Here's how DESIGN helped Airbnb go from a failing startup to a billion dollar business.
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It’s the year 2009 and Airbnb is about to go bust…
With only $800/month in revenue split between three young founders living in San Francisco, something had to change.
And then they had a realisation...
“We noticed a similarity all 40 of our listings. The similarity is that the photos sucked - people were using their camera phones. It actually wasn't a surprise that people weren't booking rooms because you couldn't even really see what you were paying for.”
Based on this hunch, the founders rented a camera and worked with several listers to upgrade their phone photos to high-quality photos of their apartment.
And the result will amaze you...
Improving their pictures doubled their revenue to $1600/month in just 1 week.
This was the first financial improvement that the company had seen in over eight months!!
All it took was to sell their product better.
Here's what we can take from Airbnb's mistake
Airbnb could have focused on adding more features.
They could have flushed more money on their marketing campaigns.
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Feeling stuck or overwhelmed with your design project?
But none of that matters if what you're selling isn't attractive.
Because with more options than ever consumers don't have the time to learn about what you're offering.
You'll be judged based on the first impressions you make.
Imagine trying to sell a $10,000 suit in a run down shop with a broken window. You wouldn't even give that shop a second look.
Then imagine seeing that $10,000 suit in a beautiful modern shop with triple glazed, extra shiny windows. Wow! What a difference it makes.
And that's exactly the problem airbnb was having.
They had an amazing product, but were selling it in a run down shop.
With better design you'll come across as professional, trustworthy, and your product will be pure eye candy.
Your websites, marketing campaigns, blog graphics - at each interaction with your business your potential customers will be asking themselves:
"Can I trust this business?"
"Will they help me solve my problems?".
What aspect of your product or service could you sell better?