AirBnB

Tuan Nguyen

CS100W

de la Calle

October 28, 2016

The Start Up

In this video, Charlie Rose spoke with AirBnb co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, about the success of his company. Being a co-founder of one of the largest rental websites, the founders would have to start from the bottom up. They wanted to travel and feel like they were a part of that community. By doing so, they thought about how “cool” it would be to live in one of the homes there, which in turn, started their business. Every business has to start from somewhere. Whether it was a general idea from what a potential entrepreneur may joke about or a business idea that they may have planned since they were young.

            AirBnb started off as a simple idea which is now a multibillion company. They are featured worldwide and has businesses in hundreds of countries. Their business model is to handle all forms of bookings, payments, and damage protection for a cheap commission of 14% per transaction (“Chesky,” 2016). With a commission that low, some people may question how AirBnb could profit. But because of their excellent business values and exceptional customer satisfaction, the company was able to grow through word of mouth.

                                                     (“AirBnB,” 2016)

            Most businesses struggle with their company because of poor customer satisfaction. When customers dealing with any businesses, all they want is to leave satisfied. Businesses who struggle with customer satisfaction will never get business because of word of mouth; word of mouth from customers who left dissatisfied with the company. Businesses will only grow if customers love their products and services.

            AirBnb was able to grow into a multibillion company because their customers loved their products and services. When the company ran into trouble with property damage with an owner’s property during one of their rentals, AirBnb stepped in and created a program called the “AirBnb Guarantee”. This guarantee protects the owners by giving them a property damage protection of up to $50k (“Chesky,” 2016). This protection gives the owners a comfort level of working with AirBnb because they know the company will refund them if any property damages occur.

            Customers will work with companies they know that will help resolve any issues if they should occur. AirBnb has not only created a business model that allows their hosts to earn a high share of commission, but it is also focused on driving customer satisfaction with their products and services. AirBnb’s success is evidenced by its continued growth and use of vacation rentals, serving as a convenience to make traveling memorable.

References

Brian Chesky - Charlie Rose. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://charlierose.com/videos/25522

Our Co-Founders. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://www.airbnb.com/about/founders

Usability Matters

Tuan Nguyen

CS100W

de la Calle

October 14, 2016

Usability Matters

Having a great experience using a service requires a team and excellent decision-making on the implementation of the service. These decisions are based on the observation made from the user interaction with the service. Usability testing is a research based method that allow us to identify problems through analyzation of user experience. If properly planned, this method will be very economical and effective when it comes to creating a design or a development of some sort. This is an important technique, because it requires only three components: a user to test your project, a design to test, and a place where both the user and the design can meet for recording data (“Chisnell”, 2009).

(“Vides”, 2015)

Furthermore, these testing procedures gives us information about any existing problem or finding a solution to this problem. Sometimes, we may not be satisfied due to the website or application not performing to expectations. It is then up to the project team to figure out whether or not they want to implement these recommendations (“Ross”, 2015). For example, working on a web design, being able to navigate through the web at ease is important. Also, satisfying the user and test how fast a person can accomplish a task on the web.

In addition, any person is able to use these skills to enhance their representation. Being patient and having the ability to be open to any suggestion or welcoming ideas is an important skillset. The most important would be having good observation skills to address the issue and fix the problem. There are two results when it comes to usability testing.  One result may lead to a great user interface, giving an opportunity that the user will come back again. The other results in a negative interface, leaving the user frustrated and angry (“Harvey”, 2013). In our project of creating a virtual tour map, we will be integrating these tools to allow the user to access the tour at ease.

To conclude, products and designs become great when they have been tested and trialed. This requires actual users to test the product and have an analyst to report data from it. The gain we receive from using these techniques will benefit us from its in-person testing (“Harvey”, 2013). Giving us a cost-effective way to produce the best possible design or implementation. Using these resources in further projects will allow the developer and participant to produce an excellent model of any project of their wish.

           

References

Chisnell, B. D. (2012). Usability Testing Demystified. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://alistapart.com/article/usability-testing-demystified

Harvey, A. (2013). User Experience: What Is It And Why Should I Care? - Usability Geek. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://usabilitygeek.com/user-experience/

Ross, J. (n.d.). 17 Usability Testing Myths and Misconceptions. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2015/01/17-usability-testing-myths-and-misconceptions.php

Vides, T. (2015). 4 Tools For A Successful Usability Test - Usability Geek. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://usabilitygeek.com/4-tools-for-a-successful-usability-test/