Airbnb
Date
2019
Details
Airbnb Infrastructure team, Design Language System
Disciplines
Design System
Digital Accessibility
Product Design
Project Brief
Overview
I spent the summer of 2019 as an Inclusive Experience Design Intern on Airbnb's Design Language System (DLS) team, with a focus on Digital Accessibility.
The Challenge
Airbnb's DLS was undergoing a refresh 2.0, establishing digital accessibility and globalization principles org-wide. I was challenged to learn, while simultaneously educate employees, about core inclusive design principles and created design systems documentation for product teams to apply to their respective solutions for diverse users.
Solution
My outcomes:
Inclusive Design & Accessibility Training: Created a new inclusive design & digital accessibility training tool (and created a set of icons illustrating the disability spectrum!).
DLS19 Controls documentation: Developed documentation template and content for DLS patterns with accessibility and globalization considerations, owning 5 out of the top 20 launching controls documentation to be distributed to product teams.
DLS19 Controls interaction states: Generated various interaction states for control inputs with color usage consistency for final engineering implementation.
"Controls usage in filters" Project Brief (WIP): Formulated a project brief from scratch with future controls UX pattern documentation guidelines.
Equal access = Equal experience
At Airbnb, Inclusive Design is defined as: "Consciously designing products and environments that do not disable people or create barriers to belonging.” Designing inclusively means putting people first, catering to different user preferences with an emphasis on accessibility, whether permanent, temporary, or situational. This was the mindset I adopted at Airbnb: ensuring all users of diverse abilities share the same experience with equal access.
Driving Inclusive Design at scale
By curating educational content for inclusive design, managing my own projects, and collaborating with cross-functional partners, I agilely adapted to the Airbnb's large-scale design system. I embedded approachable inclusion and globalization principles into guidelines for product teams, while upholding quality for Airbnb users worldwide.
Navigating ambiguity proactively
I manage ambiguity through independent research and by connecting with cross-functional stakeholders and design leadership, especially when shaping a project brief from scratch. Working on Airbnb's internal platform team showed me how designers consult product teams on scalable patterns and guidelines for cohesive end-to-end experiences.
Design with a growth mindset
I aim to serve other designers, building relationships through communication and delivering consultancy and education. I challenge my comfort zones and proactively learn to grow my existing knowledge, immersing myself in inclusive design that accounts for diverse user needs rather than the majority.
