There is more and more evidence that designing the right experience is key to the success of contemporary brands and companies. And this point was made exceptionally clear two months ago by Joe Gebbia, one of Airbnb’s two founders, in his speech at the TED conference in Vancouver.
If Airbnb has been so hugely successful it’s because – as Joe and his partner Brian Chesky discovered to their own surprise – good design can help people overcome their natural fears and get to trust perfect strangers. That’s actually how Airbnb came to life.
At the beginning, this was not crystal clear. And investors were not able to see how one could persuade people to rent their homes and their most private spaces to guests they knew nothing about. After all, said Joe, “we’ve all been taught, as kids, that strangers equal danger”.