For the 2015 New Blood Awards, myself and Georgia Stubbs entered for the Airbnb competition. Using the title, "Empower Airbnb's Existing Community To Grow", we developed an interactive app that not only helps travellers create new friends, but also involves them in existing local businesses.
Airbnbconnect is a new unique concept that is based around people’s experiences when staying in an airbnb destination.
The concept combines the host and the visitors experiences via the means of geocaching. A ‘journal’ is created by an airbnb guest detailing their unique and local knowledge based on time spent in an airbnb space. This journal is then ‘hidden’ in a creative location decided by the airbnb host, allowing for new guests to find it.
Upon arrival at their space, the guests receive the keys which hold the Belo keyring and a unique scan-able code. Taking you directly to their app, you gain instant access to interactive maps that direct you to the journal. The journal holds a variety of information including recommendations, reviews and messages to future guests. This provides instant insight into the community and surrounding areas for new visitors. The journal is kept by the guests for the duration of their stay, and once filled out, left in the space for the host to re-hide.
Technical Attributions
The app is just as important as the physical book. This will be used for both the host and the visitor. The host will display where they have hidden their book on the map, and in turn, the visitor will follow this. It’s also used for the hosts points, as well as the visitors discounts. GPS is the main attribute to the app. When a visitor arrives in one of the places in their offers, a notification will be displayed on their phone. They will then be able to redeem the offer.
Why would the hosts participate? Why would the visitors?
Giving incentive to both parties was critical when thinking through the concept.
The hosts - Everytime a journal is found, the host is rewarded with points. The higher their points, the further up they go on the aribnb listings. This is the main incentive as they will gain more visitors and increase their reviews.
The visitors - As a visitor, there are several benefits of locating the hidden box. Finding the journal is a great way for the visitors to find thier barings and becomes a main source of information for them. It allows travellers to be introduced to new people, whether that be previous guests or locals, and provides you with plenty of recommendations for places to visit, eat and shop. The primary incentive for visitors to locate the hidden journal is the discounts it provides. Finding it releases several offers for local shops and eateries.
The Community - The most vital aspect of this concept that makes the community want to be involved is the attraction of new customers to their local businesses.
Belonging - An Overview
Local businesses are important when creating a sense of belonging amongst new visitors. They will quickly feel part of the community when using our offers page as it keeps them local and helps them discover hidden gems amongst the obvious chain stores. Not only does it provide an instant gratification of being involved, it helps keep new customers using the local businesses such as bakeries and butchers. By boosting their sales, it’s encouraging more tourists to visit and therefore keeping the cycle flowing.
Interactive Map
A new visual feature design to be included on the airbnb website is a minimalistic map which includes location pin-points.
After a host has tagged the location on their app, the world wide map on the website is automatically updated with a pin allowing people to see where journals are the most active. When a visitor finds the said journal, again, the interactive map automatically updates with a different coloured pin. The map will never be still, always pulsating.
