Simplease

Fall 2022, Remote

7 minute reading time

Improving the property rental process by connecting landlords and renters.

Project Details

My Role

UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer

Duration

Overall: 7 weeks

Discovery & Research: 2 weeks

Design & testing: 5 weeks

Tools:

Figma, Whimsical, Optimal

TLDR: check out the current iteration

Overview

Summary

This was a mock project for the DesignLab bootcamp. The concept was to create a responsive website to help people who are moving.

Problem

Renters are unable to find a trustworthy and secure site dedicated to helping them find a house/apartment to rent.

Solution

Created a website geared towards people looking to rent a home. The website is mobile-first and is intuitive, easy to navigate, and enjoyable to use.

Research Goal

We want to learn how current renters and landlords connect so we can understand how to ease the pain points of this process.

Methodologies

  • Competitive analysis to gain insight into what features are currently available for users

  • User interviews to gain insight into past experiences in finding and renting properties

  • User observation to see what users actually do when looking for tenants or housing

UX Research

I conducted a SWOT analysis of the three most popular home rental websites to better understand what options users currently have. Based on this, I was able to identify common design patterns and opportunities Simplease could take advantage of.

Competitive Analysis

During the discover phase of the project, I conducted user interviews and observations to learn how current renters and landlords connect so that I could understand how to ease the pain points of this process.

Over the course of 3 days, I conducted 8 user interviews remotely. I interviewed a variety of users in the two user groups - renters and landlords.

Five participants were renters and three landlords. The findings during this were used throughout the rest of the design process.

Some questions that renters were asked:

  • What is your process for finding new housing?

    • What websites do you utilize, if any?

  • Can you tell me about any frustrations you had during the process of looking for new housing?

  • What features do you find particularly useful when browsing sites for rental homes?

Some questions that landlords were asked:

  • Can you walk me through your current process for listing your rental property?

  • Can you tell me about any frustrations you had during the process of looking for new tenants?

  • How did you decide to list on one website over another?

User Interviews

Research Synthesis

I collected a lot of information on the two user groups and needed to synthesize the data to better understand the needs of the users.

Renters of all ages, but especially younger ones, have a deep mistrust of landlords and property managers. This bleeds over into their mistrust of certain websites as well. Most people seem to prefer word of mouth when looking for rental properties.

Key Takeaways

To better visualize the common themes and break down what was said during the interviews, I utilized affinity mapping. I created two, one for each user group.

Affinity Mapping

Renters:

  • Strong mistrust of the map feature on Zillow - it jumps unexpectedly when zooming

  • Mistrust landlords to enter information about listings accurately

  • Biggest issue is a mistrust of landlords, property managers, apartment buildings, and websites - both older and younger renters expressed these opinions

Landlords:

  • Concern with unnecessary fees associated with listing online

  • It’s confusing trying to understand the fees involved with listing

  • I’d like to explore ways to help people who are searching for long-term rentals determine which landlords to trust because the hostile rental market and past experiences tend to make them distrustful.

  • I’d like to explore ways to help people who are unable to tour homes in person to have a better and more accurate visual experience while browsing online because many people are renting properties sight unseen.

POV Statements

Main

How might we create a sense of trust - in our brand and our property managers - for our renters?

Additional

  • How might we facilitate people browsing from a distance to get an accurate feel of a rental property, sight unseen?

  • How might we vet our landlords/property managers to ensure they’re decent people?

  • How might we onboard new landlords in a way that is fun and approachable?

  • How might we make the browsing more approachable for renters?

  • How might we make the brand the go-to for renting?

HMW Questions

Personas

Information Architecture

Sitemaps

Task Flows

I started by creating low-fi wireframes to get an idea of how the designs will serve the users. After getting feedback, I moved on to creating mid-fi then high-fi wireframes.

Wireframing

Low-fidelity

Mid-fidelity

After creating the high-fidelity wireframes and the first prototype, I took the design to usability testing. I tested the prototype with 5 participants. Two were conducted in person, and three over zoom. All five were screen recorded and transcribed for later reference.

Usability Testing

Task 1: Find listings you'd want to browse in Los Angeles

Task 2: Message the landlord of the Baker Street House

Tasks tested

  • How did you search for your city?

  • What filters would you like to use?

  • How easy was it to complete the task? (1-5)

  • Was there anything confusing about this process?

  • Was there anything from the listing that you would've liked to see?

Questions asked

“I’d like an option to view all filters at once. I get really detailed with my searches”
— User 2

Findings

“There’s different verbiage on buttons on different pages and it’s confusing. They should say the same thing across pages. ”
— User 4

I created a feedback grid and an effort/impact matrix to better dissect the feedback given by users during the usability testing. Based on these, I determined to revise the following:

  • Change button language to be consistent

  • Add a view all filters button

  • Edit the transit button to look more intuitive

  • Redesign the landing page with the renters in mind

  • Add slide bars for price filters

Key takeaways

Current Prototype

I learned so much from this project, with it being my first time going through each step of the design process. My main takeaway was how important user testing is throughout the design process, to save time once you’re further into the design.

I’d like to continue working on this design, designing for additional task flows to get a more full idea of how the site would work. I’d also like to adopt the screens for desktop to get a feel for how responsive design works.

My Learnings