Overview
MightyHost is a SaaS web tool for hosts of short-term rental properties, such as Airbnb, Homeaway, and VRBO.
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Challenge
Our team of 3 worked with our client to bring their idea into reality by designing a platform which would aid short-term rental hosts with guest communication and listing management, synced between multiple rental platforms. Services included UX research, UX strategy, and branding.
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Solution
We designed a product that addressed critical user needs: assistance with scheduling cleanings, calendar management, and a feature that no competitors currently have-- the ability to provide transportation to guests.
SaaS Website Design
USER PERSONA
Power-host Peter was a persona created from the power-host user. Users like Peter need a product like MightyHost to help them manage their short-term rental listings and keep his high rating as an Airbnb "super host" with the least amount of effort.
C + C Analysis
Insights
Many companies were already offering similar services, ranging from simple software to full-service property management services.
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On the contrary, we noticed that airport transportation was rarely offered by short-term rental hosts, and vehicle rental was not at all. Since our users expressed interest in offering transportation, so this is where we could differentiate ourselves and offer value.
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Now that we were aware of host needs, we looked into the current market to learn from competitors.
user research
Insights from user interviews
After user interviews, we learned that many hosts were already satisfied with their occupancy rates, and did not have the desire to expand onto other platforms. However, all hosts expressed pain points when turning over guests and managing the overall process, regardless of their status as a host.
details
Role
UX Design | UI Design | Visual Design (Lead)
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Timeline
3 week client project during General Assembly UX Immersive
Tools
Pen & Paper, Pop App, Sketch, InVision, Keynote
USER PERSONA
Power-host Peter was a persona created from the power-host user. Users like Peter need a product like MightyHost to help them manage their short-term rental listings and keep his high rating as an Airbnb "superhost" with the least amount of effort.
USER journey map
The user journey map was a tool we created after gathering information from our user interviews. We used it to pinpoint our users' critical problem areas so that we knew where to come up with solutions for them.
design studio
After coming up with a direction for our product's offerings, our team came together and sketched as many screens we could as possible solutions. We then took the best components of each design and used the combined elements to create one refined paper prototype.
usability testing
Testing with actual owners of short-term rental properties showed us how they would work through certain steps in their process, and helped us order the sections by priority. We took notes and refined our final product accordingly.
Insights from usability testing:
BRANDING
In addition to UX, our client also needed direction with their brand, including a new name, logo, and an overall visual identity. We asked the client to provide adjectives that described how they wanted their brand to be perceived. After brainstorming and user testing 30+ possible names, we narrowed them down and user tested. MightyHost was a definite favorite, and conveyed our brand well- a platform that helps hosts stay on top of their tasks, acquire more bookings, making them feel mighty.
After testing other various color schemes and fonts, we selected a light blue color, along with Avenir and Visby typefaces to provide a sense of trust and calm, which are emotions we wanted to evoke in our users as they complete their hosting duties within the website.
participatory design, feature prioritzation
In our first meeting, we discussed the vision of the company with the stakeholders, and invited them to do a participatory design exercise with our team, which allowed us to get a sense of features they had in mind for their product offering.
Insights
Our client was looking for an all-in-one solution for many host problems. After attempting to narrow down critical features, our "must have" feature list would was still quite extensive. This was a great starting point, but user research was necessary in order to validate the necessity of these items.
demo video
