Overview
Role
UX Designer
This was a conceptual project through the Google UX Design Professional Certificate course
Duration
November - January 2023
Background
This case study focused on the development of a comprehensive website catering to the needs of renters seeking apartments tailored to their preferences. The primary objective was to create an intuitive and user-friendly platform that would streamline the apartment-hunting process and enhance the overall renting experience. Rent Score guides users through an introductory questionnaire, gives them results based on a score rating, and allows users to easily view apartments that highlight their needs in one centralized website.
Introduction
Click above to jump ahead to the Final Prototype ⤴
Looking for the perfect apartment can be a difficult and stressful experience for people. Apartment hunting requires a lot of time to verify that listings have the features you want. Renters generally have to access extra websites/apps to check the distance of the potential apartment from work or grocery stores. Patience is needed to hear back from listing agents outside of the website, either by a phone call from a random number or an email from a secondary company. The process can be chaotic and time-consuming, and some renters may miss out on finding the apartment best tailored to them.
Apartment hunting requires a lot of time to verify that listings have the features you want…The process can be chaotic and time-consuming, and some renters may miss out on finding the apartment best tailored to them.
Understanding User Needs
In order to understand the pain points of the target audience and think of some goals to set out and achieve, I conducted user interviews with a few renters. What I’ve learned is that most users actually did enjoy browsing apartments online but found the overall process of searching for their “perfect match” to be very time-consuming.
User Personas
Based on the research gathered from user interviews, I created a persona to represent the primary type of user of the Rent Score app.
Hannah
Hannah represents young and busy adults who value efficiency and wants to find a rental apartment in their preferred location quickly and easily. Even though she enjoys browsing different homes, Hannah finds the current process frustrating because of the need to visit multiple websites to complete her search. Hannah is looking for a platform to streamline her apartment search process to save time and reduce frustration when searching for her next home.
Empathy Map
I decided to focus on Zoë as the primary user moving forward since their need was more frequent. I created a user journey map to learn of new pain points while thinking of improvements throughout the user’s journey.
Statistics
I also analyzed a few websites to learn about trends and statistics on renters in the United States. This helped me find out more information to assist with my user interviews and provided me with more data from a larger audience.
A survey of over 1,300 renters in America revealed the proportion of renters that found certain challenges significant while searching for rental apartments.
Hunt.com
The following represents the proportion of renters that found each challenge highly significant in their rental search for a new home
Identifying Pain Points
Based on user feedback, I identified several pain points that impacted the overall user experience.
Time
Millions of Americans are renters, with over a third of them finding the search process taking longer than expected, causing a highly significant challenge. It can take a while for users to search through apartments, find what works best for them, and go through scheduling a tour and applying. Allowing users to view apartments with a score rating that reflects their wants and needs is beneficial in reducing time spent searching.
Communication
Roughly a quarter of renters have stated that communication with agents or owners was another pain point of the process. External websites, suspect emails, and phone numbers reaching out to them made this another significant challenge. Creating a centralized website for users to communicate with agents, and learn about what’s around the properties eliminates the need to open up additional sites or apps and keep things in one place.
Inaquarate Preferences
Inaccurate listings, apartments that don’t have the user’s preferences, or incorrect information were frustrating for many users. Making this clear and more accurately matching users’ preferences is essential.
Design Solutions
After learning of user pain points and conducting interviews, I set out to achieve the following goals with this responsive website:
Goal 1
Reduce the amount of time spent searching for apartments that meet renters’ requirements
Goal 2
Increase trust with accurate listings matching what renters filter out and list as preferences
Goal 3
Limit renters’ need to use additional websites
Goal 4
Improve the communication between renters and the property management company/owner
With these goals in mind, I set out to design a centralized website for the modern-day renter to search for, compare, and find the best apartment that fits their needs.
3 main improvements in the design after early iteration
The objective of the usability assessment was to determine the level of ease and efficiency with which the website facilitated the search for and discovery of the ideal apartment. Following initial user feedback, the early iteration lacked to adequately address the users' pain points. There was no clear distinction between Rent Score and other apartment search websites that are out. Taking into account feedback received at different stages of the project, I incorporated three key enhancements into the design.
After producing some digital wireframes early in the design process, I stepped back to analyze the progress and revisited the user pain points and goals.
Before: From the Home Screen to the next page, the process was no different from other sites. Just listing apartments did not address user pain points as I wanted to.
After: By adding the questionnaire process, users will jump to the start of the questionnaire on the next page from the Home Screen in the main user flow.
The decision to implement a completely new apartment search flow had a significant impact on the overall website flow.
Users wanted a feature to compare apartments side-by-side instead of having to open up multiple tabs.
Adding the ability to compare apartments side-by-side on the same screen reduces the need to open additional tabs, websites, or apps to keep track of apartments the user is interested in
This also speeds up the time it takes some users to analyze multiple apartments they’re interested in before moving forward
“Other sites are missing the ability to select multiple apartments and do a side-by-side comparison” Joe S.
Most users valued location as a top priority in their apartment search. The location aspect of the search was not strong enough compared to existing sites.
Adding more sections for location searching was important and vital in listening to what users needed. With most users having location as a top priority in their search for an apartment, these changes would tailor their matches better in terms of location.
Once on the apartment page, adding a dedicated section focused on location was very necessary. Giving users the opportunity to add custom destinations and check travel time from the apartment again reduces the need to access additional websites or apps.
Location is a top priority for users. Expanded on location feature in the questionnaire & on the apartment page
Refined Main Features
Following the revisions to the earlier designs, let’s take a deeper dive into some of the main features of the Rent Score website.
Which goal does this tackle?
Goal 1: Reduce the amount of time spent searching for apartments that meet renters’ requirements
How does it achieve this goal?
Focusing on the user problem of time spent searching for apartments led me to consider a questionnaire for renters to fill out, listing their requirements and preferences. The results would allow users to view apartments with a score rating representative of their wants and needs. This reduces the typical time spent viewing multiple apartments, opening each one, browsing the features, checking the location, and other preferences, as the score rating reflects all of that.
THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Which goal does this tackle?
Goal 2: Increase trust with accurate listings matching what renters filter out and list as preferences
How does it achieve this goal?
Another refinement I wanted to make after the usability study was one not mentioned by users but one based on putting myself in their shoes. I wanted users to have a highlighted view of the features and location that matched with what they answered in the questionnaire. This would reinforce the match score rating for the user and allow them to quickly see how the apartment aligns with their wants/needs.
FEATURES YOU WANTED
Which goal does this tackle?
Goal 3: Limit renters’ need to use additional websites
How does it achieve this goal?
Users found it necessary to have multiple websites and apps open while searching for apartments on other apartment websites in order for them to do a full analysis. Implementing multiple features for users to have at their disposal on one centralized website provides a better and more efficient experience. These would include maps, nearby public transit, places of interest, side-by-side comparison of apartments, a feature to write and save notes on apartment listings, and lastly, the ability to message an agent/owner, schedule a tour, and apply for apartments.
ONE CENTRALIZED SITE
Which goal does this tackle?
Goal 4: Improve the communication between renters and the property management company/owner
How does it achieve this goal?
Adding a chat portion within the website improves communication between renters and the listing agent or apartment owner by eliminating the experience of random email addresses, suspicious phone numbers messaging back, and most importantly, the response time to hear back.
CONTACT WITH AGENTS/OWNERS
Prototype
Rent Score
“a comprehensive website for renters to quickly find the best apartment tailored to their needs”
Here are a few quotes from users after the final design prototypes
IMPACT
“Being able to search by distance to a location that you choose is super helpful”
“Seeing how close the apartments are to public transit and grocery stores are usually things I search on the side. It’s nice to have all that there so I don’t have to go into another application”
“Everything is there. What you do on your notes app, what you can do on google maps, this site brought those key pieces forward so you can do everything in one place.”
Looking back and reflecting on this case study project gave me a few lessons and ways to improve moving forward.
Final Thoughts
What I’ve learned?
Early on in the design process, keep referring back to user pain points and the problem statement
After creating paper and digital wireframes, I generated a low-fidelity prototype for an early usability study. I then realized that the site was missing some of those goals I set out in the beginning as well as addressing some pain points. I’ve learned to check back with what is most important early on, THE USER and make sure the product is addressing their problems.
Add the “Features You Wanted” info on the Compare Apartments page
To keep highlighting one of the main features of the website, I would have included the Location & Features You Wanted sections on the compare apartments page so that users can see those matches side-by-side.
Thank you for viewing and reading through!
Any tips and advice you would like to share for me to improve upon, feel free to let me know.