Week 8
HI. Further lock down the core experience to deliver a more holistic experience to users
This week will be mainly focusing on seeking and locking down on the main core experience for the microsite.
Instead of pondering on what kind of experience and feature that I want to deliver to users, I decided to work backwards instead. I realized I do not have a specific or clear idea on who will be the main source for my microsite. From here, I think I could try locking down on a specific brand/company before deciding on what kind of experience could align back with the decided brand/company.
I shifted my direction towards Airbnb and started doing background research on this brand/company.
I started off by analyzing their e-commerce website, which is also their main platform catering for users. I wanted to find out their focus points and values in the website.
Link to website: https://www.airbnb.com/
Airbnb landing page
Place to stay
- request specific location
- randomized/flexible
- check-in/out dates
- number of guest
Experiences
- request specific location
- somewhere nearby
- preferred date
Experiences
- packages + accommodation
- cater for tourists
- includes:-
- historical sites
- cities
- town
- nature
Explore nearby section
recommendation of nearby areas
different distances
Nature wish-list section
cater for nature trip
separated into 2 sections
- categorized experience
- outdoor stays
Categorized experience
international content
Outdoor stays
localized content
types of accommodation
scattered locations
Airbnb is an American company that is quite international and runs at a global level.
But, their services are run by local hosts. Airbnb is taking 3% from the hosts and the remains are back to the local hosts.
In a way, it could be supporting and contributing back to the local community.
experience their travel journeys through a whole new way (virtually)
because of the pandemic, they are offering experiences online
"new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income during the COVID-19 crisis"
important for them to preserve human connection - core of the Airbnb Experience
now people can expect this connections virtually and globally
gain meaningful experience
help to provide income to people that were impacted financially
provide an opportunity to the hosts to earn extra money
I wanted to make things clearer by pointing out the relevancy of Airbnb and my microsite. The most relevant feature in the website would be their "Experiences" that allows users to search for nearby experiences and also their "Nature trips" that allows users to seek for accommodation that are accessible to natural environments.
I also did an overall alignment of the brand Airbnb to my microsite. In contrast with Airbnb that is more international with globalized content, I decided that my microsite could be more localized that delivers local content.
The idea of Airbnb right now is focusing on delivering accommodations to users and users could seek for experience around that accommodation location after making a final decision. However, I believe my microsite could do the opposite because of the localized content and a more narrowed down direction towards natural environments. My microsite could deliver the available experiences that are available and users could seek for accommodation later.
And being on par with the current Covid-19 pandemic, Airbnb introduced their "Online Experience" feature that allows users to have a virtual online experience that encourages global connections. It is also an opportunity for us to provide extra income to people that were impacted financially and also allow hosts to earn extra income.
While Airbnb is focusing on international market and global connections, my microsite could be focusing on the local market. My microsite can be encouraging physical experience through domestic travel or inner-state travel. It could also be encouraging local connections with the local community and support those that were financially impacted. It is also an opportunity for local hosts to earn extra income.
My decided core experience is for users to discover and get inspired, which eventually leading them back to Airbnb to book an accommodation to the natural environment that they want to visit.
Link to wireframes: https://xd.adobe.com/view/8d8d0171-24c5-4bc7-8f6e-004348eb22f0-d8de/grid
I roughly crafted the refined wireframes to have a clearer view of the user flow. I decided to immediately have the CTA of encouraging users to explore nearby at the landing page.
I also added a "Navigate button" at the bottom of the 360° experience page for users to conveniently excess other states too.
I also added a gamification system that encourages users to explore while collecting badges as a sense of achievement.
Reference of the gamification system
I realized websites that requires users to discover and explore around usually has a gamification system that motivates users to continue their journey to increase the retention value. I feel like adding in the gamification would increase the value of the microsite and make users want to stay longer. However, I feel like the gamification system can be further improve and have more discussion with my advisors, but the current concept is there.
I have yet to decide on the content deliverance and the structure of the content. I will not be sharing my ideas and thoughts of the content planning in this blog as there's too much information at the top already. It will be too overwhelming in a single reading.
That's all for now, in the next blog, I will be focusing more on the content planning and structuring. Mainly sharing my ideas and thoughts towards it and the feedback and discussions with my advisors.
Comentários