Roomies for Uni was created for the college student who needs to eliminate the extra stress of finding a compatible roommate. During onboarding, the user fills out a questionnaire, from which information is used to match them with a potential roommate. The student can then manage their message requests and get to know potential roommates through the messaging platform.
• User Research & Ideation
• Feature Prioritization
• Usability Testing
• Prototyping and Iteration
• Trello
• Miro
• Figma
• Digital iOS Wireframes
• Low-Fidelity Prototype
• High-Fidelity Prototype
• Clickable Figma Prototype
Roomies for Uni was created to help connect college students from neighboring universities find an ideal roommate. Our team wanted to create a platform that serves as a safe space for connections to be made and for lifelong friendships to potentially form. Users can connect with students from other universities in the same area, which can be beneficial in metropolitan areas.
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The final version of Roomies for Uni focused on safety by requiring users to authenticate their student status by registering with their educational email and agreeing with the privacy policy. Each user’s experience is personalized with their university’s logo and images. Students can view the profiles of potential roommates listed as matches, and they can refine the results using the compatibility score and other filters. After exploring their matches, users can review their message requests, explore connections, and ignore others.
Our team conducted four user interviews to discover how people approach the task of finding a roommate while in college. Our goal was to determine their needs and wants for an ideal roommate, as well as pain points they may encounter during this adventure.
Interview insights and highlights were analyzed in an affinity diagram to identify the major areas of focus, which included fostering familiarity between roommates, securing financial commitment, and avoiding pet peeves in roommate matches. This resulted in the creation of our user persona, otherwise known as Johnny Doe.
After establishing the following problem statement:
University students need a platform on which they can safely find roommates in the city.
It was observed that individuals value cleanliness and sharing similar hobbies with their potential roommates.
Worries about your roommate paying rent on time should be eliminated.
We conducted a competitor analysis, which revealed key features such as including all colleges as an option, upholding user privacy, and authenticating identity.
Following the use of brainstorming tools such as the “I Like, I Wish, What If?” method and organization using a feature prioritization matrix, a user flow for the Roomies for Uni app was proposed.
Using the framework of the user flow, a user journey map was created to detail the actions, and touchpoints a user will employ when using the Roomies for Uni app. Opportunities for additional features were also identified.
Key features laid out in low fidelity wireframes were improved upon and developed into a high-fidelity state using Figma.
During usability tests, users were asked to:
- Register with our app
- Find a roommate with a high match score
- View message requests and reply
- The personalized home screen includes images of the student’s home campus. Users can drag to switch between the Landing Page, Roommate Matches, Messages and Profile Settings panels.
- Note: “Current page” indicators added to home page carousel.
- Participants of our usability testing found it difficult to use the drag feature on the desktop version of Figma.
- The roommate match list shares a student’s name, university and your compatibility score which is based on the information gathered from both parties in the questionnaire. Filters can be used to narrow down your options.
- Note: The student’s age was removed to prevent age discrimination, this information can be shared by chat at a later point.
- An explanation of the match percentage is included.
- Users can view messages from potential roommates, as well as requests from new matches.
- Note: Unwanted messages are ignored, not denied.
- Students can either sign up using their school email address or log into an existing account.
- Users must review and accept the privacy policy, fill out the questionnaire, and upload a profile picture.
- Users can navigate to their messages through the home screen or the navigation bar.
- Students can view their current messages, as well as any pending requests.
- The user can tap on the smiling or frowning face to either accept or ignore message requests.
- Users can view their potential roommates based on compatibility and other preferences.
- All roommate matches include a profile with a bio and any photos they have decided to share.
- The user has the option to “chat” with a match if they want to take the next step and reach out.
Future updates to Roomies for Uni could include features such as:
- Potential roommates can get to know each other using a Facetime option in the chat.
- Users can opt to include their social media in their profile.
- An improved questionnaire and filter options to find the ideal roommate.
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