Product Friction Log: Peerspace Instant Book on iOS

Work sample · Friction log

Booking a space for the first time, screen by screen, as a photographer planning a birthday shoot with a golden retriever.

A friction log is one of my favorite product practices. I slow down and use the product as someone new to it would, writing down what I expect at each step next to what actually happens. That gap between how a person experiences the product and how it really works, or what the screen implies, is where I find my best intuitions for the product and the system behind it. It keeps me close to the product and the people using it, which I know is a little contrarian when so much of the field is encouraging PMs to work from a higher altitude, and it's the closeness I love most about the work.

A friendly heads-up: friction logs are tedious by nature, and this one is lovingly, thoroughly detailed, so it could be very boring to read.

The log

Background: role and scenario

I’m a photographer looking to do a photoshoot for a client’s glam birthday shoot.

A couple of my professional-colleague-friends recommended Peerspace as an option to find hidden gems in the city.

I’m particularly excited because unlike other places, Peerspace hosts might cater to my specific needs and understand my context. I don’t want to book an Airbnb (overnight stay!) or a “professional” looking sterile place. I want to source cool places. Locations that have themes, character, stage-like attentiveness towards and control over light and drama to execute my shoots as efficiently and as aesthetically as possible.

My current photoshoot is for an Insta influencer who’s about to turn 30 yo. She wants to do a photoshoot with her best friend who’s a golden retriever.

I need to find a pet-friendly place and a Host who won’t get annoyed about the goldie shedding. Our budget is under $120, given that the total cost of the shoot is $400. The right place isn’t just about my instrumental needs as a photographer, but also the surrounding context of the nature of my photoshoot; i.e. that it includes a dog.

Okay, here it goes!

Search 🔍2 ideasscreens

Sign up done. I land on the Search tab. It’s interesting to me that the search is based on activity. This is very different from other places that I’ve searched before where the search is based on location, time, duration of stay, and number of people. I wonder what searching by Activity means for the experience:

Does this mean that it’ll show me results based on what the space is made for according to the Host?
And/Or will it show me places where people have conducted photoshoots the most? I’m curious how these results are displayed!

It matters to the extent that the reviewers have a greater weight, and it’s vetted by them in terms of general needs for a space.

I also notice the Earn $50 banner. It’s tempting for me to reach out to my friends to ask them for a referral link, but I’m also not looking forward to that; I could only ask that from my closest professional friends. Maybe I’ll go check if the Discord community I’m a part of if they have a Peerspace code. Great, I see someone posted there! But I still wish there was an instant way for me to get $50 dollars off!

For fun, I’ll also look it up on google and see if anyone else has posted links to their referral code. Cool, found a Reddit link, it’s the fifth result for the search terms: “Peerspace $50 discount” 😎

But wait, I need to read the fine print: it’s for bookings over $150. What this means is that I’ll likely need to book for multiple hours for my first go if I want to use it. I don’t think I’ll be using it for my first try then. I want to book an hour.

Idk, it’s my first booking and I’ve never used this app. I’m not sure if I want to spend $100 on my first try. I wish there was a coupon for $25 off $75, or something more reasonable for someone like me. It might make sense to book a fancy place for multiple hours, but I just need a place for an hour max for this client’s shoot. She’s an insta influencer who’s budget-conscious and aesthetic-conscious. 😭 I know the app asked me for my Profession in the iOS onboarding flow. I wonder if they could further tailor my booking experience based on that knowledge so that I could get listings that feel more aligned with what I might be wanting

Moreover, I want to be able to sort the listings by price - from low to high. Looking at filters shows me a range. 😔

I also need to find a pet-friendly listing, but there isn’t an option for that. Looks like I’ll need to ask the host!

Summary of Improvements:

Show more social elements or reasons why something is recommended - how are the listings sorted?
When searching, an easy affordance to sort by price (not doing a deep dive into searching atm - deliberately short)

Favoriting 💌bug noted5 ideasscreens

I found a couple of spots I really like! Ah, I notice that every card listing has a little heart on it. That must be how you bookmark/save/favorite a listing. Okay, let me tap on that. Niiiice! I see the heart light up.

But where did that listing go? I need to dig a bit to see where that went, and to ensure that it’s actually doing what I assume it did.

I tap the back arrow and can see that there’s no Favorites section in the tabs in the nav bar below. Okay, let’s try the Account section (see Exhibit A). Aha! I see the Favorites. I was expecting some kind of interaction pattern that would show me where to go, like what I’m used to with Instagram (see Exhibit B.)

I also noticed that when I killed the app, and relaunched it, the listings I hearted on that were on the first landing page were not hearted even though I could find them in my Favorites section. That’s a bug.

Exhibit A. Peerspace Exhibit B. Instagram

At this point, I’m also wondering what are the other benefits of favoriting. Why should I favorite? Sometimes I see this happen in retail and e-commerce platforms where you place something in your cart and you get notified about how that item is on sale suddenly a week later. My Favorites at Peerspace are like my informal cart, and with this tap, I’m sending a signal to the pm-and-data-magicians who are listening to the heartbeat of my Favorites to know what I really want. 😇🥺I hope they work with Hosts to give me a discount or something to make it happen for me. 😉

Furthermore, because price seems firm and there is no way to make bids or make offers (or at least I don’t know what the norms are of this platform), this Favorite takes on a different level of significance for me: it is the only way to signal that I’m interested but won’t book it right now.

I hope the Hosts know how much I love their space, but can’t make up my mind right now/don’t feel like it’s the right time/or afford it. 🥰But one day! I hope all the Hosts have the iOS app, so that they’re instantly notified when I favorite their listing.

Summary of Areas of Improvement:

Fix heart lighting bug
Favorites flow
Favorites as a signal of demand or interest
Host knowledge and motivation of being a Favorite

Host iOS app download strategy

Listing 🔖bug noted8 ideasscreens

I’m checking out the listing. Here’s the specific one:

The most immediate information I’m trying to figure out is the following:

Is it the whole apartment? Or just the living room? I need the app to distinctly tell me what the space entails. Is it a kitchen? A living room? An office? A bedroom? I know it gives me square footage, but I’m not the greatest at that kind of mathematical spatial intelligence 😭It might be nice to know whether I’m booking a “nook” / a small space, for example

It takes me WAY too long and too much to read to figure out that it’s not the whole apartment. Also, in this listing, I’m confused if I’ll need to pay for the use of the bedroom, or they’ll tack it on as a freebie. Have to wade through writing.

Is this place real, clean, and safe? ⚖️

Okay, because this specific listing has 117 reviews and avg almost five stars; it gives me a good baseline that this is a legit space and confidence to book
I also don’t want to read so much from the host themselves at first, but rather see the reviews. But the reviews require so much scrolling! I wish I could sort the reviews by the type by profession. Even better if the reviews were sorted to reflect people from my profession considering the app knows I’m a photographer. A photographer’s opinion matters more to me.

Is the host friendly?

Part of what differentiates Peerspace from other products is that the host is often on premise, which means that I want to be sure that I’m going to deal with someone who’s baseline sane.
Just like an Uber rating, I wish I could see an at-a-glance friendliness score. If Lucky (the dog) has an accident, is the Host going to give us beef and get upset on premise?

Images - I had to dig a bit to figure out the different ways of viewing the gallery

I started out my “viewing journey” by viewing the images on the Search tab screen by swiping, which I discovered intuitively (there are no arrows there to suggest it’s swipeable)
Then I tapped on that listing and started to swipe again and realized, oh, there’s a gallery view because out of habit, I tapped on the image instead of just swiping, which gave me a linear, scrollable view
Then I noticed there’s an affordance at the top right corner for a landscape gallery view and tapping on that gave me a holistic picture of the listing

This view was helpful to the extent that because Hosts don’t know which image will click with me as a Guest – as a Guest I have a quicker way to view everything at once and then dive deeper into specific images. This could be viewed by tapping on the image (which btw, also took me a few seconds to discover) (I’m thinking of when dating apps let you A/B test images haha)

The reversal process to going back to the listing was straightforward; tapped on the back arrow or the hamburger menu at the top right
As a very story-telling based person, I thought the images could be made more delightful if they had captions when I was viewing it in the various gallery modes; this usually helps me have a greater, and more personal connection with the space

How has this apartment been used by others? 🎬 It would give me ideas on this space’s potential and value! It might give me ideas of props and things that I might want to bring onto the premise. Almost as if I could add a Pinterest element to it, where I could not only see the space listing, but get ideas of how to use it

This listing has links to Vimeo to their music video portfolio – this is *not helpful in some sense because it takes me out of the product. I want to see other people’s work in that space

I don’t see any mention of pets being okay! T_T This just means I’ll need to message the host and ask

Okay, let’s book this spot! It’s also pretty close to where I live. I recognize it’s the same building as mine but the balcony has an awesome view that would look great in the photoshoot. I’m going to share this listing with my client first and see if she likes it. I see the sharrow up on the top right corner - sending it to her via SMS.

So, that share affordance isn’t working as expected - I thought it would append a deep link to the message, but all I see is the listing title

Never mind, I’ll show it to her when we meet today to talk about her goals and outfit choices

Summary of Improvements:

Sharrow bug - tapping on the sharrow to send listing via SMS does not append a deep link to the listing, but only sends the title of the listing
Clarity of the value prop - is it a room, or an entire place? Is it a kitchen/living room?

Giving a name to size of spaces - i.e. a tiny space can be a Nook for example

Display of photos; why don’t we have a way for Hosts to also upload videos?
Reworking display of reviews and encouraging posting photos of shoots/content

Sort by Helpfulness/Most Helpful

Display of how the space has been used
Visual indicator whether bringing a pet is okay or not

Calendar 🗓2 ideasscreens

When I see the calendar, here’s what I want to know:

my greatest need is to figure out whether the day/time I want is available;
which days are not available – right now I’m guessing this booking is available for any day of the week minus the grayed out days from the past;
the meaning of the dotted badging on the cal isn’t clear to me;
bonus: is there different pricing for different seasons/days? I’m imagining flight booking prices that vary by day/week

Summary of Improvements:

Possibly: a play with pricing by showing different prices for different days/seasons
Reflecting availability more clearly

Time Picker ⌚️6 ideasscreens

The Time Picker experience feels uncertain instead of giving me confidence.

The general note “This space is available” is vague and seems like a subjective “space-holder” (ha!) and less like a certain expression of objective availability of the space.

When I tap on a date, I want to know which hours are available. I’d also like to know if someone is booked right after me, or before me? This will help me figure out in case there’s overtime, or I’m running a little late. I’m also curious if these hours are set by the Host, or if they’re a default setting.

A part of me is also (secretly 😔) judging this Listing. I want to know if a Host is having a busy week that week! This might make me feel more proactive, rather than stall and wait, or maybe even abandon my process. If I know I’m going to lose my spot if I don’t book it now, then I have a different level of motivation and urgency to not incur that loss and pain

Furthermore, if I searched by Day/Time, I expect this field to be autofilled when I land on the cal/Time Picker. Please save me effort. Currently, I have to input it manually T_T

It brings into a larger question of: what’s the role of Availability in this app and for this feature? If a lot of people struggle to find an available slot, then is there a chance for showing availability more prominently in the experience? This will then make it clear to Hosts that inputting accurate and updated Availability times is crucial to maintaining a listing and keeping it Active instead of a passive property.

I love the level of confidence I feel when I’m booking a slot on OpenTable for restaurants because a major organizing principle of my choice for restaurants is Availability of day/time, which is a core value prop of their product. I know this is a secondary aspect to Peerspace and Instant Booking addresses this case.

Exhibit A Exhibit B. OpenTable

Summary of Improvements:

Showing certainty of availability and that it’s Host-generated, not something automatic, vague, not “live”

Want to avoid this scenario from Airbnb:

Likely an edge case, but whether there are other bookings right after, or before
Auto-filling day and time if searched by time and day
A larger discussion on the prominence of Availability, where the core value prop of an experience is reflected in the UI as a main affordance
Busyness of a week, showing demand, reinforcing value of a Listing + encouraging the Booker to finish booking with some light, tasteful sprinkle of FOMO

Add-Ons 🎩7 ideasscreens

Ah, I wasn’t expecting this section, but it’s a really helpful one! The phrasing of “Add-On” makes me more price-conscious, like how an extra topping costs more money. Give me Amenities and Enhancements.

I’d love to see a breakdown into two sections:

Compliments of the Host - free stuff
Enhancements - $

This experience is making me read very carefully for two reasons:

a) to not incur additional cost; and

b) to not miss out on all the good things that could happen via this booking!

For this specific listing, the title “Other” is confusing me. I wish it simply said something like “More Space.” It’s also disorienting to me that a Host can list Free amenities here too; I don’t have a good general model of this page, it seems like it’ll be different for each listing. I can’t properly value it, or bother to read it

The images are taking a lot of real estate and making me pause and look, which takes my attention away from the larger goal: to finish booking! There’s this balancing act and tension between the Host trying to be helpful and also make more money, and my need to get through till the end, while not knowing how many more steps I have to go. I’m wondering if this could be more generalized with iconography and a taxonomy.

I’m also wanting a more customized approach to my booking on this screen: if I’m booking for a photoshoot, I don’t need a videographer, so don’t suggest that to me. It makes me think that Host’s interests are taking precedence over mine. It can turn a perfectly great opportunity into gratuitous advice.

However, it could possibly transform my experience if I saw options for the following:

C-stands
Curtains
Softboxes
Light bundles: continuous lights and strobes
Fluid head tripods

I can see how this might put a lot of pressure on Hosts to buy and store things for me! But the Power Hosts might be willing to make an investment if they discover that their space attracts a lot of Photographers like me, which will drive glowing reviews, more Favorites, and ultimately more money in the pocket for them because our experience is better 💌💸

Summary of Improvements:

A more streamlined experience for Add-Ons with a taxonomy of the different category of options e.g.

Compliments of [Host Name] (building good-will, friendliness, & hospitality)
Extra Space
Equipment
Expertise
Food/Catering
Uniques (this might contain props etc)

Review Pricing 💸2 ideasscreens

I like how simply all the prices are reflected here. No huge fees. No big surprise. 🤝

Going back to my earlier point about Availability. Every app/feature offers some kinds of certainty, and imo on this Review Pricing Screen there’s a chance for me to feel more certain that this date/time is final even though this screen is about checking the numbers and seeing if it aligns with my expectations.

Also, I’m not sure what “Extend a day” means in this context, considering there’s no overnight stay here. I’d think extensions have to do with extending time/date, or creating a date range.

By this point in the flow, I’m starting to notice my fatigue and wishing that the Next button was actually a “Confirm and Pay” button or “Confirm and Pay Now” button. I’m subconsciously searching for an Add Payment Method/Add Credit Card flow on this screen and because it’s not here, I’m thinking I have more screens to go. It’s really hard for me to guess how many more steps are left. Some encouragement, or progress indicator here might be helpful if this is a place where others also drop-off a lot.

Summary of Improvements:

Showing the value prop of instant booking on this screen
Showing progression/how or close you are to finishing

Booking Details 🖌2 ideasscreens

The transition from Review Pricing to Booking Details felt jarring for me. It put me into question again as to how much more I had to go to get to the checkout screen 🥺

I think this screen might make sense to have earlier, or could be better integrated with the Add-On screen, partly because it’s asking me what I’m planning and how many people which ties into any amenities/add ons I might need.

The fact that it’s placed here suggests it’s more for the Host’s knowledge than to customize my experience in the online booking process (could still translate into a better experience in person though). I’m acutely aware of how certain things shift more towards the Hosts’ benefit and feelings of safety and knowledge, and I’m wondering if there’s a better way to balance that perception for how it’s a win-win for us all

Additionally, because I searched for this listing via activity, it would be nice if it autofilled it rather than me having to manually select it in that field.

Exhibit A. Exhibit B. Facebook Marketplace

As for messaging the host, by this time, I’m tired and wish I had a message already started for me based on the selection of the kind of event. This starter message could be adjusted and I could edit and add to it. I don’t want to do more cognitive labor than I’ve already done. But I recognize this is a good moment for me to mention that I have a Golden Retriever, Lucky, coming to the photoshoot as well and if it’s okay if Lucky sheds on the furniture! 🐕

Summary of Improvements:

Possible integration with the Add-on screen although the Host messaging does seem pretty critical
Having a starter message in the Host message section, or some kind of animated suggestion in the textbox to make the experience less flat, and less dead/form-filling

Host Rules 📜3 ideasscreens

By the time I’ve reached this screen, I’m still feeling the persistent sense that now the flow is more about securing the Host and warning me as a Guest. It feels emotionally draining. (I know it’s not a money-making screen, but I’m wondering if this experience could be more streamlined and generalized, with an additional bucket for “quirks.” )

What’s helpful is that there’s some indicator that I’m almost at the point of checkout via the first line which tells me that I need to accept these rules to book the space. I don’t want to read a legal document or rules, I just want to know the norms and abide by them. Seeing rules visually displayed would be a better, friendlier experience. I’m sure there are some general rules that are applicable across all spaces as guiding norms. This will also make it easier for Hosts to get started and not have to reinvent the wheel.

A weird quirk in these rules here is that I’m noticing nudity is allowed, but there are security cameras. Woops, kind of awkward! This could potentially make some client uncomfortable if they think their summer bikini photoshoot is being recorded. Paying attention to when the rules can be in tension with each other helps!

I’m wondering what sort of issues arise re: rules. I know that there can likely be parties and loud music and that type of thing, but which ones are actually an issue

I Accept and Continue

Summary of Improvements:

A more visual experience of the rules, or an experience that doesn’t require the entire screen, or could be accommodated elsewhere
Hosts having the option to select or de-select which rules they want to include on this screen
Offering a few formats for rules from the Host side - lax; balanced; strict and quirks

Checkout 🛒3 ideasscreens

Aaaaaaaah, finally! Here we are! The Confirm and Pay button is beckoning me. I want to just tap on it, and wonder why it’s enabled even though I haven’t inputted my credit card.

Now that I’m looking at this Checkout screen, I’m noticing it has all the parts of the Review Pricing screen minus the extension of day, and minus the functionality to change the Date and Time.

It’s a small detail, but it would be nice if the red button wasn’t covering the total, and I didn’t need to scroll to see it. (In hindsight, the Review Pricing screen seems redundant and like a check-in screen. I wonder if that screen is truly necessary, or if we could integrate the functionalities into one.)

As a Guest who’s a photographer and a starving artist living on the edge of my bank account, I’m also curious when the payment occurs: will the transaction occur right now?

Summary of Improvements:

A larger question of the need for the Review Pricing screen (I’m sure there’s some data and reasoning around it, so not really opinionated, just noticing)
Visual spacing such that it doesn’t require scrolling to check the total. The only action I should be doing is to tap Confirm and Pay, and/or Add CC, not scrolling
Clarifying when the transaction will occur - when the card will be charged

Add Payment 💳bug noted2 ideasscreens

This screen made me cry as a Guest. 😭I expected to be able to input my Paypal account, or use Apple Pay. The latter was specifically a greater expectation because you could login via Apple. Instead, the only option was an actual cc.

That last bit of extra effort on the last step really threw me off. Maybe most people just book spaces on the desktop. I had to pull myself away from the context of my phone.

This part was disruptive to the extent that if I wasn’t motivated, I could just abandon the process because the steps threw me into the uncertainty of finding my cc. I’m not someone who swipes her card day to day; I use Apple Pay. I had to rummage through three different purses to find my cc, then input the number. 😔

Inputting the number was also a labor of love. 😭😓I was in a rush and so I missed one number. Then, I realized I needed to be able to drag the cursor to that spot – except it didn’t work. It was late at night and I figured there was something wrong with my index finger, still didn’t work. I tried it on the Cardholder name section, dragging it across my name - yep, it worked there! 💪

So that means it’s either a bug here, or cursor dragging to edit wasn’t implemented in the Card Number field. I had to erase all the numbers and carefully tapped my card number one by one, double-checking. The rest of the numbers in all the other fields worked like a charm.

Okay, whew, done; added the cc! Now I’m EXCITED and so close to the finish line! I tap Save and Checkout Card, and I’m brought back to the Checkout screen. Finally proceeding to Confirm and Pay

A side note - re: the removal of Payment Method: later, when I was tapping on Payments from the Accounts menu and tried to remove this cc as a Payment Method, I noticed there was no affordance to allow me to do that. Tried the swiping interaction, and long-pressing. Nothing.

Summary of Improvements:

Fix bug or the lack of the cursor-drag implementation on card number field
On the general payments screen, allow removal of Credit Card or a Payment method

Interstitial ⏳2 ideasscreens

Once I tap Confirm and Pay, I wait for the interstitial that’s sending my request. It’s a small detail, but I’m wondering how this process works – is it truly sending a request or is it confirming my request? Why isn’t this screen giving me more certainty? Will I need to wait for more back and forth? What’s the difference between a normal booking and instant booking? I thought Instant booking didn’t require any kind of sending of requests.

This is also a moment that I was hoping to be celebratory, or at least playful in anticipation of it. I’ve crossed a major milestone; I’ve worked so hard through this flow to book this space; now, a fun animation could build up my depleted energy and anticipation.

Summary of Improvements:

Change copy on interstitial to reflect more certainty; fairly cheap change
Nice to have but low priority: make it celebratory and fun - something an animator could work on if we hire one

Referral + Toast 🤗🏆4 ideasscreens

This Referral screen is also a surprise for me; I was expecting to see a confirmation screen, and not a Referral screen just yet. Or at least some balance between Confirmation and Referral. If I’m not paying close attention to the screen, I could miss the toast that says my booking is confirmed! Isn’t that the most important piece of information, the golden nugget I’ve been working for through this flow? Furthermore, at this point, I’d like to add it to my cal. I have such a crazy schedule that I’ll forget if I don’t add it to my cal.

This screen reflects the hierarchy of needs as siding more with the business than with me. No, I don’t want to help share my Referral link; sure it helps me save money in the future, but I’m likely not going to act on it at this point. It looks more like taking energy away from me, rather than fun. Maybe others send it, and the business has reasons for showing it here because they need to grow and Hosts need bookings, but my instinct is to ignore this screen for now.

As for the Referral itself, I know I’ll be using this code once I’ve become more familiar with Peerspace and will be using it for multiple hours. Until I’ve bought into Peerspace, this code really isn’t for me. I’m also not going to share the link until I’ve used the service, just because sharing things is tied to my professional reputation unless it’s with friends. This referral has a different context than, say, a Doordash referral.

Summary of Improvements:

Better understanding of referral share rates from different locations and when and where it makes sense to surface this
Better balance between business needs, host needs, and guest needs

Show confirmation of booking as part of this screen instead of just a toast?
Dedicate some real estate to Adding to Cal

Upcoming 📅2 ideasscreens

Ah, perfect - this screen sums up what I need to do the most: Add to My Cal! Great! This worked smoothly. 🥰 I’m looking forward to showing up on time!

I sent over the RSVP to my client by tapping on the Invite Guests and SMSing it to her. I was curious what would happen if I tapped on the RSVP link myself - it took me to a You’re Invited screen. I realize the app doesn’t know that I’m the inviter who’s tapping on the link: the only way to proceed from here is to either Accept or Decline. There’s no x button, no back.

Tapping on Accept does nothing. Tapping on Decline brings me back to the Bookings - Upcoming screen. Seems like an edge case that hasn’t been addressed yet. I’m curious to know what my guest will be seeing. It makes me nervous to send them something I haven’t seen yet.

I’m still waiting for my client to RSVP and Accept. I’ve done my part and sent it to her! I’m expecting to receive a notification or some kind of alert that she’s accepted my invite! I’m so looking forward to exploring this new adventure and making sure everything is executed smoothly!

Summary of Improvements:

Upcoming screen is good as is, but address the Invite Guests flow for the Inviter/Booker who sees Event screen
Could possibly address the case that the Booker might want to see what the invite looks like

Full log written as a first-time guest booking a space on Peerspace iOS (Instant Book flow).

bushra farooquiJuly 12, 2022