Blog post 2- A Fall Story
It’s fall season. With the weather getting colder and the leaves turning orange, me and my friends decided to go on a fall trip to New Havens last weekend. We had been planning a trip for months and I was excited for it to finally happen. I want to document a few fascinating things I came across in the trip. here in this blog post. The trip was amazing and we got to witness the scenic beauty of Havens. We stayed at a nearby Airbnb for the night. This Airbnb had a wall decorated with paintings and writings in the hallway which caught my eye. The wall had the whole history of Airbnb’s and how they flourished as time went by, with pictures and drawings. The wall made walking through the hallway feel like a walk in the museum. It was very informative as well as fun to walk through the path and read them. A lot of their growth involved research and alteration of ads in NYC which was interesting news to me.
When I was asked to do a blog post for my Design thinking course, I couldn’t help but do a little bit of research into how Design Thinking helped the business, and what creative solutions bore the distinct hallmark of design thinking in this business and I thoroughly enjoyed the learning. I would like to share some of my findings here in my blog. In 2009, Airbnb was on the brink of bankruptcy, much like many startups that had emerged during that era. At the time, the company was virtually unknown. Faced with this crisis, the Airbnb team, along with the creator of the business Paul Graham, embarked on a quest to dissect the problem. They honed in on the behavior of their ads in New York and quickly discerned a recurring pattern among the 40 listings they had published.
The commonality here was the images. These photos were far from perfect. They were usually taken with smartphones, didn’t showcase all facets of the homes, and left guests in the dark about where they would actually be staying. People hesitated to book rooms because they couldn’t see what they were paying for. Upon this revelation, they decided to journey to New York, rent a camera, and spend quality time with the hosts to capture enticing images of their accommodations. There was no preliminary study, just an intuitive leap.
A mere week after their visit to homes in New York, Airbnb’s weekly revenue doubled to $400. It was a clear sign they were on the right track. They tossed aside the coding rules they had learned and embraced the principles of design thinking: empathize, define, design, prototype, and test. It turned out that physically visiting customers in the real world was the most effective way to tackle issues and devise ingenious solutions. Their journey from near bankruptcy to global success is a testament to the power of understanding and empathizing with their customers. In summary, Airbnb’s story underscores the significance of understanding your customers, embracing unconventional thinking, and being open to constant improvement. It shows that even in the face of near-failure, a customer-centered, empathetic, and creative approach can lead to incredible success.
This blog work really taught me the importance of design thinking in businesses and how much of a revelation it can bring, when used in the right way. I am looking forward to learning more about the principles and strategies of design thinking and finding ways to use it in my future.
