Timeline
January-February (5 weeks)
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
Contributors
Solo
The Problem
With the high cost of living, tuition, transportation, and more, many post-secondary students often find themselves in need of a roommate to afford expenses during their academic years. This process, however, can be a stressful and overwhelming one when students are faced with the challenges of finding suitable accommodations and finding a compatible match out of hundreds of individuals who aligns with their specific needs and preferences.
How can we simplify the process of finding a roommate to make it a more convenient and positive experience for post-secondary students in Canada?
The Solution
Roommeet — a mobile app designed to help post-secondary students looking for a roommate in Canada to find their most compatible matches and get in contact with them all in one convenient place.
Browse & Filter Roommates
Browse through roommate profiles across Canada and narrow down your search results with a range of filtering options to find your most compatible roommate based on budget, school, and a range of other preferences.
View Roommate Profiles
Get to know other users on the app and find the best roommate for you through detailed roommate profiles
Connect with Roommates
Securely connect and communicate with prospective roommates on Roommeet without sharing any personal contact information.
01/ Preliminary Research
With the short timeline of this school project, my process began with gathering research online and through discussions with peers to better understand the problems facing student renters in Canada. Here were my key findings:
High Cost of Living
Due to the increasing cost of living across Canadian cities and the limited financial resources of many students, having one or multiple roommates is often essential in affording rent
Incompatible roommates
Sharing a living space with roommates can be challenging. Differences in age, lifestyle, cleanliness, and communication styles may lead to conflicts that impact the overall living experience.
Convenience
Finding a suitable roommate can be a long, overwhelming and tedious process. Students want more convenient and efficient ways of filtering through their options to find the perfect match
02/ Competitor Analysis
I conducted an analysis of other competing roommate finder apps and websites to better understand the existing products and services on the market and how my product could improve on them and fill in potential gaps
03/ Personas
Based on my research, I developed two personas, each from different demographics with varying behaviours, needs and goals.
04/ Information Architecture
My next step was to define the key functions of my product and outline how its contents would be structured and organized.
05/ Wireframes
I focused on designing one key task flow and used the above information architecture to create and develop several rounds of wireframes. This process of iteration also involved usability testing to improve on the functionality of the design.
