Product & Design Direction · UI/UX Design · Prototyping
With millions of unique listings around the world, finding the perfect place to stay can be a challenge. The search experience should provide the necessary information, filters, and features for guests to narrow down the results, while preventing them from overfiltering. I've recently worked on updating this experience by allowing more flexibility in the ways guests search. This includes being flexible with destination, dates, and filters.
At the onset of the pandemic international travel halted. Guests shifted their focus from far off destinations to dreaming of a nearby getaway. They had also shifted from knowing exactly which city they wanted to visit to being more open to anything within a few hours drive. I led the design of the new nearby search results page and filters, providing guests a more flexible, browse based experience.
We introduced suggested destinations throughout the guest's search journey. These suggestions were based on the guest's location, travel trends, and past searches. Nearby search launched as part of the Go Near campaign in June 2020.
In early 2021, we expanded flexible search to include dates and filters. I collaborated on the new inline filter bar that allows quick access to the most important filters. I also simplified the IA and layout of the filters panel by combining similar sections, updating the components, and adding visual clarity.
These features were part of Airbnb's 2021 announcement and will be rolling out to all guests throughout the summer.
Along with the UI and UX design, I worked with Data Scientists and Content Strategists to develop the logic for which filters are shown in the filter bar and the order within the filters sheet. We used a combination of what's popular within destination, what filters are unique within the destination, and the guest's previous searches.
To avoid overfiltering, we also introduced fuzzy matching, which shows listings just outside the guest's search parameters, for example it's only a few dollars more per night or is missing one amenity.
