Project
Workflow
UX Research
Synthesis
UI/UX Design
Usability Testing
My Role
UX Researcher
UI/UX Designer
Team
Will Rose, UX Researcher
Timeline
10 weeks
Context
Group travel is common, yet Airbnb’s existing booking flow places the burden on one person to pay for the entire group and then collect reimbursements—often an awkward and inefficient process. The goal was to design an intuitive split payment solution tailored to diverse group dynamics, including family, friends, and colleagues traveling together. This feature aimed to increase group bookings, boost user engagement, and differentiate Airbnb in a competitive travel market.
This project was completed as part of my UI/UX design bootcamp at Memorisely.
Key Objectives & Metrics
If launched, the success of this feature would be measured by:
Increased conversion rate for group bookings
Higher average booking value per reservation
Greater engagement with group booking tools
Increased repeat bookings for group travel
Some of the challenges with this design were:
Simplifying the complex dynamics of splitting trip costs
Reducing the awkwardness of collecting payments among travelers
Integrating seamlessly within Airbnb’s existing booking workflow
Research Insights
Through surveys with 47 participants, we uncovered:
Tracking individual expenses varies widely based on group relationships
Users often struggle to request money from friends or coworkers due to discomfort or forgetfulness
Effective tools are needed to set expectations, track payments, and send polite reminders
Competitive analysis revealed a gap—no platform combined group travel bookings with integrated payment splitting—highlighting the need for Airbnb to fill this niche.
How might we make it easier for groups to plan trip expenses and split expenses according to their dynamics?
Solution
Flexible Split Payment Options
Choose from equal splits, room-based splits, or custom amounts before booking
Option to pay in full and request reimbursements afterward
Price-per-room filters help groups find rentals suited for split payments
Enhanced Group Booking Experience
Import contacts or manually add guests during checkout
Guests receive email or app notifications to complete payments
‘My Friends’ database to streamline repeat group travel
Automated Payment Reminders
Airbnb sends friendly, automated messages to guests prompting them to pay, removing awkwardness from the process
Personal personalized message option for trip organizers
Research
Ideation & User Flows
We used mind maps to ideate on possible way to add to or improve upon Airbnb’s existing booking flow to answer two questions:
How might we make it easier for groups to plan out their trips within Airbnb?, and
How might we make it easier for groups to plan out their trip expenses and split the costs in a way that works for their dynamics?
We mapped out user journeys to simplify trip planning and payment management. Using mind maps and Crazy 8s, we prioritized split payments as the MVP feature, balancing impact and development speed.
Design
Early explorations considered expanding Airbnb's Wishlist feature to enable group trip planning, incorporating features like itinerary planning, internal chat with polls and linking capabilities, and enhancing the recommendation engine for group accommodations.
The wireframes and prototyping phase was pivotal in transforming conceptual ideas into tangible design solutions that respond directly to user needs. Starting with low-fidelity wireframes, we focused on outlining clear user flows for group booking and payment splitting within Airbnb’s platform. These early sketches allowed for rapid experimentation with layout, navigation, and feature placement. One early idea considered expanding Airbnb's Wishlist features to enable group trip planning, though this was pivoted into adding split payments as the primary new feature to expedite development.
Key elements designed and iterated during this phase included:
Split Payment Methods
Trip organizers had multiple ways to split costs—such as equal shares, room-based allocation, and fully customizable splits—to accommodate various group dynamics.
Checkout Flow
Other guests get invited to complete their portion of payments, with clear prompts and deadlines, ensuring smooth, time-sensitive transactions. These invitations are via the Airbnb app or by email, thus enabling increase in onboarding.
Post-Booking Splitting:
The design also enabled trip organizers who pay the full booking amount upfront to easily request reimbursements afterward, with streamlined messaging for follow-up.
User Testing
Learnings
This project taught me how to iterate quickly and effectively at the early low-fidelity stages of design in order to ensure a faster turnaround time, reduce development risk, and ensure a user-centered scalable solution.
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