In our recent Dtravel v2 — Product Direction Part 1 article, we touched on the Host Beta Program, which involves the team working together with hosts to shape Dtravel v2 — a new web3 ecosystem that blends the freedom of direct booking sites and the simplicity of online travel agencies.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how the Host Beta Program will operate, why we believe it’s important and our learnings from the initiative to date.
“Batch1” Hosts
The first hosts in the Host Beta Program are part of “Batch1”, a handpicked group of engaged hosts who provide feedback on Dtravel v2 prototypes and designs as well as the overall experience to improve the success of the Host Beta Program in future iterations.
Batch1 hosts were selected based on their responses to the Dtravel Host Questionnaire and their receptiveness to our collaboration requests.
This group has been invited to a private Discord server, where we have started sharing our learnings, work, articles, conversations and more to hear the perspectives of hosts who are guiding and informing the design, processes and direction of Dtravel v2.
Video and voice calls with each host are being conducted to better understand their current pain points, preferences and needs in detail. By speaking directly with hosts, our goal is to create casual but meaningful conversation where we can delve more deeply into the issues hosts frequently experience and address these in building Dtravel v2.
Hosts are also invited to collaborate directly in our design files where they can view design mockups, test functional prototypes and leave comments, suggestions, questions, and feedback.
The Significance of the Program
By introducing the Host Beta Program before the release of a working product, the foundations of Dtravel v2 are being set not only by the team, but by key ecosystem stakeholders.
This is fundamentally different to traditional web2 projects that would ask for feedback from their users after developing a product (or beta product), at which point the feasibility of some proposed changes may no longer be viable due to the limitations of existing systems used to initially build the product.
In line with Dtravel’s web3 ethos of community ownership, the Host Beta Program approach involves members having ownership over how the Dtravel ecosystem looks and functions from the very beginning, enabling community contributions and ideas to be implemented more frictionlessly.
With future batches of hosts to follow Batch1, new participants will continue to provide fresh perspectives on Dtravel v2, ensuring a steady stream of feedback, suggestions and ideas.
What We’ve Learned So Far
While Batch1 only kicked off last week, we’ve already learned plenty from the wonderful hosts who have been kind enough to dedicate their time to the Host Beta Program. Below, you’ll find some of our early learnings.
Listing Customization
We want to give hosts the ability to make their unique properties stand out by providing greater listing customization. However, for hosts with more than a few properties, customizing their listings can be more of a headache than a feature, as keeping property listings consistent across various channels is preferred by most hosts. This could be addressed by offering multiple options when listing a property, ranging from quick setup to more advanced controls.
Private Bookings
A notable percentage of guests message hosts privately to arrange bookings, even without the host having a direct booking site in some cases. While this allows for greater negotiability on certain terms, a lack of documented evidence of these terms can adversely affect either party if things don’t go according to plan. Dtravel v2 can give peace of mind to both hosts and guests without negatively impacting host earnings by providing additional assurance and verifiability with on-chain bookings.
Third-party Payments
When establishing a direct booking site, using a third-party payment provider to process booking payments provides convenience but can often lead to several issues, including account blocks and chargebacks with a lack of rationale. By providing cryptocurrency payment options that have a significantly greater degree of finality and no third-party interference, Dtravel v2 offers a solution that puts hosts entirely in control of their money.
As the Host Beta Program takes shape, we’ll continue to share our learnings with the community to ensure the thoughts of the hosts influencing the direction of the host experience and the wider Dtravel v2 ecosystem are communicated transparently.
Join Future Host Beta Program Batches
Interested in joining future intakes of the Host Beta Program? We’re continuing to take expressions of interest from experienced home sharing hosts below.
To apply, please complete the survey here.
If you have previously registered for our waitlist, you’ve automatically been added to our application pipeline.
We’ll be regularly sharing more details of our Host Beta Program, so be sure to stay updated by following us on our socials below.