Airbnb · Metrics · Mid · 45 to 60 minutes

Which metric should guide Experiences?

Airbnb is an online marketplace where people book places to stay and activities hosted by locals. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Metric design
Marketplace thinking
Analytical reasoning
Prioritization
Written communication

The situation

You are the PM for Airbnb Experiences, the marketplace for activities hosted by locals. The Experiences lead asks you for a recommendation before planning the next two quarters. Demand has been hit by the pandemic, host activity is unstable, and the team can no longer assume the metric that worked in a healthier market is still the right one. Assume gross booking value has fallen sharply, some cities now have very little activity, and recovery patterns differ a lot by market. Finance wants a simple business metric, operations cares about keeping enough host supply, and design argues that guest trust and successful matches matter more than topline volume right now. Your job is to decide what single north star metric should guide the product area, whether GMV should remain that metric, and what supporting metrics are needed to avoid bad tradeoffs. The hard part is that this choice will shape roadmap priorities, but historical data is noisy and optimizing the wrong metric could create hollow growth or slow recovery.

What to produce

A 1 to 2 page product memo.

Your answer must

State your recommended north star metric for Airbnb Experiences and explain why it is the best primary metric for this moment.
Define GMV in this marketplace and explain at least two strengths and two blind spots of using it as the primary metric.
Include 3 to 5 supporting metrics that together cover guest demand, host supply, and marketplace health.
Explain how the pandemic shock changes your metric choice, baselines, or time horizon for decision making.
Describe how you would review performance over the next two quarters, including at least one leading indicator and one guardrail metric.

Constraints

Use only the prompt and general marketplace reasoning, not outside facts about Airbnb.
Focus on metric strategy for Experiences, not a full feature roadmap or company turnaround plan.
Keep the recommendation workable under high uncertainty and uneven market recovery across markets.

Format

Use short sections with headings such as recommendation, why not GMV alone, supporting metrics, risks, and review plan.

How Airbnb actually played it

Uses Airbnb's Experiences, which lost most of its business during the pandemic, to discuss marketplace metrics. It explains GMV and why choosing a north star metric matters for a marketplace.

A marketplace needs a clear north star metric
Understand GMV before optimizing it
A shock can force a metric rethink

Built from A Lesson from Airbnb for Marketplace PMs by Behind Product Lines.