Product Illustration

Illustration
Design System
Documentation

This year, with the release of the next generation of our design system, Leah Roides and I identified a need to update our illustration visual language.

When compared to other design languages in our ecosystem, our older style began to feel outdated. More importantly, we felt that it failed to connect with our customers in a meaningful way. Our existing style was device-focused and avoided our users as it pertains to physical representation.

This was a great opportunity to represent our customers in a less abstract way and show the incredible diversity of customers in our service area. In places where we once showed devices showing abstract UI elements that hinted at certain flows, we wanted to show different races, genders, sizes, and abilities to help connect with our customers.

We wanted to best serve our customers, and we realized that depicting real examples of them would humanize our experiences. As a team dedicated to accessibility and inclusivity, we felt that we could do better.

I was lucky to see Jennifer Horn speak at a recent conference, and she said something there that truly resonated with me. "It’s easy to get wrapped up in the legacy style of tech illustration—cartoon people outlined in blue or grey. This lack of representation doesn’t reflect Airbnb’s commitment to exclusivity.”

During a redesign sprint, we used our design system principles (empathetic, intentional, refined, universal) as our north stars to be consistent in visual aesthetic, representation, and quality. We are currently testing our new style with actual customers.