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Background
Looking for a roommate is often a very stressful experience. Who one lives with and where one lives greatly impacts quality of life, so it’s important to find a good match.
The product attempts to solve the problem of needing to find a roommate.
Project type: end-to-end web app
My role: sole designer
My process: researching, ideating, branding, prototyping, usability testing, iterating
Learning about the User
I reviewed websites with comparable problems and then conducted moderated interviews to learn about users and the obstacles of finding a roommate.
Objectives:
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Understand user motivations and worries surrounding finding a roommate
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Learn user preferences for a roommate
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Learn the steps users currently take to find a roommate
Key takeaways:
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Users fear being burdened by their roommate
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Users want trustworthy candidates and want them vetted (verifications and background checks)
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Users don’t want to waste their time checking if a person meets their criteria
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Users have a variety of preferences and want to learn about candidate characteristics
Defining the Problem
Users struggle to find potential roommates who meet their criteria because it’s both time consuming and difficult to find trustworthy candidates. This makes them feel insecure and stressed because they fear they will regret their decision and be burdened by their roommate.
Empathizing with the User
Empathy Map
I created a miniature empathy map to represent the users' frustrations and needs. This helped me get to know the user and see the problem from their perspective.
The user needs to find a roommate soon, has specific criteria, and doesn't have a lot of spare time to search.
User Journey Map
I created this user journey map to better understand the process a user goes through to find a roommate, identify the Jobs to be Done, and begin to ideate possible solutions.
I based the Jobs to be Done on earlier research. For example, users don't want to waste time checking if a person meets their criteria.
Defining User Goals
From the user journey map, I distilled these primary user goals:
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Help users find the best match with whom they can successfully coexist
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Help users feel more secure in their searching
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Reduce the time users spend searching
Prototyping
I brainstormed solutions and selected the option that would best address the primary user goals: a web app that matches roommate candidates and provides multiple levels of security. After many low-fi and hi-fi iterations, I arrived at this prototype. This was the version that was used for usability testing.
Usability Testing
I conducted moderated usability tests to validate the onboarding, exploration of results, and narrowing down of results. The design would be considered successful if users found it easy to use and would use it.
Key takeaways:
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All participants found the onboarding process easy, would use the website, and thought the website would help them find a compatible roommate.
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While the design was considered successful, testing helped me identify areas that needed improvement.
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Participants didn’t fully understand the search results and security types.
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More nuance was needed for characteristics and criteria.
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"It seems super straightforward."
Prioritizing Improvements
I performed a prioritization exercise to determine which changes were most important and would ensure users could accomplish the Jobs to be Done.
I made changes that added nuance to matching criteria. For example, I added the ability to categorize by "must-haves" and "nice-to-haves."
I also clarified important content, for example:
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Providing the percent closeness of matches
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Choosing more intuitive icons
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Improving copy, for example the landing page's value propositions
The Solution
After usability testing and many iterations, I arrived at an MVP that helps users find a compatible roommate and helps them to feel secure in their searching.
What: Users begin with an onboarding flow that allows them to create an account, provide information about themselves and their roommate criteria, and become verified
Why: The landing page contains concise value propositions that incentivize users to continue; the flow is streamlined to address key preferences and quickly get users to the website; users are guided through the process with helpful, confidence-boosting information like how the website works and how their answers will used
What: Users receive their matches and can sort and refine the results; users can also update their search criteria for different results
Why: Flexibility gives users control over their results
What: Key information about each match is presented at a glance, including the percent they match their must-have and nice-to-have preferences
Why: Results are easily scannable to help users narrow down options
What: Matches can be saved and accessed in a separate tab
Why: Users are able to stay organized
What: Users can learn more about their matches by viewing their profiles; profiles include available references and linked social media; the system also verifies user identities
Why: Users can feel secure and confident about their matches
What: Matches can start conversations within the app and continue the conversation there or connect elsewhere
Why: Users aren't required to share their personal contact information which reinforces their security
Reflecting
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In addition to being motivated by convenience, fear is a large factor when users search for a roommate. Findings ways to eliminate fear and increase confidence was one of my main tasks.
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Users want control over how they are matched and how their results are organized.
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Users want to understand the value of the product and how it works before beginning the onboarding. Once the value is understood, they do not mind onboarding flows which use multiple screens.