Airbnb Digital Concierges: Designing Interactions for Authentic Guest Experiences

Airbnb is well known for providing guests with local experiences by regular people worldwide. Many pioneer hosts experiment with emerging smart products to improve guests’ experiences. However, these initial eforts often merely provide functionality, neglecting to ofer guests authentic experiences motivated by hosts’ authenticity. We addressed this gap by using bespoke design methods to understand hosts’ stories and co-develop interaction concepts that can express their authenticity and ft their Airbnb. We implemented a set of Digital Concierges (DCs) and deployed them in a real Airbnb to investigate guests’ experiences. Our results show that our design enhanced guests’ sense of welcome, fostered their discovery with serendipitous cues, and built richer connections with the host and locals. We concluded with the design implications of co-designing artifacts to embody hosts’ authenticity and use multiple modalities to enhance perceived authentic experiences. Most importantly, we shared our insights about working with hosts as co-creators.