Airbnb Gets Creative In This Multiple Variation Homepage Experiment

One of the first changes visible in variation D is a smaller or narrower search box. I find this a little surprising as typically larger form fields have done a little better as hinted by this pattern. For example, Etsy recently detected that a larger search box worked better for them. Netflix on the other hand hit an optimal limit to the size of their signup buttons. It would have been super interesting to run this change in isolation and see the results.

Equally surprising is the smaller icon only search button. Typically such buttons have been outperformed by buttons with icons and labels. Could the search icon be powerful enough to be an exception? Or does a button label still have higher potential if ran in an isolated experiment?

One additional observation is that the icon only button expands to reveal a full text label after someone enters or focuses on the location field. This could be an interesting way of directing attention first to the field itself and later to the button. 

As the background photo was stretched in variation D, as an added effect it also made the white search box stand out more. I suspect this change might have had some subtle gains to the number of people who started searching for properties (probably a good micro engagement metric).

The headline message was adjusted, reinforcing local or nearby searches. Could this be a message that is more inline with how some might feel these days based on what is happening with the pandemic?

The "Explore Nearby" link has been changed to what looks like a more visible button style. Clicking that option sends users to a listing page with a small number of nearby destination - enabling more searches.

The D variation had a different illustration - possibly with the rental home being closer, different colors and maybe looking more like a home. Of course these are all subjective guesses.

Finally, the implemented D variation also has a taller background image - pushing other elements further down and possibly giving more attention to the search box. This pattern has a few positive experiments to back it up under the Full Height False Bottom pattern. Let's do keep in mind that when Airbnb ran something similar on one of their other landing pages, it seems to have been rejected.