Rumi: the app for the rise of roommate households
Rumi: the app for the rise of roommate households
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Discovery Research and UX + UI Design
Discovery Research and UX + UI Design
Role: UX Researcher, UX Designer, UI Designer
Methods: Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Guerilla Testing, Design System Creation, Prototyping, Usability Testing
Project Team: Completed under Dida Marinova's mentorship
Tools: Zoom, Marvel App, Figma, Miro, Procreate (for in-app illustrations)
The Problem:
The Problem:
For millennials and subsequent age groups, cohabitation is increasingly becoming the norm well past the college years. According to U.S. Census Data, the number of 25-34 year olds living with roommates in the United States increased by 39% from 2005-2015.
For millennials and subsequent age groups, cohabitation is increasingly becoming the norm well past the college years. According to U.S. Census Data, the number of 25-34 year olds living with roommates in the United States increased by 39% from 2005-2015.
Finding compatible roommates can be a very stressful process for roommate seekers, and it is currently very logistically taxing. In a survey of over 100 people, 52% of people reported meeting their roommates online.
Finding compatible roommates can be a very stressful process for roommate seekers, and it is currently very logistically taxing. In a survey of over 100 people, 52% of people reported meeting their roommates online.
Research Questions
Research Questions
What kind of information is important for people to know about one another in order to establish mutual trust?
How do people measure compatibility?
How are people currently recruiting roommates and how do they feel about the process?
How are people currently looking for rooms to rent? What's important for them to know?
The Process
The Process
- User Interviews
When looking for a room, the first thing people need to know is location (preferably on a map), costs, and timeline for moving in.
When looking for a roommate, people assess personality compatibility, lifestyle, and values. They do this by looking for social media and online presence and by reading introductions.
Both groups use multiple tools to keep track of listings and roommates, such as craigslist, e-mail, spreadsheets, and messaging apps.
2. Comparative Analysis
2. Comparative Analysis
One of the top concerns shared by people was safety. People are afraid of sharing their e-mail, phone number, and address when communicating with potential roommates online.
I looked at platforms that regularly introduce people digitally: dating apps! What were they doing to guide people in sharing about themselves? What measures did they have in place to protect their users' safety?
I also looked at platforms that present home listings, such as Airbnb, Craigslist, and Zillow. I wanted to know what they were including in listings and how they were organizing all the details that introduce homes and neighborhoods.
3. Affinity Mapping and Ideation
3. Affinity Mapping and Ideation
To guide the designs, I compiled all the data I had found and created patterns of gaps and opportunities. I learned the product needed a way to guide people to share and learn about each other and their listings while balancing keeping their information safe.
In addition, it needed to be one app that solved for the multiple apps people were currently using.
The vision to solve the pain points shared by participants was a safe and transparent all-in-one app that tackled the steps from meeting to moving in.
4. Sketching and Guerilla testing
4. Sketching and Guerilla testing
In order to test my ideas, I created a simple prototype out of my sketched flow using Marvel app and gave three people a few tasks to follow.
I learned that people wanted to learn details about others, but were hesitant to share about themselves. I needed to find a balance.
5. Design System and High-fidelity mockups
5. Design System and High-fidelity mockups
I created a design system that made the sketches come to life
To balance people's privacy and transparency needs, in this iteration I ensured people would have control of their information
I added options for people to skip steps when creating their profiles and to make certain sections hidden or visible
6. Prototyping and Usability Testing
6. Prototyping and Usability Testing
I added icons, graphics, and animations to the prototype so that usability testing could feel as close to a real experience as possible
I tested the prototype with 5 people, where I learned 3/5 people were still hesitant to write about themselves
I made design and content changes based on the feedback received and re-tested with an additional 5 people to see if the changes made a difference
Usability Testing Round 1
Usability Testing Round 1
Although all participants were able to complete the task of creating a profile and viewing listings, 3/5 participants indicated feelings of anxiety and uncertainty when having to draft introductions about themselves
3/5 participants expressed the need for more personability information from potential future roommates
2/5 participants could not tell the difference between read and unread messages
Changes Made
Changes Made
I refined the language throughout the app by revisiting the personality and brand attributes. For example, I changed messaging from room seeker-to-listing to room seeker-to-potential roommate.
I added prompts that would suggest what users could write when sharing about themselves with the goal of reducing cognitive load and helping personability
I reworked some of the UI to improve the visibility of elements that participants missed or had confusion about
Usability Testing Round 2
Usability Testing Round 2
The above changes resulted in
A 7% decrease in the average time it took to find listings that fit specified needs (filter)
A 38% decrease in the average time it took to make an account
A 18% decrease in the average time it took to list a room for rent
The Solution
The Solution
Rumi is an all-in-one app where people can safely post or find a room to rent.
Anyone without an account can browse and filter listings by price range, neighborhood, needs and preferences such as wheelchair accessibility, cooking meat, or allowing overnight guests.
Only those who make and verify their account can view information about the people who live in the listed home
In order to ensure safety, addresses are never listed, and every profile has a flag option to report and block any unwanted interactions.
Rumi allows for in-app messaging and calling, so that no one has to share their personal phone number with a stranger.
Future Opportunities
Future Opportunities
After hours testing Rumi with people, I learned that this is a product that would make people feel safe when looking for roommates; however, given that design is forever iterative, should I continue on this project I would consider changing the cookie-cutter feel by offering people pre-written playful prompts that nudge at personality and lifestyle. For example, “If your cat could describe you in 3 words, what would they say?” or “If Mr. Clean is a 5, and a landfill is a 1, how clean are you?” By having customizable profiles, people would have opportunities to present themselves in different ways tha may show more about their personality.
Additionally, designing this type of app would require awareness of policies within the places it’s deployed: for example in California, it’s illegal for people posting rooms to filter by gender, religious, or political preferences.
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