🧠 Smart AI Process

Used AI to:

• Analyse qualitative feedback faster
• Serve a niche audience seeking luxury
• Build a product that offers more than listings — an end-to-end premium experience

👤 Personas Created

• Samiya Al-Mansoor (Luxury Host, UAE)
• Lena Fischer (Digital Nomad, Germany)
• Ahmed Zahran (Hotelier, Saudi Arabia)
• Khalid Al-Najjar (Business Traveller, Qatar)

👣 Journey Mapping

Mapped both the traveller and host journeys to identify friction and emotional states at each touchpoint.

🤖 AI Visual Exploration

Used AI tools to:

• Generate fast visual references
• Simulate mobile and web UIs inspired by competitor journeys
• Speed up ideation in early phases with realistic concepts

📐 Design Exploration

Created three mid-fidelity prototypes:

• Airbnb-style (human-centred and storytelling-led)
• Booking.com-style (transactional and concise)
• A combined fusion model

📊 User Testing

Ran comparative usability testing:

• Arabic users preferred Booking.com clarity
• Europeans resonated with Airbnb’s trust and tone
• The fusion version performed best overall

🎨 Branding Workshop & Visual Direction

• Facilitated a branding session with the owner and CCO
• Agreed to use gold as the primary colour — symbolic of Arabic luxury
• Discovered their love for palettes resembling Nescafé (a fun nod to my Greek background!)

📚 Building the Design System

• Used Figma's free version to build a lean but scalable design system
• Re-used components across flows to save time and effort
• Introduced scalable tokens and bilingual support

⏰ Time limit and prioritisation

Due to scope and budget:

• Christmas holidays appraoching - Ensure a first release
• Focus on landing pages for both B2C and B2B
• Bring in investemnt by enlisting more hosts

☑️ Website & Brand Trust

• +70% increase in average dwell time
  ‍Clear, responsive layouts and engaging content built trust with users, keeping them engaged longer.
• +45% more leads through the new website
  ‍A reimagined landing experience for both travellers and hosts boosted conversion and generated meaningful business leads.
• Improved perception of credibility
  ‍Visual and content changes led users to describe the site as “professional,” “inviting,” and “high-end” in feedback sessions.

☑️ Booking Experience

• +35% uplift in booking conversion
  Replacing the clunky third-party checkout with an in-house flow modelled on airline journeys created a familiar and frictionless experience.
• -35% drop-off at booking stage
  Improved information flow, mobile optimisation, and responsive layout helped guide users to completion.

☑️ Host Tools & Dashboard

• +50% increase in task speed for hoteliers
  ‍The new dashboard design cut down daily booking management time, as reported in post-launch interviews.
• Significant reduction in host support queries
  Clearer UI and dedicated widgets for requests and analytics improved visibility, reducing the need to contact support.

☑️ Efficiency & Collaboration

• Design system built on a free Figma setup
  ‍Delivered scalable components with zero budget by optimising Figma pages and tokens, supporting bilingual design and reusability.
• Delivered MVP within 3 months
  ‍Despite tight timelines and holiday interruptions, core flows for both travellers and hosts were launched successfully and on time.

• Lean Innovation Works: Smart use of AI and prototyping tools made startup pacing possible.
• Stakeholder Collaboration Pays Off: Early workshops and iterative reviews kept everyone aligned.
• Figma Free Still Delivers: Resource constraints didn’t block quality — just required clever structuring.
• Always Test the Obvious: Mid-fi testing debunked assumptions and gave us solid direction.
• Design is a Team Sport: From idea to build, close work with Product and Engineering led to real outcomes.