Hasta La Ideas

Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: Steph Tekano, Airbnb
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Category: Interactive/Web/Mobile
Award: Notable

Airbnb iPhone App

Unlock the doors to inspiring and unique accommodations around the world with the Airbnb app.

Our point of view was very personal to us&madsh;each member of the team uses Airbnb to travel and host. The app developed around our knowledge of existing Airbnb travel behavior, and the pain points we personally experienced. Often, we’d step into the shoes of a first time user who had no idea what Airbnb was. This informed how we lead new users into the app. One thing not in the original brief that came up in our real world user testing was needing a place last minute. One of us was traveling and the accommodations fell through unexpectedly. So we created a button “Help I need a place tonight” that searches all the available Airbnb’s closest to where you are. You can click on a pin, review the details, and book within minutes. This button is used more than you might guess.

Additionally, we discovered an opportunity to help users see the value of renting the extra space in their home or apartment. By using GPS and asking a few simple questions, we can display the value of a private room, or entire apartment, based on what their neighbors are making on Airbnb. The app makes it easy to then list and photograph your space, all from the iPhone.

Core77: How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

I learned about the news from the Core77 Twitter account (@core77). We soon received an email confirming the award, with a link to our video and judges feedback on the awards site. Joe, Andrew and I got on the phone to celebrate. We felt honored to be included amongst such great talent!

What’s the latest news or development with your project?

We’ve since added starring to the app so users can now save their favorite listings to their account. This has been the number one requested feature. I designed a playful interaction that allows you to swipe a listing to activate the star.

What is one quick anecdote about your project?

One thing I’ll never forget is working with the team in what we called the ‘iPhone bunker.’ This was a part of the office that we sectioned off exclusively for iPhone app development. We worked here for weeks straight, designing every screen and interaction of the app. We pulled many all-nighters in the bunker, and we bonded as a team. I think it was this creative and fast paced environment that inspired some of my best design work. I witnessed first hand what can happen working within a world class team!

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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