Embedded Files
Why
The daily repetitive tasks of Airbnb hosts can be overwhelming, such as generating custom access codes for smart locks, answering inquiries, sending check-in/check-out instructions, and reminding guests about the house rules.
What it is
Carebnb is an integration platform that automates and humanizes Airbnb management tasks, including communicating with guests, generating smart lock codes, and scheduling cleaning and inspection services.
My role
User research, product design, and driving the go-to-market strategy.
How it works
The kickoff: scratching our own itch
When you decide to become an Airbnb host, you're probably looking for side income, but the tasks involved can be overwhelming: generating custom access codes for your smart lock, answering guest inquiries, sending check-in/check-out instructions, or reminding them about the house rules.
A friend of mine, who is also a co-founder of Carebnb, is an Airbnb host himself. That’s why we decided to create Carebnb—to improve the lives of short-term hosts by outsourcing their common tasks and decisions, allowing them to better allocate their time and efforts to what is most important to them.
User Research
Persona and Empathy Map
Adam The Airbnb Host
Age: 38 years-old
Education: MBA Accounting
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Family: Married, two kids
Occupation: Accountant and Airbnb host
Adam started his side hustle as an Airbnb host one year ago, and he's already feeling overwhelmed by the huge amount of repetitive tasks he needs to deal with daily. He's concerned about outsourcing costs, which is why he's constantly re-evaluating his decision to become an Airbnb host. His expectations were to have a passive income, not an exhausting side job.
Says
“I'm so tired of dealing with those overwhelming tasks.”
“I need someone or something reliable.”
“If I'd had the money, I'd outsource everything”
Thinks
“This [dealing with repetitive tasks] is really frustrating.”
"When the cat's away, the mice will play" [About outsourcing]
“Will I ever have free time again?”
Does
Opens Airbnb app every 5 minutes to check listing's status and answer guests inquiries.
Interrupted several times during the day by Airbnb notifications.
Asks his friends to help him with Airbnb tasks.
Feels
Overwhelmed: too many tasks to just a single person
Worried: what if a guest is forgotten?
Thoughtful: outsourcing would be a good idea but it could be quite expensive to hire other humans to deal with daily tasks.
User Stories
As Adam The Airbnb Host,
I want to:
"Deliver automated individual access codes to guests so that I can rest and have peace of mind".
"Define standard answers for each inquiry so that I can free myself from dealing with every single one.".
User Journey Map
Hyphotesis development
Jobs To Be Done
Responding to a high volume of guest inquiries daily and generating smart lock access codes for each guest.
Current Alternative
Pay someone else to deal with guests and repetitive tasks. For guest inquiries, the persona could sign up for a custom chatbot, but both alternatives would be much more expensive than using Carebnb’s automation services.
Value Proposition
Integrated automation services using the Airbnb API, providing both custom access codes and a chatbot in a single app with one subscription.
Problem Statement
"Adam is an Airbnb host who needs to outsource repetitive tasks because he wants free time".
Positioning Statement
For Airbnb hosts who are overwhelmed with managing numerous guests, Carebnb is an all-in-one Airbnb automation app that streamlines repetitive tasks. Unlike the Airbnb app itself, our product integrates with smart locks to generate custom access codes and automatically responds to guest inquiries, all with minimal effort.
Wireframes and Medium-Fidelity Prototypes
Whiteboard wireframes made right after the early user research
First Figma medium-fidelity prototype with to-be-tested user flow
Wondering what a "medium-fidelity" prototype is? I like to call it something more than just a wireframe, but not yet a polished layout. I truly believe that the user experience for beta testers and users interviewed in the early stages of a project is much better with this approach. It gives a clearer sense of the overall user experience and encourages more meaningful feedback.
At the same time, creating medium-fidelity prototypes is still cost-effective, and you can always refine the UI as the project progresses. However, with this approach, you provide your team and early users with an "almost-done" product (from a visual design perspective) right from the start, which helps improve project alignment and sets clearer expectations for everyone.
The app
Listings overview
For hosts, the most important thing is having a bird’s-eye view of each property's status at any given time. It could be empty and ready for new guests, in need of cleaning or inspection, or even with guests already checked in. To indicate the current status, we defined simple, distinct colors for each situation: checked-in, checked-out, or ready for guests.
List and grid view
Not all hosts have multiple listings to manage, and we need to consider them as well. That's why the app offers two different ways to view your listings' status: grid and list view. During user research, we discovered a common complaint: the main screen appeared "quite empty" for hosts who only had one or two properties to rent.
Smart Lock VS Access Codes Management
Users were often confused about the difference between managing a smart lock (the product itself) and the access codes for each guest. To address this, we separated these features into two different screens with inverted colors. Icons were standardized: a key icon for managing all things related to the smart lock itself, and a padlock icon for managing access codes.
Invert colors for features
The color inversion helped users feel like they were dealing with completely different features, eliminating the confusion. In the end, the most used feature between the two was managing access codes, which is why we decided to go with the "light" version and pair it with other frequently used daily features.
Components
Airbnb-like UI
Airbnb hosts often spend a lot of time using Airbnb's app. For that reason, they would feel more comfortable using a third-party app that offers a similar look and feel to the Airbnb app.
List view as an alternative
Not all hosts have multiple listings to manage, and we wanted to consider them as well. So, the app offers two different ways to view your listings' status: grid and list view. During user research, we discovered that a common complaint was that the main screen appeared "quite empty" for hosts with only one or two properties to rent.
In-app notifications
The main idea behind the app was to put all users' Airbnb properties on autopilot. While our users didn't want to spend time on repetitive tasks, they also weren’t confident enough to let the system handle everything without knowing what was happening. To address this, we introduced in-app notifications, such as alerts, to show each action taken by the user or automated actions, like a chatbot message.
The Smart Guestbook
The ideation process generated many ideas to improve the hosting experience. One of them was to display guest comments in a more dynamic way—using a map to show the country of origin for each guest who writes a testimonial. To bring this idea to life, we developed a product called Smart Guestbook that runs on an iPad. The animations below were created using Lottie Files.
Auto Night/Day Mode
The Smart Guestbook is able to automatically turn night and day mode
Easy and Fun to Use
Intuitive interface so your guests will have an impressive user experience
Your guest's experiences
Impress your guests with the next generation guestbook
So it was time to publish the app and promote it. Without further ado, here is the Landing Page designed to sell the Smart Guestbook:
The Stationary
Calling for beta testers is never easy. That’s why we decided to invite them individually through our own network. The challenge was that our CEO is based in Canada, and I didn’t want to spend money on sophisticated print materials. So, we created a simple, cost-effective invitation letter that could be printed anywhere—using just A4 paper and rounded stickers. This was presented as a short pitch, supported by a digital presentation and the app.
Marketing Funnel Stages
Startups are all about doing everything yourself. One of the many hats I had to wear was the marketing one. Inbound marketing, content strategy, and article writing? We got it.
Remembering Adam
Adam is our persona who manages an Airbnb listing as a side hustle. However, he struggles to find free time between family, his job, and his hosting tasks. He understands technology and sees it as essential for a better life. Adam thinks it would be awesome if his Airbnb listing generates more income, but he isn’t willing to spend more time on it.
Consideration
Adam just purchased a new tech device for his listing, like a smart lock. He’s trying to make the most of it, but his side hustle comes with a lot of repetitive tasks that are, frankly, the boring part of his life. He’s wondering if there’s a way to get rid of these tasks, perhaps through an outsourcing service.
Awareness
Adam is happy with his listing and excited about the income, but at the same time, he’s struggling with repetitive tasks, like answering guest inquiries and scheduling cleaning services.
Decision
Adam is determined to get rid of the boring and overwhelming tasks. His income is high enough that he’s ready to outsource the tasks that take up so much of his time. He’s actively looking for outsourcing services and might have already hired one.
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