ROOMIE FINDER - APP CONCEPT
Timeline My Role
Overall: 5 weeks UX Designer, UX Reseacher and Prototyper
Discovery & Research: 2 weeks
Design & testing: 3 weeks
PROBLEM
College students, especially comminty college students struggle to find accommodation.
During my two years as an international student at a community college, I observed that housing facilities are not provided for students. Being a community college, most of my fellow international students also faced challenges in finding suitable accommodation in the vicinity of the college.
A Solution for student accommodation .
The idea behind the app is to facilitate college students in search of accommodation by connecting them with fellow students in the area who are willing to rent out their rooms.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Conduct Reseacrh to Develop Empathy.
I came across several Nigerian international students online who intend to enroll in colleges without on-campus housing in the US this fall. While some of them mentioned that they were considering renting an AirBnB or staying in a hotel and commuting to college, they were aware of the potential expenses associated with these options. This experience helped me develop empathy and gain insight into the struggles faced by international students seeking better opportunities for themselves.
The international students were experiencing a sense of being overwhelmed with regards to their accommodation situation, fearing the possibility of being stranded without proper arrangements.
Based on the interview responses I have received from Ola, a student that plans on relocating to the States for college, I found that a barrier most students were facing was the fear of being stranded or homeless in a country they are not familiar with.These are some of the questions I asked:
What is the distance range that you prefer for your ideal accommodation location in relation to your school?
Do you have any specific room preferences for your accommodation?
What would be your monthly budget?
COMING UP WITH IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS
To design for tasks is to design for ACCOMMODATION.
Feelings of confusion came from a clutter of communication. Thus, to design for tasks was to more design for accommodation. Then based on the journey map below, I made my best assumptions to try identifying these other pain points that provided opportunities for my design.
DECIDING + PROTOYPING
Sketching for Efficient Flows + Visualizations
Then utilizing the different opportunities, I started to look at different UI to design the best visualization of the rooms as well as tasks. AirBnB and PriceLine were sources of inspiration!
ROUND OF TESTING AND IMPROVEMENTS
Tasks need to look like tasks!
On the last day of the sprint, I reached out to Ola, one of the international students, and also asked Ola for feedback on the functionality and clarity of my prototype. Overall, the feedback was very positive! The only change I made was the option to filter room search by gender and utilities.
THE FINAL SCREENS
The final product
Reflections + What I would do differently
Be cautious, but never assume. As it is my goal to design with as much empathy as possible, this project made me learn to be extremely sensitive with topics that deal with accommodation.
Experiencing the problem first hand is the best research. Although I was not able to collaborate with the app to the extent I desired, it turned into a riveting exercise to empathize with what it is like to be a like a student with no accommodation without the first-hand interview.
Overall, I have sent the design file to the my team. I hope to take the lessons learned in this project towards more inclusive and empowering design in my community. Onward and upward!