RentBlue: A Better Way to Find Home

As part of my first-semester project, I worked with a team of 5 to create RentBlue, a rental app for University of Michigan students. With features like verified listings, roommate matching, and landlord scheduling, it streamlines the housing search while ensuring trust and convenience. This case study highlights my contribution to designing the roommate matching feature, focusing on user experience and seamless compatibility.

Year
2024 Fall Semester

Client
SI 582 (Interaction Design) Class Project

Problem Context

As university students, we all know the struggle of finding a home that fits our needs—endless scrolling, tight budgets, and trying to piece together the perfect match. It’s stressful, time-consuming, and often overwhelming. But what if it didn’t have to be?

Our Proposition

Identified after conducting preliminary interviews with 20 current UofM students and 8 landlords

Fostering Connections:

Humanizing landlord-tenant interactions through scheduled calls that promote respect, transparency, and reliable communication.

Consolidating Resources:

Integrating property listings, verified roommate options, group search features, and secure, easy communication with landlords into one app.

Building Trust:

Offering only verified student accounts and scam free listings to ensure a secure rental and roommate findings experience.

Personas

Amanda Zhu (Tenant)

    • Find accommodation matching preferences for location, price, and amenities.

    • Communicate effectively with landlords.

    • Identify and connect with compatible roommates.

    • Insufficient details on listings (e.g., hidden costs, proximity to campus).

    • Platforms prioritize individuals over group-centric needs.

    • Lack of support for time zone differences during communication.

    • Relies on Google Maps, social media, housing platforms, and messaging apps.

    • Technologically adept and comfortable navigating digital platforms.

Brian Hilfiger (Landlord)

    • Get their property seen by as many potential tenants as possible

    • Find suitable tenants and ensure safety of the property

    • Security concerns over sharing property details online.

    • Irregular communication from potential tenants.

    • Time-consuming rent and terms negotiations.

    • Uses social media, messaging apps, and email for property management.

    • Comfortable with technology but struggles with video editing for tours.

Information Architecture

Our information architecture offers a comprehensive and intuitive overview of our website, thoughtfully designed to cater to the needs of both property owner and tenants. The guide highlights shared pages and persona-specific pages, ensuring clarity and usability for all users.

Roommate Finder

Goals for Implementation:

  1. Match users based on detailed financial and lifestyle preferences—ensuring transparency in areas like sharing groceries, noise tolerance, and hosting preferences to foster harmonious living arrangements.

  2. Encourage meaningful connections over cold messages, helping users find genuine roommates instead of superficial matches.

  3. Consolidate profiles of potential roommates and housing details, enabling holistic decision-making on a single platform.

Usability Testing

As part of the usability testing, we explored the most effective way to represent roommate information, ensuring individuals could review profiles thoughtfully and make informed decisions about their potential roommates. We conducted 20 usability tests with students from the University of Michigan.

1. Information Overload:

  • Users found reading bios at the initial stage overwhelming.

  • Preferred to view bios only after filtering individuals based on set preferences

Pro:

Clustering of information

  • Biographic details were grouped and visually organized using tags.

  • Key screening information was highlighted as the main text.

  • Additional details, such as existing roommates and the number of roommates being sought, were clearly displayed.

Visual Clarity

  • High-fidelity utilising brand colors

Cons:

  • Goal Alignment:

    • To encourage deliberate decision-making before cold messaging roommates, positioning the “Send Chat” button as the primary CTA may conflict with this objective.

    • Users should be guided to view the profile in detail before sending a message.

  • Comparative Analysis:

    • When grouped with other roommate listings, the current presentation of information makes it challenging to compare two or more options effectively.

  • Design Considerations:

    • Ensure sufficient contrast between the background and the cards for better visual clarity.

Wireframe

2. Unclear Call-to-Action:

  • 60% of users did not intuitively click on cards to explore detailed profiles.

3. Cluttered Tags:

  • Tags were clustered together, causing users to overlook important details.

Iteration 1

Final Design

  • Information Clustering:

    • Tags and icons group key details (e.g., budget, roommates) for easy scanning (Gestalt principles).

  • Behavioral Nudges:

    • The primary CTA (“View Profile”) encourages users to explore profiles before messaging, fostering more genuine connections.

    • Match percentage and roommate photos leverage similarity attraction and social proof.

  • Accessibility and Contrast:

    • High contrast ensures readability; calm colors reduce cognitive load.

  • Comparability:

    • Clear segmentation simplifies comparing multiple profiles.

    • Portrait over landscape to aid easy comparison when deciding between profiles

Overall View

Click on the play button to interact with the prototype

Learning:

  • Testing & Iteration: I learned the importance of carefully determining how much information to provide during usability testing to effectively test hypotheses. Striking the right balance ensures that users can engage with the prototype naturally while still generating meaningful insights to validate or refine design decisions.

  • Design Systems: I gained experience in creating and leveraging design system components to ensure consistency and efficiency in replicating designs. This approach streamlined the design process, improved collaboration with other teammates, and maintained a cohesive visual identity across the product.