Issue 28: How to design trust in your product like Airbnb? 🏠

In partnership with

Receive Honest News Today

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Sign up today!

Hey, I’m Kushagra! 👋 Welcome to the AtlasMoth “Court Quest: Judge the Case 3” edition.

For a while now, I’ve been diving deep into a problem around hiring talent. I’m exploring whether there’s a chance to design a digital product that could shake things up in the human resources and recruitment space. I’m excited, but I can’t spill too many details yet. But don’t worry, I’ll document my SaaS journey soon, and you’ll get the full story when it’s time!

This whole process has hit home for me: those first research insights are crucial for getting the product design right. It’s not enough to just come up with a brilliant solution in your head—you have to be crystal clear about who you’re solving the problem for. Is this even a real problem? Have you tested it? What are the metrics that show you’re on the right path?

It’s easy to get carried away with an idea, but without validating it, you risk building something that no one needs. That’s why it’s so important to dig deep into the problem and its market fit before jumping into solutions.

Let’s talk Airbnb 🏡

Airbnb’s journey taught me a lot about this. At first glance, you’d think they were just trying to make booking accommodations easier, right? But what they were really solving for was trust. That’s where they found their market fit.

Understand Before You Design🎧

Airbnb didn’t just assume they knew what users wanted. They listened.

Instead of jumping straight to user tests, they started with problem interviews. They wanted to understand the deeper pain points.

For example, they learned that people were nervous about staying in someone else’s home—a real fear factor. Trust became the core of what they needed to solve.

They didn’t stop there, though. They took it a step further and mapped out the customer journey beyond their own product.

They looked at everything from finding a place to stay, booking it, checking in, and even what happens after the stay. This allowed them to see gaps that other platforms missed.

Competitors weren’t addressing trust or safety concerns, and that’s where Airbnb stepped in and won over users.

Prototype to Learn and Discover, Not Just to Build🚀

When you’re prototyping, it’s not about building the perfect solution from the start—it’s about learning.

Airbnb didn’t go all-in building their final product right away. They started with low-fidelity MVPs that tested their core idea: trust between hosts and guests.

Features like reviews, verifications, and guarantees were introduced to see how people reacted to them.

Early on, Airbnb used the "Wizard of Oz" technique, where they manually handled processes behind the scenes to simulate what the final product would do.

This allowed them to test interests and reactions without building everything from scratch.

It was a way to measure interest and see if people would use these features.

The focus wasn’t just on usability—it was about whether the concept even mattered to users.

This taught me a valuable lesson: A prototype that fails fast saves you months of misguided development.

If something isn’t working, it’s better to find out sooner rather than later.

And Airbnb didn’t just build for usability—they built for trust, which was the key to unlocking their market.

Insights I’ve Gained 🔑

First, understanding your users is everything. Sometimes, the problem they’re facing isn’t the one you’re initially trying to solve.

For example, with recruitment, is it building trust between companies and candidates?

Secondly, Testing early and often is crucial; never assume your solution is perfect just because it looks good on paper. Prototypes are for testing concepts, not for perfecting the product.

Lastly, Mapping the entire journey, not just your product, reveals missed opportunities and clarifies how your product can stand out from competitors.

So yeah, that’s where my head is at right now.

This process has been a mix of excitement and realization, but I’m pumped to keep pushing forward.

Keep an eye out—I’ll be sharing more about my SaaS journey soon, and I think there will be a lot of lessons that could apply to so many of us in the design and product space.

What I found amazing this week

Roblox Bedwars vs Minecraft: Why This Challenge Demands More Strategy and Skill🎮

Apple Watch Series 10's Design Overhaul Delays Blood Pressure Monitoring⌚

This track gave me a serious boost—check out ‘Envoi’ By Absynthe Minded🎵