Overview
Research
Target Users
Ideation
Testing
Proposed Design
Next Steps
Reflection

Rent Smart

Helping renters feel prepared and organized when searching for housing in Toronto

Role
UX/UI Design
Collaborators
Amanda Wang
Olivia Ou
Yixin Guo
Timeline
Sep - Nov 2024
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Skills
User research
Usability testing
Presentations

The Problem

Many post-secondary students in Toronto are renters and have difficulty navigating the housing market due to renting inexperience, financial burdens/lack of income, and information overload.
So we asked...
How might we help post-secondary students feel safer and more confident when finding off-campus renting options in Toronto?

Solution

An interactive knowledge hub that organizes the rental process and related resources into checklists.

Research Methods

Background research
To help us get a better understanding of our problem space and plan user interviews.
User interviews
To understand our target users' needs, challenges, and existing knowledge when renting in Toronto.
  • 8 participants
  • ~30 min, conducted in person and Zoom
Competitive audit
To identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities of the current ways students are looking for housing.
  • 3 online listing platforms
  • 2 types of interpersonal communication

Insights

Renting requires local knowledge
8/8 students shared a wide array of uncertainties surrounding rental processes and rules whether it was during their searches or while living in rented housing.
"I don't know what rent prices look like in a town, versus in a city"
Renting takes an emotional toll
6/8 students reported feeling stressed, desperation, and exhaustion.
"I was desperate...I need a place"
Concerns about trust
5/8 students mentioned a need for trust, which applied to people, such as landlords or realtors, and information.
"When looking online, ...how do I actually know that this is trustworthy?"
Bad landlords
5/8 students shared stories about challenged they faced regarding their landlords from pests, maintenance, to rent increases. Experiencing issues with their landlords occurred irregardless of whether renters knew their tenant rights or not.
"The landlord said it's our problem to fix... I looked into [the laws] and it says...that landlords are in charge of these types of pest control incidents"

Refining Our Problem Scope

Help post-secondary students who are first-time renters learn and apply knowledge of tenant rights and housing regulations, so they feel safe and confident when finding and living in off-campus housing in Toronto

Why was this necessary?

1 - Our problem statement already assumed a solution
We wanted to explore a broad variety of ideas before defining a solution, which would be inhibited through assuming students need to learn tenant rights and housing regulations to feel safe and confident.
2 - Finding housing is very different than living in it
The challenges students faced while finding vs. living in rented housing differed significantly, so we would need to narrow our focus or risk a watered down solution. We decided to focus on the 'finding' stage since impacts could trickle down into the 'living in' stage.

Competitors

Evaluating competitors' strengths and weaknesses to help us identify potential opportunities for our solution to embrace.
Post-Secondary Institutions
Various resources such as informational videos, workshops, and an off-campus housing websites
WeChat
Offer or seek rentals, roommates, and agents in dedicated group chats
Facebook
Offer or seek rentals on marketplace or dedicated groups
Real Estate Agents
Professional advice and guidance for listings curated to renter's needs
Personal Networks
Information such as resources and personal anecdotes from existing connections

Personas

To represent our target users, we created two personas that have differing priorities when looking for housing.

Ben

Not a Toronto Local
Priorities

Maggie

International Student
Priorities

Ideation

Concept 1 - Knowledge Quiz

Through the quiz, students can gauge their preparedness to take on a housing search and gain awareness on important renting rules and common practices.
Initial user flow
Mid-fi screens (created by Yixin Guo)

Concept 2 - Interactive Map

A map geared specifically to student renters highlighting key information such as safety, proximity to campuses, transit, student population, etc.
Initial user flow
Mid-fi screens (created by Yixin Guo, Olivia Ou, and me)

Concept 3 - Checklists

Checklists for various situations/stages of a housing search and supplemented with relevant resources.
Initial user flow
Mid-fi screens (created by Yixin Guo, Olivia Ou, and me)

Concept Testing

Informal Playback
To get feedback from experts in the UX industry
  • 2 industry experts
User Testing
To evaluate concepts and determine which to move forward with
  • 8 participants
  • Conducted in person

Feedback

Concept 1 - Knowledge Quiz
Concept 2 - Interactive Map
Concept 3 - Checklists
Findings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Users thought the quiz would match them to suitable listings

Improves safety?

Not really

Potentially

Potentially

Improves confidence?

Unlikely

Not really

Likely

Proposed Design

Next Steps

Next, I'll be building out a live version of the design! It likely won't be in an app format, but will still be mobile friendly so that it's easy to use on the go. I'd also look to build on the current design with the following:
Other Checklists
Design additional checklists that support the searching process such as: Finding a Realtor, Finding a Roommate, Documents List, Lease Signing.
Checklist Outputs
Examine providing a “next steps” summary based on the list items renters did or didn’t check off.
After Moving In
Looking a little further, the scope of the checklists would expand to encompass the experience of living in rented housing.

Reflection

Test early before stakes get too high
We tested multiple concepts while the fidelity was still relatively low, which allowed us to validate our concepts and scrap the ones that won't benefit our target users. In the end, the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive with multiple people telling me they would use our checklists!
Design doesn't always have to be from scratch
At first, the idea of checklists seemed too simple, but it ended up being most favoured by users. This, along with feedback on our final design, showed me that our ideas don't have to be completely new to stand out in a saturated market. Checklists are simple and people already know how to use them, so we can leverage this in our designs.
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