Trust, personalization, and data were the three themes outlined Airbnb’s Openair engineering conference’s opening talk. The event followed two tracks: Machine Learning and Global Scale. So what’s a kindly designer doing somewhere like that? I’ll tell you.
I believe the future of technology will be invisible, less interfaces, smarter computers, and more face-to-face time. Perhaps physical, perhaps digital. So it makes sense the home sharing travel company would create a conference about scaling human connection. It’s all about the systems designed behind the experience that help people spend more time together.
I went to Openair to broaden my understanding of what is possible so I can build better services for people. I wanted to improve the quality of my technical conversations with developers. Naturally, I also wanted to peep at their branding collateral and interior design: it was on point and cozy like a home. I’m also focusing my attention on smaller conferences and festivals for more niche experiences that go deeper instead of wider. This one was a homerun.