Overview
This course-based UX research project examined the travel booking habits and decision-making processes of young adults to help convert Airbnb website visitors under 35 into paying customers.
Using a mixed-methods approach, our team identified usability barriers and decision-making factors that affect booking behavior on Airbnb’s desktop site, yielding in actionable recommendations aimed at increasing engagement for young adult users.
Role
UX Researcher,
Project Manager
Team
Alesandra, UXR
Ryan, UXR
Timeline
Aug 2023 - Dec 2023
Methods
Contextual Inquiry,
Interviews,
Survey,
Usability Tests
Tools
Qualtrics,
Miro,
Figma,
Google Suite
Context
Airbnb is a leader in the travel industry with a strong pulse on evolving consumer trends.
As purchasing preferences shift from material goods towards travel experiences, young adults under 35 have emerged as Airbnb’s most behavior-driven growth demographic.
Since young adults are digital natives who are almost constantly online, their planning habits are distinct, affecting which websites they use to plan their travels.
The Problem
For this course-based project, our team focused on the 'browser-to-buyer' journey for young adults on Airbnb’s desktop platform.
Based on our own experiences as young adults, we observed that conversion rate from browsing to booking tends to be low.
While many young adults visit travel websites to explore lodging options, they book far less often than they browse. Young travelers browsing Airbnb struggle to confidently choose a listing due to overwhelming options and unclear differences between stays, leading to decision fatigue and delayed or abandoned bookings.
Methodology
Our team conducted recruitment screeners, contextual inquiries, interviews, usability testing, surveys, affinity mapping, and data analysis—in that order—to generate actionable insights.
By sequencing our methods this way, we were able to intentionally build findings on top of one another, allowing each phase to inform and strengthen the next.
Recruitment Screener
We selected participants under 35 years old who either traveled recently or planned to travel within the next three months to ensure that our key findings were derived from our targeted demographic.
Contextual Inquiries
Our team wanted to observe and understand participants’ travel booking behavior and attitudes in their natural environment.
Utilizing the interview guides I created, our team conducted semi-structured interviews to understand the participants’ travel booking behavior and attitudes in their own words.
Afterwards, we observed the participants’ workflows and actions when given the task of looking for an accommodation, asking probing questions at key moments to see their behaviors in their natural environment.
Sketch of a participant's workspace
During contextual inquiries, I observed participants juggling 5+ tabs to compare Airbnb listings against Google Maps for transit proximity. This physical behavior revealed a critical usability gap: the desktop search lacks an integrated 'transit-overlay' view, which is a top conversion-driver for young travelers who want to plan out their transportation before booking.
Usability Testing
After examining how participants book lodging in their natural environment, our team needed to evaluate the usability of Airbnb's desktop site to uncover pain points or friction.
I led the development of our usability testing protocol, crafting tasks to better understand how young travelers navigate and interact with the platform in regards to lodging booking journey.
Additionally, we asked questions about the Experiences page to investigate how familiar users were with all of the platform's features.
Survey
Our team used surveys to collect quantitative data, which helped validate and support our findings at scale.
While contextual inquiries and usability tests provided in-depth insights into pain points and user behaviors, the quantitative data allowed us to complement these insights with measurable evidence.
Affinity Maps
Utilizing affinity maps and data analysis, our team categorized our main findings into three major groups: user considerations, user preferences & behaviors, and usability insights.
Key Findings & Recommendations
Price and value considerations shape lodging choices
Young adults tend to stay with family or friends when traveling since it's often free.
Young adults are willing to compromise on one aspect for another depending on their own personal traveling values.
Price is the primary conversion gatekeeper. However, users don't just want 'cheap'; they seek value-density. They are willing to pay a premium for 'vibe' and location if the platform provides enough visual proof to reduce their perceived risk
Recommendations
As digital natives, young adults found the user experience of Airbnb to be lacking
Many users used external tools, like Google Maps, to evaluate an accommodation due to the lack of key features like distance to public transport.
All participants were not aware of the Experiences page and needed help finding this feature and were frustrated by the lack of search functionality.
Recommendations
Young adults prioritize convenience and experience over brand loyalty
Young adults are brand neutral and will look to competitors for better services and convenience
Young adults think Airbnb is a better experience compared to a hotel as there is more theme cultivation, fewer restrictions, and no deposit fee.
The 'Staying with a Friend' Mental Model. Participants view Airbnb as an extension of their social identity rather than a utility. This suggests that the interface should prioritize evocative storytelling over transactional sorting to drive long-term loyalty.
Recommendations
Impact
In 2023, our research hypothesized that the 'Experiences' tab was buried too deep for a demographic that prioritizes activities over lodging. We recommended elevating 'Experiences' to the primary search bar—a strategic move that Airbnb officially implemented in 2026, validating our team's ability to predict high-impact UI shifts.
2023 User Interface
2026 User Interface
Learnings
Follow the user during research. I learned the importance of probing deeper in semi-structured interviews and pursuing participants’ lines of thinking rather than strictly sticking to a script
Strengthen project management and team alignment. As project manager, I coordinated team schedules and kept assignments ahead of deadlines so we had time for weekly feedback and revisions, which strengthened my leadership and organizational skills.
Sequence qualitative research intentionally. I realized that research methods should build on one another. Structuring each phase to layer on previous insights helped deepen our understanding and reveal more meaningful patterns in the findings.