Housemates
Client
SacHacks X IBM Z Hackathon
Role
UX/UI Designer
Timeline
36 hours
Team
Dorothy Hung, Kelly Tan
Housemates
Finding the right apartment with the right people
SacHacks is a 36-hour intercollegiate hackathon in the Sacramento area with the purpose of cultivating ideas in Sacramento by providing a space to launch ideas in a public venue.
During the winter of 2021, I joined 2 designers in the 36-hour hackathon.
With 36 hours to complete this project, SacHacks gave us the freedom to choose an issue impacting the Sacramento area. Our team saw the opportunity to tackle student off-campus living preparation during a period (COVID-19) when housing had become significantly more difficult to navigate. Even with the resources provided by UC Davis, finding a suitable living space with scattered resources demonstrated inconvenience.
We presented our final product to a panel of 6 judges with our design placing 2nd for Best Design without Code out of 100+ teams.
Context
Problem Statement
College students have trouble finding suitable off-campus housing because they are required to search at an inconvenient time with many resources that aren’t all in one place.
Our goal was to make the app a resource to find compatible people, consolidate the information, and produce a simple layout.
Defining Business Goals + Metrics
Professional Development
45% believe they lack the skillsets to land a job. BRIDGEGOOD would assist designers in starting their careers.
Designer Engagement
Design requires constant growth, so all levels of experience can use the website as a learning tool.
Mentor Engagement
The platform is self-sustained by BRIDGEGOOD partners that’ll provide challenges and mentors.
Task Completion
Ease of use and number of designers participating (measured in usability test + survey)
Subscribers
Number of designers joining the site, engaging with others’ work
(measured in a survey)
Advocacy
Number of mentors joining the site and creating challenges for incoming designers
My Design Process
User Research
Discovery
Due to limited time, we sent out a survey to learn about housing and housemate search experiences. We obtained 50 responses from UC Davis students, ranging from freshmen transitioning to off-campus living to alumni who'd gone through the experience.
Our survey revealed:
Accessibility: 72.9% of respondents found their university doesn’t provide sufficient housing information
Resources: Students use various resources to search for housemates and housing; many of which lack security and transparency
Preferences: Students’ focused on price, distance to campus, and reviews on the complex when off-campus hunting
Analysis Breakdown
Upon synthesising the data, our team discovered college students face housing difficulties due to their lack of knowledge on housing preferences, apartment responsibilities, and finding a compatible roommate. However, our main takeaway is that students find it easier to search for an apartment when they have a suitable housemate. With this insight in mind, our team decided to target incoming first-years.
Our team narrowed down our concept
How might we help students with managing their living situation with the added stress of a pandemic?
Solution
Meet students who have similar living preferences
Sort and filter apartments based on preferences
Shorten learning curve with apt information
Tackle security concerns with student verification
Definition
User Journey
We outlined student interaction with identity verification, housing searches, and housemate matching. User journey mapping also helped ideate which pages they’d need to access at each stage, like resources or editing their profile.
We sketched solutions that aid college students in finding appropriate housemates and housing, preventing housing insecurity.
To tackle this, our team sketched out setting up a profile to display their living accommodations, interacting with other students, and refining their apartment search based on their preferences and priorities.
Wireframes
Design - Final Solution
Roommate Finder
Set preferences to find compatible housemates
Users complete a quick survey to filter different living habits, preferences, etc.
Recommendations on how to complete the challenge and prepare a case study deck
Verification
Become a verified member to protect yourself and yours peers
Sign up with your school email
Apartment Finder
Exploring various housing options based on your preferences
Users can filter based on location, size of apartment, price, etc.
Resources
Prepare students for the responsibility of off-campus living
Understanding lease agreements + paying deposits and responsibilities to lease an apartment
Key Takeaways
Results
Placed 2nd for Best Design without Code out of 100+ teams
Reflection
Next Steps
As my first UX/UI project, I discovered that collaboration plays a crucial role in assessing the level of ambiguity within the design process.
Conduct usability testing to gauge receptiveness to onboarding, resources, and engagement
Collect user metrics to identify quantitative data points
