THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

A lot of people choose to live together with other people for several reasons, and some of them are either to save money or to have a companion.

However, finding a compatible roommate can take so much time. The process might make us feel exhausted since finding the right roommate is not easy. 

I have noticed that many of my friends have issues with their current roommates. They have an unsustainable relationship between them.

THE SOLUTION

Matching their personality, lifestyle, and interests is the key.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

I did a deep analysis of competitors that have similar purposes and extracted important information.

Roommaters

SpareRoom

Roommates

I found that they do not emphasize their focus on the personality, lifestyle, and interests matching.

USER INTERVIEWS

I conducted an interview with 5 of my friends who have had a negative experience with their past roommates. I asked them questions to find out what are the reasons they failed at having roommates.

After the interviews, I organized my data by affinity mapping.

RESULTS

Personality, lifestyle, and interests differences is #1 problem that all my interviewees had with their roommates.

Here are the main insights that I found:

From gathering the main insights, I developed them into design opportunities. I started to make ideations about possible features that can be made to solve those problems.

HMW STATEMENT

How might we help people to find compatible roommates in a faster and easier way so that they can get to live comfortably with no issues and also to sustain the relationship?

DESIGN PROCESS

After collecting some data, I decided to create a User Journey that shows their pain points, motivation, and goal that they have in using the Roommie App.

I also did Crazy 8 sketching to push my ideas after gathering all the insights from the research

From the User Journey and Crazy 8 Sketches, I began to see clearer view of solutions that I can make to solve the roommate finding problems. Thus, I created the ideal Information Architecture and User Flow that capture how I want my users to experience the app based on the data that I have gathered.

Information Architecture

Main User Flow

TESTING AND IMPROVEMENTS

After I completed my Mid-Fidelity Mockups, I did a second round of research. I focused on design feedbacks by doing mockup walkthrough and also by using A/B Testing method.

From the feedbacks, I did 3 design improvements.

FINAL DESIGNS

STYLE GUIDE

CONCLUSIONS + REFLECTIONS

I have finally finished my first personal case study! YAY 🎉🎉🎉. I am grateful that I could put my UX knowledge into practice, where I involved myself on an entire UX process.

Here are some things that I notice and learn throughout the process:

1. USER FEEDBACKS are important. Through user feedbacks, I got to explore so many ideas and discoveries that can further develop my app to be more usable based on their needs. Being user-focused and have the users in our mind through every process can encourage us to make the designs to be more human centered, which enables the users to use the app easier and more efficient.

2. DESIGN SYSTEM is essential. I tried to avoid iterative design system since it took so much time for unnecessary stuff where we constantly change and revisit our design choices. This process can make us overlook a small issue and change, where we can turn it into a very big deal. I always believe that design system should be a one time action that should be done first. Thus, by having a proper design system, it can save a lot of time and keep our designs more organized.

3. INSIGHT DRIVEN, NOT PROCESS DRIVEN. My first version of this case study was filled with all texts that explain every little detail of my case study process. I first thought on how I could please people who will see my case study and impress them with my whole process. However, I remind myself how I should keep myself grounded by thinking how my case study does not solve every problem of the users, but one or two. Then, I focus on the points and the insights of my case study.

4. ACCESSIBILITY should be improved. Accessibility is one of the most important things in design, where it enables everyone to use the app without any limitations. However, I am unable to develop this importance within my “roommie” app and I feel that it is one downside of my case study. I want to keep this in my mind that I would apply the accessibility mindset on my next design projects.