AIRBNB

AIRBNB

Making group bookings easier

Making group bookings easier

Making group bookings easier

Designing a new feature in the Airbnb iOS that allows groups of people to split the cost of an Airbnb.

Designing a new feature in the Airbnb iOS that allows groups of people to split the cost of an Airbnb.

Project Brief

Duration

Duration

10 weeks (2024)

Tools

Tools

Figma / FigJam / Google Form / Dovetail / Maze

Platform

Platform

iOS

Methodologies

Methodologies

Qualitative research survey / Affinity mapping / Benchmarking / IA / User flow / Usability testing / Wireframe / Prototyping

Role

Role

UX/UI designer / Designed from discovery to implementation

The stress of paying upfront

The stress of paying upfront

Meet Esther and Miza, two travel-loving friends, who planned a trip to Mexico with their friends. Everything was perfect until Miza had to pay for the entire Airbnb upfront, which left her anxiously waiting for reimbursement. Once in Mexico, they spent time chasing down their friends for payment, which made it hard to enjoy the vacation. The situation was awkward and stressful, and they realized that if they could have split the costs upfront, their trip would have been much smoother and more enjoyable.

We worked together to fix this problem and uncovered some key insights through our qualitative research survey

1.


“Coordinating group payments and ensuring fair cost-splitting was challenging, raising concerns about financial security.”

2.


"We struggled with various payment methods and had to manually figure out how to pay each other."

3.


"Airbnb should introduce a split payment feature for groups, simplifying cost division and eliminating the need to collect payments individually."

How might we support groups to pay for their accommodation without having one individual pay the whole sum upfront?

How might we support groups to pay for their accommodation without having one individual pay the whole sum upfront?

We designed a Cost-splitting for Groups feature to make group bookings easier and more efficient

We designed a Cost-splitting for Groups feature to make group bookings easier and more efficient

Enter Airbnb's new split payments feature. Now, groups like Esther and Miza’s can split the cost of their booking effortlessly. Each friend can pay their share directly, making the planning phase as carefree as the vacation itself. Esther is thrilled she can now just focus on planning fun activities, not collecting money.

You can decide to divide or keep it whole — your choice

You can decide to divide or keep it whole — your choice

This feature is not about changing your life but providing you the option of splitting the payment if your accommodation is booked as a group. This not only makes life a little more convenient for groups to book with ease but also keeps them coming back to the app.

Split equally, or customize it

Split equally, or customize it

Groups can split the payment either equally or customize their splitting options during the process of booking a group accommodation. Whether you choose to divide it equally or customize who pays what, booking a group accommodation just got much simpler.

Check if your friend has or hasn’t paid

Check if your friend has or hasn’t paid

Everyone can keep up to date to see who has paid and who hasn't, keeping things transparent and keeping everyone accountable, and in the loop.

We tested it with real groups to make sure it truly solved the issue. It did! Well…almost.

We tested it with real groups to make sure it truly solved the issue. It did! Well…almost.

We asked 8 testers to perform a series of tasks on Google Forms and Maze due to the limitations we had on a trial account on Maze. We found 2 key insights from our testers that we know we can improve:

  1. List of payers

Many testers needed clarification on whether to input their email twice or with a friend which led to them not knowing what they had to enter in the email input. So we made the changes.

  1. Adding a reminder

A few testers suggested that it’d be great if there were a way to remind their group to pay with a click of a button. So, we added that as well.

Just as travelling teaches you invaluable life lessons, this project has taught us a great deal about design, processes, and tools.

1.


We learned the importance of truly understanding our users' pain points. And testing our feature was very valuable. It’s a good thing to go back to previous stages of the design process to fully understand the pain points and goal.

2.


Just like mastering a new language or learning to navigate a foreign city, designing an intuitive and user-friendly interface took patience, practice, and continuous learning.

3.


Another lesson was discovering that checking results midway through the Maze testing process could disrupt the tool's effectiveness.

What's next? What impact does this make for the Airbnb app?

What's next? What impact does this make for the Airbnb app?

By introducing a Cost Splitting for Groups feature, we aim to improve the group booking conversion rate. This feature allows us to measure conversion through two key stages: first, when the main group booker pays their portion to reserve the booking, and second, when the remaining group members complete their payments within a 24-hour grace period. Analysing these two stages will help us identify any obstacles in the booking process, enabling us to make data-driven improvements and enhance the overall user experience.


Additionally, offering user engagement with group booking features such as equal and custom splitting creates value and helps prioritise future feature enhancements. These improvements will encourage repeat bookings, foster customer loyalty among group travellers, and ultimately increase the average value of group reservations, leading to longer stays or higher spending by group travellers.

Major thank you to the teachers at Memorisely for their guidance and to Esther for being an ace of a teammate.

UX/UI, Desktop

UX/UI, Desktop

Patreon

Patreon

Enhancing the discoverability of creatives.

content design, UX copywriting

content design, UX copywriting

Triggers

Triggers

A collection of cards dedicated to helping teams reflect and build stronger relationships.

Have a question, feedback or just want to say hi?

Let’s get in touch 💌

© Nur Miza binti Ahmad Qadir Firdaus

Have a question, feedback or just want to say hi? Let’s get in touch 💌

© Nur Miza binti Ahmad Qadir Firdaus

Have a question, feedback or just want to say hi? Let’s get in touch 💌

© Nur Miza binti Ahmad Qadir Firdaus