Yuvraj’s approach
Set the situation: User: New Host Step: onboarding Current scenario: A new host onboarding has various steps and take 24 hours to get activated. This includes id verification, address verification, property proof, account details, etc. There are multiple forms to fill that need relevant info and photos of property in required format.
Explain the task or conflict: These steps take 2-3 hours at user's end and verificstion process takes 24-48 hours. This is alot of manual work for the host and also patience to get verified for which host has to wait for 1-2 days.
Describe your action: Past 1 year data revealed- it takes 2-3 hours average for the host to complete the onboarding steps and the CSAT given was 3.5 out of 5 with comments like long form, lots of steps, etc from the host/users. Dta also revealed it takes 24-48 hours for verification process depending on region, id etc. We need to reduce manual steps, effort and time by at host end by 50% and for Airbnb side verification steps to 6 hours max. Use relevant APIs to verify faster and include options to auto populate inout wherever possible for the host so that the forms can be filled in half of the current time. Club steps to reduce the number and ask only required info during onboarding. the rest of the secondary information can be asked after the onboarding is complete. Introduce suggestions, autofills and motivation elements like how many % remaining. Also, introduce a small reward for the user once the onboarding is complete and let the user/host know that they will be rewarded by x% of discount or commission for the first stay. Keep the user informed at each step of onboarding through notifications and remonders and have an option to autosave if the host leaves the onboarding in between so they dont have to start from the begining.
Share the result: By reducing manual effort and time by 50%, the onboarding has become easier for the host and takes less than half time. The verifiction process now completes in an average of 3-4 hours that is well within our goal.