Roles: UX/UI research and design, UX writing, branding
Process: I gained some insights from user interviews: people rely on friends and social media to know whether landlords or property management companies are trustworthy. They wanted to know about the condition of the building and the lease terms. They were frustrated by time stress and lack of information, especially for people moving to a new city without a local network. What they wanted was Yelp for landlords—a review app to use while house hunting.
I channeled these insights into “how might we” and problem statements, and a primary and secondary persona.
I started with sketching and feature prioritization using the 2x2 matrix method, which made it clear my MVP would need to include three main features: a search function, a landlord review profile, and an “add a landlord review” flow. With this in mind, I started iterating in Figma.
I completed three in-person moderated tests and three unmoderated maze tests with 14 users, with two tasks: look up maintenance, and add a review. In general, users wanted more context from the design and copy. I also developed a style guide informed by the emotional language users shared in testing and interviews. Jonquil Yellow is warm and energetic, perfect for shedding light on any situation. Twilight Blue provides calm, balance, and boosts trust.
In my final revised prototype, I added a navigation bar, a status bar to the landlord review survey, and onboarding screens to better set user expectations. This project gave me a new appreciation for the design team I work on, and new perspective on housing from the many people who shared their experiences with me.
