Ellie Mertz’s Post

$ABNB Airbnb shares are trading LOWER today as the company´s Q2 revenue forecast of $2.68B to $2.74B fell short of expectations. $ABNB cited significant headwinds including the timing of Easter, a leap day in Q1, and foreign exchange impacts. Despite this, Airbnb expects a revenue acceleration in Q3, buoyed by a strong summer backlog and upcoming events like the Olympics. However, Q1 exceeded expectations, with a 9.5% YoY increase in nights and experiences booked, reaching about 133 million. This growth was driven by a 21% increase in bookings in Asia-Pacific and a 19% surge in Latin America, although North America saw a slight deceleration. Despite a moderate increase in room nights, Airbnb maintains that the first half of 2024 aligns with expectations, and the anticipated revenue surge in the second half, supported by summer travel and the Olympics, should mitigate risks for the full year. Additionally, with supply growth outpacing demand, there is potential for moderated pricing to stimulate further demand.

Fantastic execution of customer journey mapping, ensuring alignment of products, services, and organizational structure with a customer-centric focus. #customercentricity #customerexperience #userexperience #customerjourneymapping #product

As a software company grows the process of building and shipping product becomes more and more complex. It also becomes increasingly bifurcated across the teams. This creates a disconnect making the creation of a cohesive end-to-end user experience difficult if not impossible without an incredible amount of alignment. Along with a unified strategy, establishing a clear end-to-end customer journey for everyone to see is a powerful mechanism. #ProductStrategy #Strategy #UX #customerjourney

The first step for every product. Customer-focused products can only be developed and improved when the entire customer journey is on your finger tips.

Very powerful way of building products

Every org should have documentation like this

More companies should do this to improve customer journeys.

Why isn't this happening in every company that swears by working backwards from customer needs? I have a few thoughts: 1. In B2B spaces, 'the customer' is 'the buyer' and not 'the user.' In these spaces, the relationship with the buyer and their logo is deemed extremely valuable, much more so than the experience of the poor slobs who have to use the product through the first three to five years of its existence. In such spaces, the philosophy of, "we build value for our customers" drives staffing in sales and engineering while mitigating research investments and capping design strategy. Tell me I'm wrong, AWS people (I know, I know, feel free to DM me 🤫) 2. Many B2C spaces are engineering-led, with operating models that embed designers within engineering teams. This can result in shipping features that drive the user experience, rather than framing a journey to reach alignment on a vision of an optimal customer experience—one that pragmatically ships as a series of features. Yes, we constantly learn AND iterating a storyboard isn't difficult if/when customer behavior or needs change. 3. Design, as a function, is most often the red headed stepchild. Our ratio of servicing to partnering is out of whack, and we're often told to measure our contributions to the business through metrics while not being empowered to deliver impact through design strategy. User journeys should be researched, envisioned, created, and moved upon as a strategic effort across functions. My question for Peter is why doesn't Roblox do this? And if you do something similar, how does Product engage with Design in your approach?

As part of my Investor Relations process, I make sure to always outline a Client Journey Map in development plans. Why? Because understanding the LP's experience from their perspective is crucial for building trust and ensuring their needs are met effectively. This approach allows me to identify key touchpoints, anticipate potential challenges, and tailor communication strategies accordingly. It's about creating a transparent, client-focused experience that aligns with their expectations and partnership goals, ultimately leading to stronger, long-lasting relationships. It is also one of many steps worth exploring when thinking about building an institutional ready business, because while strong performance is a crucial determinant, understanding investor sentiment and feedback is equally important. This dual focus not only enhances offerings but also ensures you are evolving with clients' changing needs and staying ahead in a dynamic market.

The simplifying the user journey and mapping it against functions and outcomes is something I practice often. Even for validating what I believe to be required. If you can add the lens of- for the user, for the stakeholder, for the governance etc it becomes clear pretty quickly the priority features to work on.