10 things to learn from Airbnbs design by Weave Media Team Kubo

Table Of Content

• How We Build a Design System
• Systems Thinking, Unlocked
• Connecting Brand and UI
• Using the real thing
• tips from an Airbnb designer on maintaining a design system
• Building an inclusive design language system
• A collaborative approach to defining components and their features
• Building a reusable component system

We’re excited to share our work with the broader community of designers and developers that are exploring this emerging field and to see where this leads. Stay tuned for future updates as we continue to experiment and build. In next post of the series, Design Tools Manager Lucas Smith will dive into some of the research and literature that informs our approach.

How We Build a Design System

So we brought managers together before we kicked off the program, and asked them to nominate one or two designers on their team to participate. To build excitement, we also asked them to host small celebrations with their team to acknowledge their designers’ new roles. Accent walls can be a great way to add interest and create a focal point. Why not wallpaper one side (or the far end) and mount a mirror?

Systems Thinking, Unlocked

It’s the designers and engineers, the real customers of design systems, who need to be at the center of our work. With a storied background in this space, Yujin Han and I—Design Manager and Experience Design Lead, respectively—know the challenge of getting teams to contribute. So now we’re asking ourselves, “How might we set teams up for success by helping them incorporate our design language system (DLS) in their daily work? ” Here’s how we’re evolving our model to be inclusive and empower teams to engage with the system. As a global company, we’re excited to better represent our diverse community by continuing to develop our type across all languages.

Airbnb Designed Its Own 'Playful' Font to Unify Its Look Across All Platforms - Adweek

Airbnb Designed Its Own 'Playful' Font to Unify Its Look Across All Platforms.

Posted: Tue, 15 May 2018 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Connecting Brand and UI

We began the project to reduce the time it takes to generate static assets. But through exploring its edges and adjacent possibilities, we’re unearthing exciting and novel ways of interacting with design systems in Sketch. Many tasks that were previously unfeasible, required massive human input, or relied on sketchy (sorry) plugins are now enabled with the same code that our engineers are writing day-to-day. Where there’s no choice but to break consistency, Patterns, visuals and words are a great way to give users a familiar feeling and reduce confusion. Consistent patterns, recognizable visuals and a consistent tone of voice can help your users feel safe and intuitively interact with your product.

This lack of representation doesn’t reflect Airbnb’s commitment to inclusivity. There is a groundswell of activity that is helping us all get to a better place. The next year alone will see giant leaps in the way we design and build software. We are building a world where the differences between disciplines are blurred, where logic and design truly coexist, and where collaboration is not painful but inspiring.

tips from an Airbnb designer on maintaining a design system

Eclectic interior styles are on trend and can be fun, as long as they are curated well! Explore local charity shops, vintage stores or your grandparents’ lofts to find the best items. Old gramophones, iconic reupholstered designer chairs, or vintage curtain fabrics can all add to a home’s story.

Building an inclusive design language system

Many hosts know this and go to great lengths to make their units stand out. But Airbnb accommodation is a business, and so hosts have to carefully balance cost with visual impact. Some super clever decorating ideas that look great and won't break the bank. Use a blend of more expensive statement furniture pieces mixed with detailed secondhand unique items to create intrigue and interest.

A collaborative approach to defining components and their features

Placing moss, stones, or bark around the base can help disguise a clearly fake stem. And if you want to make faux plants look real on your home's exterior, mix them into an arrangement with real plants. Did you know that design is one of the reasons people choose to book Airbnb units instead of hotels? According to Statista, almost 25% of those surveyed stated "uniqueness of unit" as a motivating factor.

Based on your behavior and preferences, it customizes recommendations and search results. This personal touch makes users feel understood and valued, and it goes a long way in enhancing the overall experience. Airbnb’s design system is well documented, and each component within the system has been named. Bek Stone, Adam Michela, Amber Cartwright, Alex Schleifer, Michael Bachand, Paul Kompfner, Sean Abraham, Salih Abdul-Karim, Michael Sui + many others in the design and engineering teams.

Auditing your system keeps the focus on “less is more.” We strive for the smallest amount of robust components possible that can be applied to a large amount of use cases. Each product team can build "team components" for their feature. The key vetting criteria is whether other teams can apply it to their designs. We created one set of these components for phones (iOS and Android), and adapted them to tablet sizes from there. Tablet components are largely the same as those for mobile, and on a technical level the code only needs to exist once in two different styles. With this system components can vary in their look and positioning, similarly to the way responsive design works for web.

The ease of finding information and executing actions on the platform is a testament to their commitment to user-centric design principles. First-time users can effortlessly explore and utilize the platform, eliminating potential frustration points. As interface designers, sketching is an intuitive method of expressing a concept.