Enhancing the guest arrival experience

An arrival journey that guides guests from the street to the door, so self check-in works without calling the host.

Client: Airbnb
Year: 2025
Role: Arrival journey UX and feature implementation, senior UX/UI designer
Sector: Travel and hospitality

Airbnb mobile app showing the Trips tab with an active Istanbul reservation and arrival check-in guide.

THE PROBLEM

Guests often felt uncertain at check-in, especially at self-service stays. Missing visual guidance, unclear entry instructions and limited in-app support caused arrival anxiety and poor first impressions.

+30%check-ins completed without host help
+40%perceived check-in clarity

INTERFACE ARTIFACTS

Key flows & screens

Airbnb Trips screen showing active reservation details and check-in entry point for Istanbul stay. — Trips overview — surfacing arrival guidance at the moment of check-in.

Step 1 of 3 in Airbnb arrival guide showing annotated photo of keypad entry button and Request help action. — Step 1/3 — visual callout on the keypad with one-tap "Request help" support.

Step 2 of 3 in Airbnb arrival guide showing courtyard path and building entrance. — Step 2/3 — progressive spatial orientation from street to apartment door.

The challenge

The first ten minutes of a stay shape how a guest remembers all of it. At self-service listings those minutes were often the worst: no visual guidance, unclear entry instructions and little help inside the app. Guests arrived anxious, hosts got calls, and first impressions suffered.

Research and planning

I started with user research and journey mapping. Analyzing guest feedback, support tickets and arrival-related reviews showed what guests actually needed at each moment and exactly where the journey broke, from finding the building to opening the door.

Design and prototyping

I designed step-by-step arrival flows with annotated visuals and contextual help, built interactive prototypes, and iterated on them through usability testing, working closely with product, engineering and content teams.

What changed

Step-by-step guidance

Image-based instructions take guests from street entry all the way to door access, one step at a time.

Built-in support

Help is available at every step, with contact options and real-time assistance when something doesn’t match the instructions.

Personalized guidance

The flow adapts to each listing’s check-in method, property type and host setup, so guests only see steps that apply to their stay.

After launch

Refinements continued after release, driven by guest feedback and usage data and focused on visual clarity, removing friction and increasing check-ins completed without host help.

Outcomes

+30% check-ins completed without host assistance.
+40% improvement in perceived check-in clarity and overall experience, from post-arrival feedback.
Growing adoption across listings, with more hosts setting up step-by-step guides.
Fewer arrival-related support inquiries and host issues.

Problem and key outcomes