Background

With marriage ages rising, research shows city dwellers spend most of their twenties living with roommates. There are a variety of factors for this, college loan debt, job uncertainty or cost of living, but the fact remains that more and more people need a safe way to find reliable roommates.

Problem Space

A growing number of millennials are spending their twenties living with roommates. A person looking for a room/roommate doesn’t have many options for a safe and reliable way to search for what they need, and even less that take into account their personal habits or lifestyles. If a student were to search for a room using a traditional method they could be setting themselves up to get scammed or worse, putting themselves at risk.

Goal

Design a mobile experience that safely and reliably connects individuals who are looking for a roommate with those who are looking for an apartment.

Research Methods

Market Analysis - Obtain insight into current market trends.
Competitive Audit - Understand how other companies are attempting to solve for the problem space and identify key areas of opportunity.
1:1 Interviews - Gather information on how potential users are currently searching for apartments or roommates to discover pain points and frustrations through in the process.
Persona Creation - Synthesize data to create a well-informed interpretation of how our potential users would think, act and react.

Market Analysis

In 2020 PEW Research found that 18% of Americans lived in a household with one or more unrelated roommates. Statistically, a majority of those people fall into the Millennial generation (ages 20-30). While some millennials are continuing to live with their parents during this time, the numbers show that there are still a lot of younger people looking for apartments or searching for roommates.
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For over a decade Craigslist was the go-to solution to find a room to rent or a roommate to rent it to. There were obvious frustrations and pain points inherent in this option, especially 5-10 years ago. These frustrations (and dangers) opened the door for the creation of better web and app based solutions. Products like Roommates, Roomi, RoomZoom and SpareRoom are all attempting to give users simple, secure and engaging products that are utilizing AI, Background Checks and In-App messaging. But while reading reviews from users, I found that all of these apps still suffer from bogus listings and would be scammers.
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Even though there is a good number of apps trying to solve this problem, I think there's a need for an app that fulfills all of the needs of both the apartment hunter and roommate seeker. One that offers the security they want (via verification and background checks), the simplicity they want (using AI to connect potential matches) and an experience they love but didn’t know they needed (bill share integration, in-app messaging, enjoyable UI). A big miss for a lot of these new products is follow through. They all get the renter/roommate connection started, but become irrelevant after they have found each other. This is the area where a new product can thrive, for both the user and the business. Having bill share functionality, bank/Venmo integration, a chore breakdown tool and conflict resolution recommendations built into the app will only benefit the user. Essentially, we can help users find each other and then continue to help them by making the process of sharing a space together easier.

Competitive Audit

I wanted to see what other products in this space were offering, understand their strong points and identify areas we could improve. I downloaded each app, quickly tested their setups and functionalities and jotted down notes. I also read online reviews which gave me my first insight into what users were saying about their experiences. Surprisingly, all three products suffered from the same plight, rampant scammers. And more than one reviewer on each board stated they would rather the sites be subscription based or cost money up front then deal with fake posts.

Interviews

Goal:
1. Understand how potential users currently search for apartments/roommates and define what likes, habits and frustrations they have with current apartment/roommate search tools.
2. Get insight into functionality that may heighten the user experience.

Participants:
For these interviews I would filter possible participants by setting up a pre-interview questionnaire. I would want to make sure they had either rented a room (or apartment) or rented out a room within the last 5 years, they have a current Driver’s License or Passport and currently have a social media presence (IG, FB, LinkedIn, etc). Research has shown that all apps have multiple verification steps and there will be questions pertinent to this data.

Demographics:
Age: 18-35
Gender: Any
Status: Single, Married, In a relationship
Profile: Looking for room, Have a room to rent
Occupation: Professional, Freelance, Student, Other

Questions:
    - When was the last time you rented a room (or an apartment) or rented out a room to a roommate?
    - What was your process for locating a room or roommate?
    - During that process, what types of frustrations did you encounter?
    - Can you think of anything that may have made the process more convenient?
    - How did you initially contact your potential renter/roommate? (What tools did you use?)
    - What types of questions did you ask during this initial meeting? (Or did they ask you?)
    - What types of security or safety precautions did you have or take during this process?
    - What steps led you to deciding it was safe to physically meet with a roommate/renter?
    - What factors would lead you to not want to meet with a potential roommate/renter? (Red flags?)
    - How did you check their background?
    - What were the deciding factors that made you take the room/accept the renter? (Disposition? Cleanliness?        Financial stability? Budget? Area?)
    - What would be factors that would keep you from taking a room/renter?
    - How did you and your roommates split your utility bills? (Cable? Wifi? Electric?)
    - What was your process for paying/receiving payment for them?
    - Can you think of anything that might have made that process less complicated? (App or other tool?)
    - How did you resolve issues with your roommate when they arose? (Due to late payment, noise, messiness,        chores, theft, etc.)
    - What might have helped in that situation? (Mediator? Online help?)
    - Is there anything I haven’t asked that you think might be relevant to this topic? (Or do you have any        ideas/stories you’d like to share?)

Personas

At this point I felt I had enough data to understand the thought processes, behaviors and frustrations of a potential user. Aside from what the user was searching for, a room or a roommate, both seemed to share the same pain points - security, usability, privacy and scammers.

Empathy Map

With my persona created I could dig a little deeper into her motivations to understand how to design the best experience.

Feature Roadmap

Based on the information collected so far, I created a hierarchy for the product features to help keep us on track for release.

Sitemap

IA had to be intuitive, but still contain all the complexity built into the app. This is the first iteration of what the home screen (listing view) would have under the hood. Almost all of the functionality is the same for both types of user, the main difference would be in the initial onboarding process and descriptions.

User Flow

To get a better understanding of a user's journey, I visualized the steps Emma would take to sign up, create a profile and find a room/roommate. I could see what a successful journey might look like for her and where she might experience frustration or possibly exit the app.

Sketches

Armed with the persona, research and some site examples from the owner I was ready to start drafting the first ideas for the site.

Sketches

I did some quick sketches to get an idea of basic screen layouts. Of course they did't look great, but they helped me see pathways I needed before I started wireframing. In these first sketches I omitted where the user would choose if they were looking for a room or a roommate, which would've been a huge oversight in the design.

UI Design

Moodboard

I had a few conversations with the owner about how the site should look and feel, but I still wanted to comb the the web for images that would help solidify the tone and visual direction of the design.

Wireframes

To built out the basic structure of the pages, I filtered my research and data through a lens of empathy for Emma and Grace. How would they feel about the 2 prong verification? What about learnability? Where are some possible locations they might use the app? With this in mind, I designed the sign up and profile creation process to flow smoothly and intuitively, giving the user a sense of ease. There's a good amount of information to gather, so I wanted it to move as effortless as possible while still feeling secure and professional.

Homepage Iterations

The homepage would dictate the rest of my design, so I knew I had to get it right. I started with a hero containing copy and a CTA that pointed to the wellness section. I then recalled my earliest contact with the owner and remembered that selling products was her initial objective. The next couple of iterations weren't hitting the mark, so I tried an animation. The owner liked it, but we ultimately agreed it wasn't necessary. We both felt the site should look professional, but still maintain an element of DIY ethos.

LoFi Prototype

I then added more pages and transitions to the wireframes so I could gauge the real flow of the app. I decided to trace the flow of Emma looking for a room, but the functionality will be almost identical for both her and Grace. The biggest difference would be in the details section of the profile setup, people looking for a room would input what they want while people renting a room would input what they have. This was a tricky point during this portion of the design process, since I started out thinking this might be two apps in one. Luckily, as I got further into the process I realized their path and needs would be very similar.

Next Steps

This initial prototype tested how to imbue the sign up and profile creation process with two verification processes. Before designing any further I would test this current prototype with users, synthesize the data and iterate based on feedback. It also starts to look at what types of information would be beneficial to start the matching process (AI). More interviews with users would be needed to hone in on their exact needs and I would also include the research and development teams to understand what data they would need and how best to get it to them. After these two pieces were completed I'd add pages to reflect findings and test again with users, then synthesize and re-iterate.
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I would also conduct more interviews with users about their privacy and security concerns in attempt to understand where the tradeoffs are. A lot of my research uncovered people who felt these apartment sharing sites were data mining and money scams. I do not know if these were paying users or not, but I still think it would be a good avenue to pursue. As I mentioned earlier, some users wouldn't mind paying if the app was useful, so the tradeoffs are obviously there.

In my initial research I also uncovered another area where these products fall short, their usage span. These products are only useful up to the rental/agreement phase. I would put more research into designing the Dashboard section of One Place, as an area where the users can continue to benefit from the app (and stakeholders can benefit as well). I think having a shared area for the renter and roommate to easily split and pay bills, divvy up chores and find conflict resolution help would be a great user experience. I see this as a subscription based tool, so there would be more research on that end as to how it be rolled out.

Lastly, in terms of revenue, I would conduct more research to uncover what options existed that could give the product financial compensation without affecting the brand or downplaying the goal of the product. Ads may come off as unprofessional, but there could be a way to tie in entities, like moving companies or home stores, without it coming across as a cash grab. Plus, there's always the option to make it a paid app or have a subscription. If the Dashboard was successful, you could have users staying in the ecosystem for years.