Enables group members to vote on accommodation options, ensuring a collaborative and transparent decision-making process.
• Group Creation: Lets users create a group within Airbnb before booking, making trip planning smoother by centralizing discussions and decisions in one place.
Target Users
FRIENDS & SOCIAL GROUPS
From weekend getaways to big adventures, friends travelling can now split costs, vote on stays, and organize trips without hassle.
FAMILIES
Traveling with family means finding the perfect stay that suits everyone’s needs. This solution ensures shared expenses are handled effortlessly, so families can focus on enjoying their trip.
BUSINESS TEAMS
For work trips and team retreats, seamless coordination is key. This feature allows teams to split expenses fairly and collaborate efficiently on travel plans.
User Research
I started off by collecting data from our fellow Travellers. Collectively i conducted 8 in-person user interviews and a questionnaire. I asked them questions like...
• How often do u travel in groups?
• How do u typically split the cost of the accommodation within your group?
• What Factors influence your choice of accommodation?
• Have you used Airbnb for group trips before?
Synthesizing the Data
I found that
• Splitting costs manually is one of the biggest frustrations when booking an Airbnb as a group, often leading to delays or reliance on external apps.
• Over 80% of travelers have had to request or send payments manually after booking a group stay.
• Nearly 70% of respondents struggled with coordinating trip decisions due to differing preferences.
• More than 85% of users preferred a built-in cost-splitting feature over external payment apps.
Competitor Analysis
With these insights validated, I researched other platforms that facilitate group travel and shared payments to identify existing solutions and uncover potential gaps an these are the products i found:
Booking
Booking.com allows users to book accommodations for groups, but the process remains individual-focused. There is no built-in cost-splitting feature, meaning one person has to cover the full payment and manually request repayments. Additionally, there is no integrated tool for group decision-making, requiring users to coordinate externally before finalizing a booking.
Troupe
Troupe focuses on collaborative trip planning by allowing users to vote on accommodations. While this simplifies decision-making, it does not handle payments directly, meaning cost-splitting must still be managed outside the platform. Additionally, the lack of full booking integration results in a fragmented experience, requiring users to switch between different services to finalize their trip.
Key takeaways
• Existing platforms offer either group decision-making tools or booking services, but rarely both in a fully integrated way.
• Cost-splitting is often left to users to handle manually, creating extra steps in the booking process.
• A more seamless approach to group travel could improve collaboration, convenience, and overall user experience.
Challenges
Ensuring a Seamless Cost-Splitting Experience
• Challenge: The cost-splitting feature had to be intuitive and frictionless, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
• Solution: I simplified the UI, ensuring users could quickly divide payments without disrupting Airbnb’s existing booking flow.
Designing a Polling System That Encourages Engagement
• Challenge: Users needed an efficient way to vote on accommodations, but adding too many steps could create friction.
• Solution: I kept the polling feature lightweight, allowing users to vote with one tap while integrating seamlessly into the group chat.
Creating a Natural Group Formation Flow
• Challenge: Users typically form groups outside of Airbnb, so the new group creation feature had to feel essential, not forced.
• Solution: I designed a low-effort onboarding flow where users could quickly invite others and manage group details before booking.
Maintaining Airbnb’s Established UI Consistency
• Challenge: Integrating new features while maintaining Airbnb’s existing visual and interaction patterns.
• Solution: I stuck to Airbnb’s design system, ensuring new elements blended seamlessly with their UI without overwhelming the user.
Wireframes
I explored multiple ways to structure the group booking experience by sketching different layouts for cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation. I iterated on wireframes, refining the design to ensure clarity and ease of use. By analyzing different formats and user interactions, I determined which elements were essential for the MVP, balancing functionality with Airbnb’s existing design language.
Concluding Remarks
This project reimagines Airbnb’s group booking experience by introducing cost-splitting, trip polling, and group creation to solve common challenges faced by travelers booking accommodations together. The goal was to streamline payment coordination, decision-making, and group organization, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience.
The cost-splitting feature eliminates the financial strain on one person by allowing payments to be divided upfront, reducing the need for external repayment tracking. The trip polling system simplifies group decision-making, enabling users to vote on accommodations within the platform. Additionally, the group creation flow helps travelers organize their trip before booking, centralizing discussions and reducing the reliance on third-party communication tools.
Through research, ideation, usability testing, and iterative design, the final solution aligns with Airbnb’s existing UI while introducing innovative features that enhance collaboration. These enhancements create a more efficient and engaging group booking process, increasing user confidence and reducing booking abandonment. By integrating these solutions, Airbnb can offer a frictionless experience that meets the evolving needs of group travelers while maintaining its reputation for intuitive and user-friendly design.