Measuring Airbnb's Homepage: North Star, Leading Indicators and Guardrails

How would you measure whether Airbnb's homepage is doing its job? Propose the metrics you would set up for it. ```hint Start from the page's job Before naming any metric, decide what a homepage visit is supposed to achieve for the different people who land there, and which of those outcomes the page itself can actually move. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "homepage" mean the logged-out web page that new visitors see, the home screen of the app for signed-in guests, or both? - Should the metrics cover only travelers looking for a place to stay, or also the people the page invites to list their home as hosts? - Are Experiences in scope along with Stays? - Will these metrics feed an executive dashboard, decide A/B tests of homepage changes, or both? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - The homepage's role for distinct visitor types (travelers with a set destination, browsers looking for ideas, prospective hosts) and what success means for each - A primary metric with a defensible link to bookings, plus faster leading indicators the homepage team can move - Counter-metrics that catch a change that wins clicks but loses bookings, slows the page, or brings in hosts who never go live - Measurement pitfalls: long booking cycles, visitors who never pass through the homepage, last-click credit versus experiments, and seasonality - How the metrics are segmented and used to make decisions ### Follow-up Questions - After a homepage redesign, searches started from the page go up but bookings stay flat. How would you investigate? - How would the metric set differ for a signed-in guest who already has an upcoming trip? - Marketing wants a large banner for a new offering at the top of the homepage. Which metrics would tell you whether it hurts the page's main job?