Background

The concept of this app was a design challenge I found online. I wanted to challenge myself by building on someone else's idea. My goal was to finish this product within a week to see if I could manage the style of a design sprint.

Design Challenge:

Once the ideal roommate is found, what else can this product do to make the roommate experience better?

Target Audience

• Individuals seeking roommates

• Individuals seeking to share housing

What is the problem?

• Individuals often have differences with their roommates

• Roommates aren’t what they expect when starting to live together

• The process of finding and talking is often 'annoying'

Solution

• Create a product to discover potential roommates and spaces

• Help connect individuals that are compatible 

• Design features to better the experience of the roommate process

I discovered:

• Facebook and Craigslist are the most popular methods; others include apps

• Roommate listings are often 'sketchy', leading people to research safety

• Prioritise someone they would get along with

• People set up calls or plans to experience how they are in person

• Verification of identity and status is important

• Roommates often have habits that are unannounced

• Like to set house rules before hand

Roommates leave each other because:

• Don’t pay on time

• Don’t follow house rules

• Ignore the partner’s preferences

• Isn’t who they expected 

Once the ideal roommate is found, what else can this product do to make the roommate experience better?    

Rules lists:

Roommates have house and personal rules, so why not integrate it into the app?

• In direct messages

• Both users add and remove rules from a list

• Both users need to confirm a rule for it to be “complete”

• When a change is made, it is sent in the message chat