Roomify

Roles

Ideation
User Research
Visual Design
Wireframing & Prototyping

Timeline

January 2021 — February 2021
5 weeks

Team

Only me :)

Tools

Figma
Illustrator

Project Overview

People choose to live in cities for various reasons, including job opportunities, access to education and a vibrant social life. As more people crowd into the cities, living in them comes with a higher cost of expenses, such as housing, transportation, convenience and resources. Thus, many city dwellers find themselves living with a roommate as a practical solution to it.

The Problem

Finding and keeping a suitable roommate gets increasingly challenging due to a combination of factors such as compatibility issues, lifestyle preferences, financial considerations, trust and safety concerns.

The Solution

Roomify is an application designed to address the challenges faced by city dwellers in finding and maintaining suitable roommates and rooms. The application employs an easy and safe way of matching algorithms to pair individuals based on compatibility indicators and lifestyle preferences.

Roomify ensures an intuitive experience, simplifying the process toward finding the suitable room or roommate and establishing compatible roommate relationships.

Research

competitive ANAlysis

To address the problem, I began by exploring what people use in searching for rooms or roommates. I looked into existing applications to discern what they offered and what they lacked.

competitive ANAlysis findings

After conducting a competitive analysis, my findings provided valuable insights into current market trends, user preferences, and potential areas for improvement.

These findings not only guided me in making strategic decisions but also increased my understanding on how I can make an improved solution.

Roomies.ca

Pros: Featured listing, Quick filters (room/roomies), advanced search filters, price displayed upfront, easy access map, visually appealing

Cons: Limited and not very diverse, advanced search options, featured profiles are all over the place, can’t scroll down more, blocked by footer without any exit, Very centered layout, Very long scrolling

toronto roommates

Pros: Good Hierarchy of texts, offers a roommate questionnaire, offers categories of groups (student, neighbourhood, etc.)

Cons: Promoting other roommate finder websites, visually unappealing, no visuals; just loads of texts, it doesn’t show any listings right away

diggz

Pros: Visually appealing, filters readily available, online/offline feature, budget readily available, able to go to the next listing when on a current one

Cons: Limited filter options, doesn’t show any room pictures for “room for rent” filter options, the display of location gets confusing since it presents different locations, like/dislike option based on profile picture

Conceptualization

Persona

Due to the strict timeline, no interviews were conducted with actual targeted users. Relying on anecdotes online and from peers, I created 2 personas were developed varying in professions and age groups.

Development

User Flow

A user flow is then developed to structure the key functionalities of the application, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience for the users.

Wireframes

Based on the user flow, low and mid-fidelity wireframes were created to validate design concepts and decisions for the final fidelity stage.

Visual Design

For the visual identity, I've chosen a minimal and friendly approach to represent the experience of the product. The vibrant hues of orange and tinges of blue are meant to evoke feelings of sociability and enthusiasm as the users go on with their discovery to find the perfect room or roommate.

Final Prototype

Click here to view the final MVP on Figma.

Browse by Rooms and Roommates

Two (2) quick options are provided in searching for a potential roommate: by room and by roommate.

Searching by room is intended for individuals interested in finding a place to live and may be open to joining existing households or seeking vacant rooms in shared accommodations.

Searching by roommate is intended for individuals looking to team up with others to find and share a new place or to fill an available room in their existing residence.

Filters and Preferences

Narrow down your search for a potential roommate by easily sorting through the filters and preferences. Filters and preferences can help in indicating your budget, lifestyle, interests, and many more.

View potential roommates

Explore and get to know potential roommates through viewing detailed profiles.

Key Takeaways

Importance of USERS

Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to conduct user interviews and had to rely on online anecdotes. While the latter method can be true and valid, it has made me realize the importance of user interviews. They would have allowed me to delve deeper into the experiences of individuals affected by the problem by asking more questions or expanding on answers.

Looking into alternatives

As I wasn't able to conduct user interviews, conducting a competitive analysis as an alternative guide was helpful in identifying the gaps in current platforms and understanding users' experiences in finding rooms or roommates.