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Airbnb Itinerary

Project Overview

Airbnb, is a global platform that connects travelers with hosts offering unique accommodations, such as homes, apartments, and vacation rentals. Originally conceived as a way for the founders to rent out air mattresses in their apartment during a conference, the company has since grown to operate in over 220 countries, with millions of listings worldwide. Airbnb has expanded beyond lodging, offering experiences and guided activities, positioning itself as a leader in the travel and hospitality industry.

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The entertainment and media industry are always looking for a way to keep users coming back to their apps. The goal is to add a feature to my chosen app, Airbnb, in order to keep users using and engaging with the platform.

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This Project

Add A Feature

My Role
  • UX Research
  • Branding
  • UX/UI Design
  • Testing
Duration
​3 weeks

The Process

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Define

Research Plan

Airbnb, is a global platform that connects travelers with hosts offering unique accommodations, such as homes, apartments, and vacation rentals. Originally conceived as a way for the founders to rent out air mattresses in their apartment during a conference, the company has since grown to operate in over 220 countries, with millions of listings worldwide. Airbnb has expanded beyond lodging, offering experiences and guided activities, positioning itself as a leader in the travel and hospitality industry.


The entertainment and media industry are always looking for a way to keep users coming back to their apps. The goal is to add a feature to my chosen app, Airbnb, in order to keep users using and engaging with the platform.

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Problem Statement

Travelers often find planning trips time-consuming and rely on multiple sources, leading to fragmented experiences that can diminish excitement. 

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Research Goal

Add a feature to the already existing Airbnb app that helps to simplify the experience of having many different bookings when going on a trip.

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Research Methods

  • Competitor Analysis

  • User Interviews

Conducting Research

Competitor Analysis

VRBO
Trip Advisor
Booking.com
Unique Value Propositions

  • Focuses exclusively on private vacation homes (no shared spaces), ideal for families

  • Promotes large properties with amenities such as pools and multiple bedrooms

  • A comprehensive platform offering accommodation, flights, restaurants, and activities

  • Integrates hotel meta-search with travel content for a seamless planning experience

  • Operates in over 220 countries with extensive accommodation options

  • Offers transparent cancellation policies and price match guarantees

Company Advantages

  • Provides clear direct communication between hosts and guests for smooth bookings

  • Long history in vacation rentals (since 1995), creating a legacy of trust

  • Functions as a one-stop shop for travel bookings, from flights to activities

  • Affiliate partnerships provide access to a wider range of rental properties

  • Strong in urban and hotel markets, with excellent last-minute booking offers

  • Instant confirmations remove booking friction, enhancing the user experience

Company Disadvantages

  • Stricter cancellation policies compared to other platforms may deter some guests

  • Less competitive in urban areas where Airbnb dominates

  • Booking interfaces can feel cluttered, with an overload of information for users

  • Faces increasing competition from niche travel and booking platforms

  • Some travelers criticize a lack of clear support in managing cancellations

  • High commission fees lead to friction with property owners

User Interviews

I used affinity mapping to organize and analyze my user research results. It revealed user wants for an itinerary feature, more transparency, and better filter options.

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User Personas

I created two personas to represent users of my website. These personas helped me to keep my focus on the end user throughout the design process.

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The user Sarah highlights a family planner who loves to seek out the best rental for her husband & children. Loves Airbnb because of the plethora of options it offers for her needs in a stay. Her main pain point is that she often finds herself frustrated with organizing all of the bookings for her family for easy access.

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The second persona, Jason, is a solo adventurer who loves to explore new places by embedding himself in neighborhoods in the area. He has an eye for design as a Freelance Graphic Designer, so he loves finding an aesthetic stay with Airbnb. 

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Research Takeaways

  • People repeatedly mentioned that there is a need for improved itinerary planning tools. Many expressed interest in features that would allow them to manage their travel plans (e.g., activities, restaurants) within the app

    • People liked travel dashboards that they used in other apps like TripIt

    • They tend to not like/use the “Experiences” feature within the app

  • Would like the addition of filters like “kid-friendly”, “eco-friendly”, “Instagrammable”, and “wellness-focused” when searching for homes

  • All interviewees prefer using Airbnb (and other platforms) over hotels. This is because of the access to more space, neighborhoods, more locations, a kitchen, separate rooms, and affordability

  • Key things people sought in residences are a kitchen, fast Wi-Fi, and adequate space

  • Interviewees find the Airbnb pricing model to be confusing, showing unexpected fees at the end of their booking process

  • People rely heavily on past reviews of the residence

Ideate

Determining the MVP

Due to time constraints, I would not be able to create a product with every feature that the app would offer. I needed to prioritize features based on those of highest importance to my user and to my business. I created a prioritization matrix to determine the version of the app with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development.

Product Roadmapping

I listed out potential features to include and placed them where I thought best in the prioritization matrix. Based on the results from this matrix, I determined that on this first wave of designing, I will focus on building out an itinerary feature that offers suggestions based on past bookings.

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Site Structure

Sitemapping

To understand the mental models of the people who would be using our product, I conducted a card sort after determining my MVP. From the card sorts that I conducted, key categories emerged as:

  • Trips (already existent in the app)

  • Itinerary​

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Interaction Design

User Flows

I created three user flows to highlight the key pathways users would follow when using the Airbnb Itinerary feature.

  1. Navigate to the itinerary

  2. Filter restaurants

  3. Book a restaurant

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Design

UI Components

Since Airbnb is already an established brand, I leveraged the Figma Community to find a UI Kit that has already been created for Airbnb. For any pieces that I used from a UI Kit, they were from the UiClones Kit.

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Prototyping

Sketches

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High-Fidelity Mockups

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Testing

Usability Testing

After building out my high-fidelity prototypes, I conducted usability testing on 5 potential users of the app. 

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​Key takeaways from the usability testing:

  • Most found the first task flow to be straightforward, but the term “Trips” was a bit confusing

  • Common challenges for second task flow were related to understanding where to find the “Activities” option after clicking “Add to Itinerary”

  • Improve navigation clarity for less tech-savvy users

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Action Items & Doable Suggestions (based on timeframe):

  • Simplify labels and add more direct options (“My Itinerary” on the homepage)

  • Include guidance like tooltips or highlighted pathways to improve navigation for all user types

    • Suggestions –

      • Add a shortcut to booking activities on the homepage or integrate it more directly into the Trips section

      • Add “Back to Itinerary” button on other related pages for quicker navigation

      • Provide a way to save filter preferences for future searches

        • Thought - Check box asking “Save filters for future bookings?”

Final Prototype

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Closing Insights

Final Remarks

This project was surprisingly much harder than I anticipated, even with the help of a UI Kit. When I was sketching this design out and imagining it in my head, it seemed very simplistic and easy to build out. I do think the design turned out as simple as I had imagined, however, the moving parts to make the design so simplistic are much more complicated when looking at the components and frames.

Next Steps

I would love to build out the features of the itinerary even further. As I was working on this project, I had made a list of future features that I could add. Those were:

  • An import from email feature

    • This would connect to your email and search for keywords based on what type of booking oyu are adding​

  • The ability to book activities from 3rd party websites from the Airbnb app

  • More filter options

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