Airbnb’s World of Trips

After a good 8 years of digital experience I’ve come to notice what every designer probably feels is coming. The standardisation of design, everybody is able to become a designer and the most of us are pretty damn good at it.

So the game is changing and we as designers should adapt and create opportunities instead of seeing it as a threat.

In a world of consistency, it’s still possible to create really great digital user-experiences which are unique and stand out from the crowd. But you have to work it a little harder than before.

A great example is Airbnb’s new strategy which they launched last week. A colleague and friend of mine, Robert Overweg, send me the link of the keynote. I was driving to a client and I actually stopped the car to take a look at their plans. I was in love, not only because they used local artists to create the artwork (which is absolutely freaking awesome), but I instantly got that feeling you get when you do something exciting for the first time. This is why I love the profession I am in. People come up with amazing things when everything seems to get boring and consistent…bla bla bla.

The beauty of this concept is not really the User Interface of the application, which is a perfect example of the fact that we are creating more and more of the same interfaces nowadays. The beauty lies in the concept as a whole. It really triggers human emotions and connects people in a meaningful way. That’s what real user experiences should all be like in my opinion. Building up a relationship with your audience instead of pushing a whole lot of nothing to them.

In a nutshell, ‘The World of Trips’ by Airbnb is about bringing the magic back into your travel experiences. They have found a beautiful way of connecting travelers with local people in different places all over the world. From treasure hunting to attending a ballet performance, Airbnb now lets its users provide complete city experiences as well as one-on-one tours.

All experiences are crafted by real people, so you are able to experience your holiday as a local. No more waiting in lines at the city’s tourist sightseeing spots with other tourists.

I really felt I needed to share this amazing project by publishing this article and also preached the concept internally at my company. Everybody should be aware of the fact that you can create amazing work in a consistent world.

Thanks Airbnb for the great work.

Be awesome.