Work > HUGS
Building Trust and Simplifying Search:
How I Helped College Students Find Apartments Easier
Role
Sole UX/UI Designer
Client: HUGS Founder
Scope
Responsive web redesign
Timeframe
80 hours
Tools
Figma
BACKGROUND
Newcomers to the US, especially college students, often face challenges finding housing due to the lack of established credit history. HUGS (Housing Undergraduate and Graduate Students), a San Diego startup, tackles this gap by offering a student housing marketplace specifically for them. This case study explores ways to improve my client’s HUGS platform by making the apartment search easier and more trustworthy for college students, ultimately increasing tenant occupancy.
PROBLEM
College students lack trust in online listings and struggle to find all the necessary information, making apartment hunting a frustrating experience.
SOLUTION
A responsive redesign of HUGS’s website that provides necessary information for college students to decide to apply for a property confidently.
The solution involves redesigning HUGS’s search result and property detail pages to bolster students’ confidence in their decisions by providing thorough details about each property and its surrounding area.
Focusing on the essential information
Empowering Decisions through Information Transparency
Convenient Access to landmark Information, such as nearby properties, grocery stores, restaurants, and transit.
DISCOVERY
HUGS's current website causes hesitation in decision-making.
At the beginning of the project, I conducted a heuristic analysis and guerilla testing involving six college student renters to gather insights into HUGS prospective tenants' perceptions of the current website and identify potential usability issues.
KEY INSIGHT
The original homepage contains irrelevant information about student housing, such as information about investors and property owners.
The lack of sufficient information on each property detail page is causing users to feel uncertain about making an informed decision to apply for a property.
The original website's design didn't cater to students and had a corporate tone, such as the hero image and an overlay green city image. This led students to leave without finding what they needed.
The images presented are the "before" photos and not indicative of any of my design work.
Meet Tiffany, a wary-skeptical college international student going to move to the US in a few months who needs a place to stay.
With the insights from the user interview, I created 2 personas so both users can use the site, but we will focus on Tiffany as the primary persona.
Above: Primary persona for this project
Above: Secondary persona from user research
USER RESEARCH
HUGS Tenants lack trust in the Housing Search Experiences.
I conducted 6 remote-moderated user interviews with prospective college student renters to understand their search process and what they look for in a listing. I analyzed the data with an affinity map.
Key Takeaways
Participants lack trust in the online property information because of potential scams and not being physically present to verify the information.
Participants want an easier process to get all the necessary information about a property without visiting it or searching for extra details elsewhere.
Tiffany needs help to make an informed decision to improve her student Housing Search Journey.
To grow empathy for Tiffany, I created a user journey map to pinpoint and prioritize the problem to focus on solving that will impact HUGS customer acquisition the most. Then I brought the user journey map and presented these research findings to HUGS’s CEO to ensure he understood the research information and aligned on these assumptions before moving forward.
That was kind of discouraging because I waste my time going there to see [the apartment], but then it's not what [the housing website] were explaining.
- Participant 2
Incorporating safety information, visual property information, and similar UX patterns can help HUGS stay competitive against its competitors.
To ensure maximum efficiency due to limited time on this project and maintain HUGS' competitiveness in the market, I thoroughly analyzed the UX patterns and strategies its competitors employ instead of reinventing the wheel.
Key insight
All direct housing services need more information regarding the safety of the neighborhood.
Direct competitors in the student housing services for international students sector provide videos to offer a more immersive understanding of the property.
When users choose a property, direct and secondary competitors offer a similar experience of opening a new page, with benefits such as context preservation and more effortless multitasking.
DEFINE
How might we help users like Tiffany feel confident choosing the right place to live without traveling?
Based on the user research and competitor analysis, I prioritized these features to help students feel more confident and less hesitant in decision-making.
Filter: Help users find listings that align with their preferences and requirements.
Google Map: Places API Overlay: Provide location-based data and easy navigation to selected properties for informed housing decisions.
Current/ Previous HUGS tenant reviews: helping users make informed decisions and build trust in the properties they are considering.
Property owner information: Help foster transparency and trust and enable effective communication between tenant and property owner.
Property Detail Page: In minimizing cognitive load and facilitates easy comparison of multiple properties side by side.
Neighborhood score: help users evaluate neighborhoods for safety, amenities, and livability.
IDEATE
Making sure HUGS stays competitive against other competitors through site structure, property information, and an aesthetic revamp
Compelling Hero Section: a first glance at the site should be welcoming and modern for college students
Relevant information & easy comparison: Users can quickly make informed choices with confidence
Prioritize Key CTAs: The Call-To-Action Buttons for actions such as apply and message should be straightforward and painless.
Digital low-fidelity wireframes used for redesign layout decisions.
These are few of the major mid-fidelity wireframes.
USER TESTING
Assist wary-skeptical college students in making well-informed housing decisions without needing an in-person visit.
I conducted 6 remote-moderated user tests via Zoom,
100% task success related to the overall concept of the product.
HUGS Prospect tenants found the design straightforward and useful in making informed decisions.
Map feature provided users with a positive and satisfactory experience for neighborhood exploration and information gathering
“I like the page. I really like I have all the information in front of me”
- Participant 4
“The map helped me to see what else is around, I think it's very important to know where groceries are nearby, especially as a college student, I want to save money”
- Participant 1
REVISION
4 Key revisions that will enhance the way in which students receive information
Enhancing Map Access with Fewer Clicks
1)
Presenting essential information concisely
2)
Providing Enhanced Information to empower decision-making
3)
Convenient Access to landmark information
4)
DESIGN SYSTEM
Putting College Student Tenants at the Center of HUGS Redesign
Improved the typeface and utilized an inviting color palette to help the website feel more approachable and modern to college students.
NEXT STEPS
Looking Forward…
This project was based on a request from HUGS's CEO to take a "blue-sky" approach to their site. After presenting my work, the CEO recommended my concept to their Product team. My work was evaluated and slotted into their overall road map.
From the initial research, users accessed the website on a desktop, which led to prioritizing desktop design. In the next sprint, I will be...
Optimizing for mobile
Users will have the ability to view the website on any sized screen.
Further user testing & Data Analysis
Over time, I would like to see data to determine if the redesign impacted the number of applications applied by prospective tenants.
Designing for the secondary user
For this project, I focused mainly on designing for the primary B2C users, and this website is for B2C and B2B users, such as property owners. In the future, I would like to conduct more research to balance the website for both types of users.