Base
Finding base was never this easy
Project Overview
Base is a housing rental mobile application designed by students, for students. Developed with the intention of addressing the challenges faced by international students during their search for accommodation, the application is informed by personal experiences and a deep understanding of the frustrations that students face.
With a focus on creating a streamlined and seamless experience, Base simplifies the process of finding housing and rental options for its users. To ensure the safety and security of its users, the application mandates a thorough verification process. The result is an app that provides students with peace of mind, knowing that they are able to easily find the accommodation they need while navigating the challenges of moving to a new country.
My Role
The work I undertook as UX designer consists of:
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Logo Design,
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User Research,
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Low fidelity and
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High-Fidelity wireframes,
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Interaction design
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Final Mockups.
Design Process
Research Approach
Research
Validation:
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We interviewed students and asked few questions to know how did they rented apartments, that were suited to their needs.
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The answers from these questions validated our idea, that there is a need for an application that provides a solution to this issue.
Defining the problem:
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After the initial interviews, we started asking for pain points that a user generally face while looking for an apartment.
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These are some pain points of the students;
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Scams, bots.
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Apartment images were misleading.
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Registration fees.
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Rude landlords.
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WHAT ?
WHY ?
Personas
WHO ?
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Post analysis of the data collected from the users, it showed us that there is a need of an application to find apartments dedicated for the students.
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To achieve this we needed to define the user sets, for which we created personas.
10 international students were interviewed.
During the interview process we realized that national students are also facing the same issues.
​During our research, we encountered an Anti-Persona, representing the challenges posed by bots and scammers to all three types of users. Our development efforts were re-focused towards creating an app that effectively neutralizes these threats by preventing unauthorized access to the system.
10 international students were interviewed.
Competitive Analysis
HOW ?
From the data gathered during the interview process, we compared the applications currently used by the user to find a rental property, and use the data to form a base work for our product.
User-flow & Wireframes
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Our project has two categories of users with different needs.
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To cater to the needs of both the user groups, we created the following user flows.
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Landlords.
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Students.​​
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Irrespective of the user segments, both users have to undergo a mandatory verification process in order to have the complete access of the application. This was a solution to negate the anti-persona.
User-flow & Low Fidelity Wire frames:
The red box marks the mandatory verification process for the landlords/brokers.
The red box marks the mandatory verification process for the landlords/brokers.
Design Components
The final screens in the onboarding process feature a uniform user interface that is shared by both users. Once the user group has been selected, the interface will adapt to reflect the specific needs of each user.
These screens demonstrate the verification process for both users, effectively eliminating any instances of impersonation.
The landlord screens contain a curated set of data specifically tailored to their needs, as compared to the more comprehensive set of information presented on the student screens.
The final screens in the onboarding process feature a uniform user interface that is shared by both users. Once the user group has been selected, the interface will adapt to reflect the specific needs of each user.
High Fidelity Screens
Usability testing
Evaluation process:
The study was conducted by group of 5 participants. Participants were given a brief introduction about the application and assigned a core tasks to be done for 2 users that is student and landlord.
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A. Aim of the test:
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To Understand the overall usability of the application using Think Aloud method.
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Complexity of the verification process.
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Visual & Aesthetics.
B. Selection criteria:
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International student on F1 Visa
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Local Students from USA
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Landlords / Brokers / Real estate agent
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Evaluation Criteria:
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Completion Time.
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No. of clicks and False clicks.
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Overall rating on scale of 1-5 ( 1=Poor & 5=Excellent)
C. Tasks assigned for students:
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Search for a property as a Student.
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Student able to sign up with a verified email id
Tasks assigned for landlord:
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Add a verified property listing.
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Look for the listed property performance.
D. The test was followed by a set of open ended questions and the participants were further interviewed both the users to get quantitative insights. Users were asked to rate the task and flow on the scale of 1 to 5
Evaluation
Feedback & Changes
The user feedback helped us to refine our product for the 1st phase and made these usefull changes:
Learnings & Future Improvements
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The development of personas was a crucial aspect of this project, and utilizing the persona data to prevent impersonation has informed the design and functionality of the application.
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For future iterations, we are considering incorporating additional features such as:
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A map with filters to highlight areas with low criminal activity.
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A pen tool to easily mark locations during searches.
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Accessibility tools to accommodate users with special needs.
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A call functionality for improved communication.
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A community platform specifically for students.
