Belo

Airbnb AI Voice Assistant

Context
The goal of the project was to implement AI capabilities in existing digital platforms. We analyzed Airbnb experiences to discover opportunities where a voice user interface meets user requirements and brings business impact to the brand.

The highlight of the project was finding a value proposition for the business, developing the information system for AI agent, and designing a visual and motion to effectively represent the virtual assistant's character and status as they interact with the users.
Problem
Inefficiency in the communication between hosts and guests.
- Repetitive and redundant questions cost the time and effort of the hosts.
- Hesitancy to reach out to hosts delays troubleshooting and increases the psychological burden on the guests.
Solution
Implementing an AI agent to bridge the communication with a voice user interface (VUI).
- Reduce redundancy through data accumulation and retrieval.
- Enhance efficiency through automation.
- Create a communication channel between hosts, guests, and Airbnb brand.
Team
5 Designers
Carol Auh, Claire Chen,
Nina Gao, Shelley Tao,
Shafiqah Zulfikar
Contribution
Research Conceptualization
Value Creation UI Design
Motion Design Prototyping
Timeline
5 Week
Carnegie Mellon Univ.
IxD Studio
Tools
Figma
Voice flow
Illustrator
After Effects
Premier Pro
Audition
Research Methods
User Interview
Maps
Card Sorting
“How might intelligent user interfaces
change the way designers build systems &
influence how users interact with products and services?”
01. Outcome
Belo, an AI Voice Assistant for Airbnb

Meet Belo,
Belo is your personal concierge assisting you every step of your stay with Airbnb. Just say ‘hey Belo’, and Belo will always have an answer for you.

Concept Video with Key Scenarios
Interaction through Mobile
Mobile templates to integrate Belo
Interaction examples for activating Belo & sharing information with other guests through AI chat
Examples of hands-free interaction through voice control while driving.
Interaction through Smart TV
Layers of the Smart TV interface
Interaction example of guests searching local experiences through Belo
System Diagram for Data Flow
Jump to Solution Details ↓
02. Client
Why Airbnb?
We selected Airbnb as our client as we found an opportunity space conversational AI can step in to ease the process and shape a richer user experience. The initial opportunities that we found were as follows:
Multitasking
Users have to handle multiple crucial tasks from planning the trip to finishing the trip.
Hands are busy
In many cases, users have to deal with issues while their hands are busy, including packing, driving, carrying cargo, and more.
Repetitive conversation
Hosts and guests often have to exchange conversations which can be overwhelming and redundant as they are repetitive.
Understanding the Brand
We started by further understanding the brand identity of Airbnb. We mapped the brand personality and brand voice as a starting point to set the mood and tone of the conceptualization. We found out the message behind the existing logo Belo, and how the brand identity is built around connecting people and places with love and excitement.
03. Research
Auditing Existing Experience
Current User Flow
To verify the opportunity space, we mapped out the end-to-end flow of a user traveling through Airbnb. The red blocks indicate the opportunity area that an AI agent could step in to improve the experience.
Stakeholder Map
We drew a stakeholder map to identify the key actors of the Airbnb product service system. By visualizing the relationships and influence between the entities, we analyzed how the AI assistant can benefit the entities.
User Journey Map
By creating a user journey map of the Airbnb travel experience, we listed out the pain points and opportunities in detail, connecting the flow and emotional changes throughout the experience. Throughout the project, we used journey maps as our primary tool to visualize and review the concept development.
Interviewing the Users
We conducted user interviews to verify our hypothesis on the opportunity space and find pain points. We interviewed 5 groups of people, in a total of 7 individuals who had experience in using Airbnb. Among them, 4 people also had an experience of hosting an Airbnb.
Interview Script
Collectively, we constructed a list of interview questions that we asked participants whose ages ranged between 20 to 50. In these interviews, we started with some background questions about their demographics and then asked about their experiences with Airbnb in terms of the process and communication, as well as their experience with VUI in general.
Affinity Map
To synthesize the interview, we created an affinity map based on the responses.
Interview Synthesis
Synthesizing the interview, we listed out the key insights. Starting from the quotes of the interviewees as "what we heard," we wrote "what we learned" as a takeaway and "what it means for design" as it will guide us to develop design principles for our project.
Value Mapping
Since we had many distinct findings while wanting to contain the scope, we made a value map in order to decide which areas we should explore further as the next step. We mapped the key findings to four quadrants along two axes, “relevance to VUI” and “value for users.” This allowed us to focus on three main areas or scenarios moving forward, which were:
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04. Ideation
Identifying Key Painpoints of Airbnb Users
Based on the research, we defined three key design opportunities for Airbnb by identifying the key painpoints that we will solve through our design.
Uneven Responsibilities among Group Guests
→ Build transparency and shared responsibility among guests
Inefficiency and Hesitancy in communicating with hosts
→ Get instant support for troubleshooting
Difficulty on Navigating Local Destinations
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→ Access curated local travel experience
Defining Case Scenarios
User Persona
We brought Paul as our user persona to develop the detailed case scenarios. Our persona is a young adult, who frequently travels with his friends and families in Airbnb stays. While he enjoys traveling with the people he loves, he hopes he can fully enjoy the travel experience and worry less about the logistics and administrative activities that follow when leading a trip.
Storyboard Scenarios
To visualize and elaborate the case scenarios, we storyboarded each experience. This storyboad helped us review the flow and imagine how the experience would look like.
Designing the Voice User Interface
Define the Personality of Belo
As the VUI is designed to be a smart concierge that enriches the trip experience, we defined Belo to be thoughtful, inclusive, and trustworthy. While it has a warm and welcoming voice, it should also be straightforward and clear in informing accurate information to enhance reliability.
VUI Form
Designing the visual form of Belo, we started with doodling sketches. We spread out ideas starting from the main words and symbols that represent the Airbnb brand and the personality of Belo.
As the final VUI representation, we selected the form that was developed from the original Airbnb logo and modified it to resemble a human silhouette. It connected well with the concept of a virtual concierge that will welcome and care about the guest experience.
VUI Motion Status
We listed out the statuses which are needed to provide feedback throughout the conversation. Then we designed motions that visualize the status. For designing the motion status, we had to focus on the transition between the states and anthropomorphizing shapes with simple movement and transformations.
05. Solution
Mobile and Smart TV Integration
Visual Identity
We defined the visual identity based on the existing Airbnb design system to provide a consistent experience across mobile and smart TV.
Prototyping Mobile Interaction
Structure
These are templates we developed for the voice UI system, which we can use as a reference when creating different pages. All colors and components are directly implemented or adapted from the current Airbnb app. Since we are designing the voice UI for an existing app, we tried to remain the visual identity the same as the original Airbnb app. Below are
The first page demonstrates where Belo resides on the app interface — the white floating circle on the bottom right of the screen. As Belo only assists users from booking confirmation to checkout, it is not necessary to embed Belo in the bottom menu bar. The second page represents the initiation of Belo which only takes a small part of the screen. When the user is having a conversation with Belo, the chat window extends to fill the screen. This is for the user to see the conversation history clearly, and at the same time, it’s in accordance with the current Airbnb element. The fourth and fifth pages show the results and option cards as components we use across our design.
Scenario 1. Booking Confirmation: Sharing with Friends
The following screens show how users activate Belo and easily share the booking confirmation with friends. In this activation stage, users can decide to activate the mobile and the smart TV feature. It ensures users have full control and information about the risks and benefits of using the new technologies. This scenario highlights how Belo can simplify the tedious steps through automation.
Scenario 2. Pre-check-in: Requesting Early Check-in
When the trip date approaches, Belo proactively notifies to support coordinating the trip. While one of the common requests the guests inquire about is pre-check-in, Belo has already handled it. As Belo detected the gap between the landing time and the check-in time, Belo collected the availability from the host and suggested to the guests if they would want to check in earlier. With Belo, there is no more hesitancy and awkward conversation between hosts and guests.
Scenario 3. Navigation: Controlling with Voice
The scenario depicts how the voice user interface benefits users during the trip. While the user's hands are busy driving, the driver can simply activate Belo with a voice command to ask for more guidance on navigation. Through user interviews, we found that users often experience difficulties in finding the entrance of the stay or parking spots. In these cases, Google Maps does not have enough detail about the location, and hosts have to give special instructions. On the hosts' side, hosts can save the detailed guide so that Belo can help new guests navigate to the location without bothering the hosts. Any repetitive questions can be handled by Belo.
Prototyping Smart TV Interaction
Structure
The Smart TV interface is designed with 3 layers of structure to maximize the benefit of Smart TV.
1. Picture Frame Layer Casts promotional photos of Airbnb’s Expedition Space and Experience. Inspired by hospitality TVs in hotels and current Airbnb growth trends.
2. Shade Layer Reduces the disturbance of the TV and controls the focus of the interaction by controlling the brightness.
3. Conversation VUI layer Displays communications with VUI. The conversation and information are displayed as a floating layer on the top.
Reference for Smart TV Design
Since smart TV was a new interface that we were designing, we collected references to learn and get inspiration. While voice control is widely used in smart TV interaction, as Belo is beyond an input channel, we had to consider the uniqueness of Belo differentiating from general smart TV VUI.
Smart TV VUI
VUI is actively used in smart TV interaction as it eases the input process that can be cumbersome with button controls in the remote controllers. Therefore, we looked into the motions and feedback of the VUI. However, as Belo is more than a search bar function, we had to develop further from the current smart TV VUI.
Smart TV GUI
​In a similar sense, while we researched the grid and interaction of the smart TVs, we had to keep in mind the difference between our Smart TV design with normal smart TVs, which are more focused on casting media content. While their focus will be on not interrupting the media content, we had to think of ways to highlight the VUI and its motions noticeably.
Hospitality TV
As the hospitality TV in hotels is well in accord with the concierge concept of our VUI, we looked closely into the structure and goal of the hospitality TV. A common feature was that they utilized the background to cast nice photos of the tour locations.
Scenario 4. Check-in with Belo: Concierge of the Stay
As a concierge of the Airbnb location, Belo greets and hosts the stay of the guests. The prototype shows how Belo helps the check-in by delivering the message from the host.
Scenario 5. Ask Belo: How to make a Futon Bed
As in mobile, Belo can answer guests' questions for a comfortable stay. Belo can pull up the information answered by the host in F&Q to give an instant answer to the guests before contacting the host.
Scenario 6. Rest Mode: Promoting Airbnb Expeditions and Experience
In the resting mode, Belo shows curated images of Airbnb locations and local experiences, in accordance with the current focus of the Airbnb business. It acts as a channel for the brand to communicate with the guests and suggests options to enrich their trip. While they stay as a nice background with amazing photos, if the guests ask for more information, it will share details and help booking sites and events.
Scenario 6. Rest Mode: Promoting Airbnb Expeditions and Experience
If the guests want to get recommendations for the trip, they can simply ask Belo as they will ask the front desk in hotels.
Here, Belo is showing Airbnb experiences around the location, helping book the event, and sharing the confirmation with the guests.
Data Flow
Following is a diagram of showing how the data will be stored and retrieved for Belo.
The strength of Belo comes from aggregating questions and answers to automate the repetitive conversation between the hosts and guests. This diagram shows how the data is retrieved and stored for future use. All the basic information the hosts fill out while hosting the house will be stored and pulled out whenever the guests ask. New questions and answers will be stored so that the hosts will not have to response again to future guests while providing instant responses to the future guests.
Value Proposition
A Communication Channel between Guests, Hosts, and Airbnb Brand
Host <-> Guest
The VUI mediates the communication between the hosts and guests.
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By providing an automatic and asynchronous communication channel, we aim to alleviate the pain point found from initial research around a direct conversation between the host and guests.
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Users can ask questions anytime without hesitating to start a conversation with the host and also get an instant support for questions and troubleshooting. At the same time, hosts can reduce the load of repeatedly answering questions from guests. The frequently asked questions will be stacked on the database to automatically be retrieved while crucial information such as availability of early check-in or change of rules can be updated through communicating with the VUI.
Guest <-> Guest
While it is a common case that a group of people share a trip, the VUI connects multiple users to the trip, allowing all the members to efficiently share information regarding the trip. It alleviates a certain guest who booked the space being responsible for retrieving and sharing all the information and asked to handle issues.
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Through the mobile VUI, all the guests will have the same access to the information, allowing them to asynchronously communicate with the VUI.
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On the other hand, the smart TV VUI on the Airbnb location will allow the group of guests to simultaneously interact with the virtual assistant. It will ease the conversation within the group, leading to effective discussion, decision-making, and designing the trip experience together.
Airbnb <-> Guest
The VUI in the smart TV also acts as a communication channel between Airbnb and the guests. Combining the hospitality TV in hotels for the device and concierge service as the VUI, it actively supports the current business direction of Airbnb.
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Through the back screen of the TV, the expeditionary contents from Airbnb space and experience will be naturally exposed to the guests.
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The VUI will be the promotion channel for the Airbnb group to share the resources that they have in order to enrich the guest’s whole trip experience.​​​​​​​​
06. Reflection
Learnings
In-depth User Research & Iterations
Through this project, I conducted in-depth user research that guided our ideas and design decisions. Also, we used a variety of maps and diagrams throughout the process to review and iterate. I appreciate learning how to effectively use maps and diagrams as design tools. I especially enjoyed using journey maps for different purposes in each stage, such as opportunity finding, ideating, iterating, and presenting.
Designing for Smart TV
As it was the first time designing for smart tv interface, it was challenging but rewarding. I enjoyed benchmarking from existing interfaces and interactions but defining our own model of interactions and designing a unique structure and features for the device.
Next Steps
Multiple Characters - AI character building
I would love to explore developing diverse characters for Belo with different personalities and voices. Belo could transform into different characters according to the location or vacation type, making the stay more unique and customized.
Cybernetics & Conversation Models
One of the interesting concepts that I learned while researching interaction with AI was the concept of Cybernetics. I would love to explore and experiment with how different conversation models of the AI agent could enrich the trip experience of users. It will be important to find the fine line between effectively responding to the needs and asks of the users while opening up unexpected surprises in the conversation.
Implementing AI Translation
Since one of the biggest pain points found from the user research was language barriers, implementing AI translation throughout the interaction with Belo will bring significant values.
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