All-in-One Trip Planner Feature
Project Type
End-to-End Project
Contribution
100%
Service
Web Design
Duration
09.2024 - 10.2024
This project reduces decision fatigue by turning the Airbnb booking into the starting point for smart personalized planning. It introduces a post-booking flow that auto generates daily plans based on location and trip context while giving users control through editable options. The solution blends UX strategy AI logic and user research to help travelers plan with clarity and ease.
CONTEXT
The Post-Booking Struggle
Imagine you book a Washington Airbnb buzzing with anticipation. Excitement fades fast; you’re stuck Googling activities and juggling apps to plan your trip. Like 64% of Airbnb users in 2023–2024 you hit a wall reflected in Airbnb’s 1.3 Trustpilot rating. Users crave cohesive planning. Airbnb’s “Experiences” feature stays buried disconnected from booking. Crafting clear journeys from messy challenges this project transforms post-booking chaos into a seamless experience.
Airbnb Booking Rate Drops
Airbnb ranks 4th with 30% share, behind Booking.com's 37%, reflecting its decline in competitiveness.
Source: 2024 Airbnb Q2 shareholder letter
-64%
1.3 out of 5 from 13,795 users
Airbnb's 1.3 rating on Trustpilot versus Trip.com's impressive 4.4 score reveals users' frustration with the platform.
Source: Trustpilot
1.3 / 5
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Users Book Then Get Lost
As mentioned above, even though Airbnb offers an 'Experience' feature, it remains buried in the interface and disconnected from the booking flow. As a result, users bounce between Google Maps, blogs, and other tools to figure out what to do, when, and where. This fragmented process leads to decision fatigue and missed opportunities.
How might we help users feel more supported
after booking and reduce drop-off?
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
01. Post-Booking Pop-Up
After booking a stay, users see a pop-up inviting them to plan the rest of their trip using the All-in-one Trip Planner feature.
02. When Does Your Trip Start?
Booked stay details are shown upfront to reconfirm travel dates, ensuring experience suggestions align with the user’s actual trip window. This helps surface only relevant, timely activities.
03. Who’s Coming With You?
Users specify their travel group (e.g., alone, with kids, with spouse, with friends). This input helps personalize activities. For instance, suggesting kid-friendly tours for families or romantic getaways for couples.
04. What Kind of Trip
Are You Looking For?
Users select general interests (e.g., Adventure, Food, Culture, TikTok Hotspots). These preferences refine the experience curation to match user intent and trip goals.
05. What Pace Do You
Prefer for Your Trip?
Users choose their ideal itinerary style: Packed Schedule or Relaxed Schedule. This lets the system suggest either a full, energetic lineup of events or a more laid-back pace, depending on the user’s mood and goals.
06. Color-Coded and Customizable
This screen shows a personalized day plan with distinct color codes for each category to guide users visually. Each section includes a Regenerate button for easy edits while keeping the plan aligned with the trip dates.
PROCESS
PROCESS
01.RESEARCH
What Challenges Are Users Facing?
To uncover user needs and frustrations, a survey with 20 active Airbnb users was conducted. The survey was focused on their trip planning behaviors and expectations. Participants were asked to reflect on their most recent booking experience and walk through the steps they took after confirming a place to stay. The goal was to pinpoint exactly where the planning process becomes difficult, confusing, or overwhelming, and to understand what kind of support users truly want during this phase.
Key insights:
Too many activity choices, not enough clarity
Users want suggestions but need flexibility
Switching between platforms adds friction
Plans should match real-world flow and timing
IDEATION
Redesign User Flow
Creating user flow diagrams to visualize both the current and new feature was crucial to map how users would navigate through the new solution and ensure it addressed the core problems identified in my research. The visualization bridged abstract ideas and concrete design and showing how Enhanced Sorting, Integrated Activities View, and Personalized Landing Page would work together as a cohesive system. By comparing both flows side-by-side, I could clearly demonstrate efficiency improvements while accounting for all user scenarios.
Key Improvements in the Redesigned Flow:
Reduction in steps
Eliminated manual
location cross-checking
Key UX Concepts
PROTOTYPE
Wireframe To Final Solution
USER TESTING
Feature Testing with Users
Conducted two rounds with 15 Airbnb users (solo, couples, families) to validate usability and delight:
Tasks: Answer pre-questions, Generate itinerary, edit activities.
Methods: Task-based testing, think-aloud feedback, post-test interviews, surveys.
Round 1 Findings (5 users): Users enjoyed the overall experience but expressed a need for clearer onboarding—specifically, they wanted the option to set their trip timing upfront.
Round 2 Findings (5 users): Updated Onboarding was “very clear” (85%), feedback felt responsive (100%).
Prototype 1.0
Prototype 2.0
IMPACT
IMPACT
Satisfaction
92% users satisfied with new feature.
92%
Repeat Intent
Users eager to reuse Easiest Trip.
70%
No More Platform Switching
Users stayed in Airbnb platform mostly.
Reduce Avg. Task Completion Time
Entire task completion time was significantly reduced.
REFLECTION
Designing Simplicity Through Complexity
Working on All-in-one Trip Planner was a turning point in my design journey. It taught me to balance AI automation with human-centered flexibility, sharpening my skills in research, iteration, and storytelling. User feedback directly shaped the experience and reminded me that great design is built through empathy.
As a personal project, one limitation was the lack of access to live user data. However, it opened up exciting possibilities for future integration with real booking platforms, where deeper insights could drive even smarter personalization. This project reinforced my strength in navigating complexity and using strategic timing and testing to create intuitive, high-impact solutions.