Rental Buddy apartment
rental site concept
Challenge: Create a responsive apartment rental site that is familiar yet unique.
Deliverables: User research, competitive audits, user stories, journey maps, wireframes, UI, prototypes, and usability studies.
Role: Product Designer
Platforms: Web/Mobile
Timeline: 2 months
Tools: Adobe XD
Apartment hunting can be scary
Looking for a new apartment is always a big step. No matter if it is your first time moving away from home or just moving to a new place. As someone who has moved myself a few times and has moved across the country it can be exciting and daunting. My job with Rental Buddy is to create a site to will help users by putting them at ease and providing as much support as possible for their new journey.
Competitive Audit
In order to better understand the apartment rental market a competitive audit was conducted. Each apartment rental site was evaluated on unique value proposition, visual design, features, accessibility, and user flow. Three key Competitors were identified Westside rentals, Zillow, and Hotpads.
Westside Rentals.com
A Los Angeles based rental company which I have identified as a indirect competitor. They market themselves as the number one home finding service in the Los Angeles area. They are a branch of apartments.com a nationally known rental site. Westside rental focuses primarily on the southern California area. Their specialized network gives access to a significant amount of rentals in this area.
Strengths
- Color branding is seen throughout website.
- Gives information about the number of listings currently available and how many of those are new on the homepage.
Improvements
- Listings can include information section about area it is in.
- Listings can have indicators to let potential renters know if it has been already rented.
Zillow.com
An American online real estate market place I have identified as a direct competitor. They market themselves as one of the leading real estate market sites in the U.S. They offer home sales and home evaluations, rentals, and price comparisons.
Strengths
- Has a clear hierarchy with its information on homepage.
- Indicates when listing was last updated.
Improvements
- Feature number of applications on the property
- Needs a required number of photos for people who are listing as well as minimum size of photos
Hotpads.com
A map based rental and real estate site I have identified as a direct competitor. They market themselves as allowing users to search housing through their interactive map which conducts a location based search.
Strengths
- Clear search map and good use of logo as pinpoints on map
- Allows you to see how long your commute is from your apartment to your job, or any other destination.
Improvements
- Feature number of applications on the property and if their is a application fee.
- Needs indicator when properties are off market.
Understanding the users
I asked people who are looking for a new apartments, or just moved to a new apartment what they felt about using apartment rental sites and the process they went through especially since covid is such a big factor at the moment of this case study. As well as what features they believe they need to accomplish their goal of finding a new apartment. Through their insight I was able to use it to build my user persona.
