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Brian Chesky's 7-Star Framework: How to Design a Product People Tell Everyone About

By Brian Chesky · Startup Growth · 1 min read

Chesky says a 5-star check-in is just knocking on the door and someone opens it. That bar is pathetically low. So Airbnb asked: what would a 7-star check-in look like?

Key Points

Five stars on the internet is a low bar — it just means nothing went wrong
Design for 6 or 7 stars so that customers email you asking if there's a 6-star option
The product isn't the website or app — it's every moment of the offline experience

If you need to find 100 people to love you, it's very easy to take five stars for granted. But to build something people love, you must do something more than they expect.

Five Stars Is Pathetically Low

Chesky: On the internet, the paradigm is five stars. A YouTube video, Airbnb, Uber — it's five stars. The problem with five stars is the only reason you'd leave less than five is because it was horrible. If you rate an Uber ride four stars, your life might have been in danger.

But we wanted to build a product where you loved us so much you'd tell everyone about it. So we thought — what if you booked an Airbnb and the product was so good you emailed the company asking for a six-star option?

The only reason you'd leave less than five stars is because it was horrible. The bar is really low.

What Does 6, 7, 10 Stars Look Like?

Chesky: What's a five-star check-in? You get to the house, knock on the door, they open it and let you in. That's five stars. Four stars is you call and they're five minutes away.

What's six stars? They probably pick you up at the airport. Seven stars? They send a limousine. You open the door and there's coconut water. They know you're into surfing, so there's a surfing magazine.

Ten stars? You get to the airport, there's your ride — but the person in the limo suit is Elon Musk and he takes you to space. I've exaggerated to make a point.

Seven stars: they send a limousine, there's coconut water, and they know you're into surfing.

Now 6 Stars Doesn't Seem So Bad

Chesky: The whole point is that if you need 100 people to love you, it's very easy to take five stars for granted. But to build something people love, you must do something more than they expect.

You play this out all the way to 10 — okay, we're not going to do all that. But suddenly six stars doesn't seem so bad. Like, now we should have airport pickup or something. We do this about almost every frame of the experience.

You go all the way to 10. Now we're not going to do all that. But suddenly six stars doesn't seem so bad.

The Product Is Not the Website

Chesky: The product is whatever the customer is buying. Customers are not buying our website. They're not buying our application. That's just a storefront of communication. What they're buying is a house. And frankly, more than a house — the host experience of hospitality. This idea of belonging.

We started storyboarding the experience and realized it's really about every moment. We have to be responsible not just for the online part of the product but the offline part.

Customers are not buying our website. That's just a storefront. What they're buying is the experience.