Summary
At Airbnb, we're in the midst of integrating service thinking into a product-minded culture, aiming to harmonize our high digital standards with the realities of operational service delivery. This collaborative, iterative effort involves partnerships with product, policy, customer support, and more. In this talk, Airbnb Service Design leader Rebecca Gimenez shares learnings from this ongoing journey, offering insight on the practice of service design within a complex organizational system.
Key Insights
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Service design is still a nascent function at Airbnb, adapting to the unique nature of a two-sided marketplace.
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Building service design capability is about creating lasting and adaptable practices that resonate with the company's values.
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A key milestone was the development of the Community Blueprint, mapping products, policies, and operational services to customer journeys.
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Service design must facilitate knowledge creation in an environment where documentation is less emphasized, treating outputs as temporary snapshots.
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The cultural context of Airbnb promotes an oral tradition over written documentation, allowing for more dynamic collaboration.
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Normalizing ambiguity helps teams navigate the constantly evolving landscape of the tech industry.
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Engaging non-designers in the design process is crucial, fostering a culture where everyone feels like a contributor to the design effort.
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Service designers at Airbnb strive for internal harmony in business processes, recognizing that creating tension can also be beneficial for creativity.
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Recognition of service design's value continues to evolve as team initiatives gain visibility within the broader company structure.
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Jimenez emphasizes the need for flexibility in service design methods, adapting to the needs of diverse teams while maintaining core objectives.
Notable Quotes
"This was a really big deal for my team."
"I can't talk advance."
"Service design is still so new, especially in the Silicon Valley product environment."
"My mission is building service design as a capability in a way that is durable and adaptable."
"The way things are shapes how we practice."
"Airbnb culture is the opposite of a documentation forward culture."
"Knowledge creation is ongoing; we don’t position ourselves as knowledge holders."
"Every designer recognizes the iterative nature of the design process."
"Service design can help make cycles feel less chaotic and more productive."
"I am surrounded by cross-functional partners who take the design process seriously."
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