Airbnb’s director of experience design on using ‘stories’ to design

Katie Dill is the director of experience design at Airbnb. In this episode, she channels her inner Steve Jobs to explain how design is not just how it looks, but how it works, both in the workplace and on the screen. She also dives into the significance of using tools of design — intentionality, research, iteration, and collaboration — to help shape the internal structure and strategy of an organization — a concept she believes isn’t used enough in the corporate world.

Airbnb’s approach to adaptability starts with finding the principles and values that should remain constant. Once a steady foundation is established, Dill says assessment and collaboration are the keys to evolving.

A key element of Airbnb’s design strategy is to use storyboarding. Dill says storyboarding real-world experiences with Airbnb helps the team to fulfill its mission of “creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere.” It does so by helping designers better empathize with the personalized experience of end-users.

Jared Erondu and Bobby Ghoshal are the hosts of High Resolution. This post and episode notes were put together by freelance writer, Gannon Burgett. Watch for High Resolution episodes to drop every Monday on TechCrunch at 8 a.m. PT. You can also listen on iTunes and Overcast.