Design a better Stays experience for first-time guests

Problem Statement Description

Product context: Airbnb is a travel marketplace connecting guests and hosts; its products include stays, experiences, host tools, guest booking, trust and safety, payments, and reviews.

Airbnb wants to improve the Stays experience for first-time guests: people who are considering booking an Airbnb stay for the first time and may be unfamiliar with how listings, hosts, house rules, fees, reviews, check-in, cancellations, and support work. These users may be comparing Airbnb against hotels, Booking.com, Expedia, Vrbo, or other familiar travel options, so trust, clarity, and confidence are central to the experience.

Focus on the end-to-end guest journey for a first-time stay, from travel intent and search through listing evaluation, booking, pre-arrival preparation, check-in, the stay itself, and post-stay follow-up. The design should account for friction points such as uncertainty about listing accuracy, fear of scams or cancellations, confusing fees, inconsistent host communication, unfamiliar policies, safety concerns, and not knowing what is expected of the guest.

This is a product design question, so the emphasis is on understanding the user segment, identifying the highest-impact problems, and defining a better product experience that fits Airbnb’s marketplace model. Consider both sides of the marketplace where relevant: improving guest confidence should not create unsustainable burden for hosts or reduce supply quality.

The experience should consider:

- The first-time guest’s mindset, needs, anxieties, and decision criteria compared with experienced Airbnb users or hotel customers

- Key steps in the Stays workflow: discovery, search, comparison, listing details, booking, payment, messaging, check-in, support, and review

- Trust-building moments around host quality, listing accuracy, reviews, safety, cancellation policies, fees, and customer support

- Differences across trip types, such as solo travel, family travel, business travel, international travel, or high-stakes events

- How to reduce confusion without overwhelming users with too much education or too many questions

- Marketplace constraints, including host autonomy, global policy differences, supply diversity, fraud prevention, and support costs

- How success could be measured through conversion, booking confidence, reduced cancellations, lower support contact rates, guest satisfaction, repeat booking, and host impact

The goal is to define a focused, user-centered improvement to the Airbnb Stays experience that helps first-time guests feel informed, safe, and confident enough to complete and enjoy their first booking, while preserving marketplace trust and long-term guest-host health.