Design helps shape our everyday interactions through products, furniture, objects, or experiences.
As Chief Product Officer, I lead our product team to create simple, intuitive user experiences.
Since the very beginning, we wanted to create an experience for our guests: more than just a place to sleep. We wanted to cook breakfast in the morning; we wanted to provide a subway map for our guests. Pick them up from the airport.
Every apartment I've ever lived in has had a space to make, create, and get stuff done within eyesight of my bed.
We expect Seoul to be one of our most important markets not only in Asia but around the world.
Starting a company in San Francisco when we did usually meant it was destined to be a data-driven tech company. But that didn't seem to fully encompass what we wanted with Airbnb. When we tried looking through a tech lens, it didn't work. The humanity was missing.
When we go city by city, country by country, the majority of our hosts, our owners, are simply renting out their spare bedroom.
I think Pixar's done an amazing job integrating art and science. They really get this idea that art and engineering work side by side.
To me, 'design thinking' is another way of saying empathize with the customer. It's consideration for the person you're designing for.
In art school, you learn that design is much more than the look and feel of something - it's the whole experience.
Everything at Airbnb is a continuation of what it's like to be a guest in somebody's house. We think about how each stage makes people feel.
The fear of mistakes is the fast track to irrelevance.
For an international business such as ours, you can't localise without a local. That was a hard lesson for us. We had to be closer, physically present, which is when we put teams on the ground.
We built a basic website, and Air Bed and Breakfast was born. Three lucky guests got to stay on a $20 airbed on the hardwood floor. But they loved it. And so did we. We took them on adventures around the city.
From natural disasters to the refugee crises, the impact we can have as individuals might seem limited. But as many of our hosts know, sharing your home for even a few nights can make a tremendous difference in someone's life.
It's about more than making money; it's about connecting people in countries all around the world. Our social mission is to get people meeting each other, and we need people who align with that purpose.
There's this misconception globally that the platform is about property groups and big property owners renting out entire buildings full-time.
In general, we believe in regulation - just as long as it is fair and balanced.
As with any new and innovative industry, entrenched interests - particularly the hotel industry - have attempted to squash the home-sharing movement.
I have the privilege of working with our in-house design studio, called Samara, and our humanitarian team, called Human. Samara is thinking about the future of Airbnb, and Human is working on ways to leverage our platform outside the cause of day-to-day business.
Airbnb is about the nexus of the online and offline to create the perfect customer experience.
High reputation beats high similarity.
The sharing economy is out of the bag - and it's not going to go back in.
The story of Airbnb is really the underdog story in many ways.
I'll never forget my first Art Basel.
To be truly empathetic, we have to acknowledge that we're all human, we're all flawed, and that life can be difficult.
Of course Airbnb made mistakes the first year! Some came from our own preconceptions. When we started, we designed our interface for ourselves, Internet-savvy twentysomethings. We never considered the role of good eyesight in our interface - font size, vernacular; it all matters.
We have seen things in the twentieth century like the ATM machine, the VCR, and even the car. The electric car was invented in 1920, and here we, 100 years later, it is only now becoming an actual thing. So it doesn't surprise me that new ideas are met with a lot of questions.
You must have the ability to recognize good design and good user experience. These are core things at Airbnb. It doesn't matter which department you're in.
Any time there is a new idea, it can take some time for policy to catch up to it.
When trust works out right, it can be absolutely magical.
What people demand is what the policies serve.
Given Miami's unique role in Airbnb's roots, I'm particularly proud of how South Floridians have embraced home sharing as an opportunity to earn supplemental income and catalyze economic development in their communities.
I often stay in Tokyo's Daikanyama neighbourhood. You can go for a peaceful morning run along the Meguro river, and it is particularly incredible during cherry blossom season.
Creating the future means having a global vision and an extreme focus on the approachability of what we're creating.
We believe that the best solutions come from solving your own problem. If you have a real problem, there's likely someone else who can relate. That's how Airbnb was born.
Airbnb has grown thanks to our hosts creating memorable experiences and inspiring their guests to be hosts in their hometowns.
Anything I come across that feels impossible, I probably need to take a second look.
As our company has grown, how we configure and design our offices has been a crucial part of how we foster connection and collaboration throughout our teams.
Bringing words to life, storyboards show you things that words can't.
The hotel industry is a very modern invention - it only really started to become branded in the 1950s.
At Airbnb, we're trying to build a culture that supports details, celebrates them, and gives our teams creative license to pursue them.
A world-changing vision often necessitates a profound simplicity in the user experience.
Design is an expression of one's most deeply rooted internal values.
Airbnb has proven that hospitality, generosity, and the simple act of trust between strangers can go a long way.
What if cities embraced a culture of sharing? I see a future of shared cities that bring us community and connection instead of isolation and separation.
We do believe in an inside-out culture. If we hold our hosts and guests to an expectation of acceptance and belonging, it has to start within our company. Otherwise, how on earth do we have the credibility to hold them accountable if we're not doing it to ourselves?
Staying at Airbnb listings gives me the opportunity to truly understand and experience the local culture of the countries I visit.
In New York, ingenuity goes hand-in-hand with the hustle to survive.
