A friend recently pitched me on an airbnb-for-meals concept As I listened to him list reason after reason why the business would work (“You save money by sharing food…You get to eat home cooked meals more often…You make new friends”), I couldn’t help but feel he was missing the point. 
Finally I had to interrupt: “I’ve been an AirBnB host since my roommate left months ago, Do you know why AirBnB **really** works? Because designing an experience for a traveller is a fun experience. It’s thrilling and it taps into a universal motherly caretaker instinct.”
Ask yourself this: What makes the Sims fun? Or Tiny Tower? Or dolls or action figures?
These things are fun because you’re building a user experience. You’re playing god and customizing YOUR piece of the world where other people (whether real or virtual) will live and interact.
AirBnB gives you that same control. From the moment an AirBnB user books your property, you’re in control of their entire experience. Your performance will forever color a person’s opinion of AirBnB, New York City, and possibly America. That’s a lot of responsibility. ”What restaurants do I recommend? What paintings do I put on the walls? What color sheets do I get? Should I leave hershey kisses on the pillows?”
It’s no surprise that the level of care and attention on most of the site’s listings is remarkable. And once AirBnB sends a professional to take photographs and people start reviewing YOU as a host, there’s even more pride attached. It becomes like an about.me for your apartment!
I distinctly remember the process of adding my listing. I took dozens of photos of my apartment and uploaded the best ones. Then I wrote a description and headline. Then I rewrote it 50 times more. Finally it went live and there was nothing to do but wait.
It was brutal.
For days I kept coming back to the AirBnB website wanting to *do* something. If this were the Sims, there’d be another room to lay out, another skill set to build, or another trashcan to empty. But the AirBnB host process had a finite end to it — and it was this longing for *more* that made me realize how special the site is.
AirBnB puts hosts in complete control of a traveller’s experience. And that’s a thrilling and addictive proposition.
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